Tag: USA

Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away Home!

"Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away Home" blog post banner

detail from the cover of the vintage 1959 Ladybird book, "Flight Three - U.S.A - A Ladybird Book of Travel Adventure"

Here’s a quick follow up to our recent blog post about vintage American road maps.

cover of the vintage 1959 Ladybird book,

A few days after we bought them, we also picked up this lovely little vintage Ladybird book.

page from the vintage 1959 Ladybird book,

It’s from the Flight series – this one being, “Flight Three – U.S.A – A Ladybird Book of Travel Adventure”.
page from the vintage 1959 Ladybird book,

This copy is a first edition, published back in 1959.

page from the vintage 1959 Ladybird book,

Alison & John take a trip to the USA where Dad sometimes goes on business trips.

page from the vintage 1959 Ladybird book,

They land in New York and spend a week there – then hire a car and set off on a road trip.

page from the vintage 1959 Ladybird book,

As with most Ladybirds from this era, the illustrations are fabulous.

page from the vintage 1959 Ladybird book,

Other Ladybird Book of Travel Adventure destinations in the series include Australia, Canada, Africa, India and The Holy Land.

If we ever manage to do our own American road trip in a vintage camper van (or lovely, shiny Airstream!) or a Tucson rental bus, we’ll have lots of vintage travel ephemera to accompany us… we suspect there might have been a few changes!

All Mapped Out!

"All Mapped Out!" blog post banner

pile of vintage travel maps from the 1960s

This collection of vintage maps was a fabulous recent buy.

detail of a vintage travel map from the 1960s

We were quite excited when we saw them lurking at the bottom of a mixed box at auction…

detail of a vintage AAA travel map from the 1960s vintage AAA travel map from the 1960s

…their bright colours and fab period illustrations calling out to us!

detail of a vintage Enco travel map from the 1960s vintage Enco travel map of the Dakotas and Nebraska from the 1960s

They’re all from the United States – most were produced by the American Automobile Association – and petrol (or gas if you’re from the US!) companies such as Esso & Enco.

Quite unusual for them to have ended up in a small northern town in England!

detail of a vintage Esso travel map from the 1960s vintage Esso travel map from the 1960s

They were obviously picked up by a pair of adventurous travellers – also in the box were old tickets, menus, napkins, receipts, notes and other bits of ephemera – all picked up along their way.

detail of a vintage travel map from the 1960s showing an illustration of 3 peaks, forest, sun, boats and water

We’ve really enjoyed sorting through them – artwork like this is good enough for framing.

detail of a vintage travel map from the 1960s

Inside, the maps are clean & bright – untouched for 50 years or so. Full of handy hints and endless possibilities.

detail of a vintage travel map from the 1960s showing a mileage chart

The thought of setting out in a convertible or camper van with a pile of these is very appealing indeed!

New York, New York

New York, New York blog post banner

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, This is... New York showing Brooklyn Bridge with cars passing beneath it

Our recent post I is for Ireland featured the This is… series of books by Miroslav Sasek.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, This is... New York showing a view of water tanks in the New York skyline

In it, we promised some more photos from a recent acquisition – This is New York.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing people in the aisle of a grocery store

The book was published in 1960 and, as per usual, the illustrations are fabulous!

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing various types of vending machines

New York is one of those cities that works particularly well…

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a New York traffic cop illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing an American footballer

…with it’s distinctive buildings, day to day goings on and familiar characters.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a view of a city street lined with cars

The artist captures the 1950s/60s era – the sights and the vibrancy of the city.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing firemen in a New York fire engine

We had a 10-day holiday there a few years ago. It had changed a bit since Sasek wrote these books but lots of the unmistakable landmarks and energy of the city were still there.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a street vendor selling hot dogs and soft drinks

Flicking through these pages reminds us of the great time we had – hopefully we’ll get back there again one day…

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing an aerial view of Manhattan's skyscrapers and the Hudson River in a pixelated style

…and it would be a real dream to cruise up the Hudson river to arrive in real style!