In many ways, Holiday Magazine was ahead of its time. It brought together the finest writers, artists, and photographers and urged post-war Americans to expand themselves, to celebrate their relative wealth and as Vanity Fair said, “sold an ideal of travel as enrichment” (May 2013). Indeed, travel was promoted as a means to personal “intellectual and spiritual growth.”
It also helped expose Americans to many places that they’d heard of as a result of World War II that were now peaceful and open for them to see in full colour. The stories, written by people with names like Didion, Faulkner, Fleming, Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Thurber took full advantage of the blossoming air travel industry and had an almost bohemian approach to life in a world dominated by the Saturday Evening Post. Perhaps most telling is that former advertising man, Ted Patrick, ran it during the majority of its first incarnation (it closed in 1977, but was re-launched recently).
Ted Patrick wanted to get America hooked on the idea that the world, and its experiences were there for us to discover. You just had to get out and see what was waiting for you. Holiday wasn’t counter culture, but it wasn’t mainstream either. It just revelled in idealised beauty, as its founding editor, J. Frank Beaman said in his dedication, “Holiday is dedicated to the pursuit of happiness. For all of those who see ‘go’ signs on the horizon, for all of those who seek to get more sheer living out of life itself, Holiday is created.”
This is part 1 of 2 on Holiday magazine:
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| 1946 12 December "Florida" |
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| 1947 3 March "Mexico" cover by Diego Rivera |
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| 1947 4 April |
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| 1947 6 June |
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| 1947 8 August "Maine" cover by W. Kirtman Plummer |
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| 1947 9 September "State of Washington" |
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| 1947 11 November cover by Charles Allen |
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| 1948 5 May "Paris" |
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| 1948 8 August "The Corn Belt"cover by John Atherton |
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| 1948 February "New Orleans" cover by Jose Bartoli |
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| 1949 1 January "Hollywood" cover by Jose Bartoli |
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| 1949 2 February Advertisement for Alcoa Steamship Company by Boris Artzybasheff |
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| 1949 2 February "West Indies" cover by Harry O. Diamond |
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| 1949 3 March "The Mississippi" |
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| 1949 5 May"The Horses" cover by Vaughn Flannery |
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| 1949 6 June "Columbia River Country"cover by John Atherton |
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| 1949 7 July "Wisconsin" |
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| 1949 8 August Advertisement for "De Soto" |
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| 1949 8 August "Canada"cover by Robert Fawcett |
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| 1949 9 September "The Hudson" cover by Frederick Siebel |
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| 1949 12 December "Republic of Ireland" cover by John Cullen Murphy |
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| 1950 1 January "Los Angeles"cover by Siebel |
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| 1950 2 February Advertisement for "Florida" |
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| 1950 3 March "The President's House" |
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| 1950 4 April "Philadelphia's Main Line" |
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| 1950 4 April Advertisement for "Botany Brand" clothing |
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| 1950 6 June |
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| 1950 7 July Illustration by Bill Ballantine |
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| 1950 8 August |
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| 1951 1 January "Atlanta" |
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| 1951 3 March Fifth Anniversary Issue |
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| 1951 4 April cover by Saul Steinberg |
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| 1951 7 July Adverisement for Frazer automobiles |
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| 1952 7 July "Travel U.S.A." |
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| 1952 12 December "Winter in New York" |
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| 1953 July "Travel North America" |
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| 1956 3 March "10th Anniversary" |
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| 1956 12 December cover by André Francois |
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| 1957 1 January Advertisement for "Chevrolet" |
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| 1957 1 January Illustration by Ronald Searle |
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| 1957 4 April "France" cover by George Giusti |
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| 1957 8 August Advertisement for "Chevrolet" |