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 2 of 2 on Holiday magazine:
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1957 9 September cover by George Giusti |
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1957 12 December cover by Ludwig Bemelmans |
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1957 January illustration by Ronald Searle |
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1957 November "Spendthrift Tour of New York" by Ronald Searle |
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1958 4 April "England" cover by George Giusti "England" |
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1959 4 April "Africa" cover by George Giusti |
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1959 7 July"American Summer" cover by Ronald Searle |
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1960 4 April "Rome" cover by George Giusti |
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1960 10 October "The South Pacific Volume 1" cover by George Giusti |
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1960 11 November"The South Pacific Volume 2" cover by George Giusti |
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1961 7 July "In Quest of America" |
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1961 10 October "Japan" |
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1962 2 February "The Californian Desert" cover by Samuel Martin |
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1962 4 April"Washington D.C." cover by George Giusti |
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1962 8 August |
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1962 12 December |
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1963 4 April"Ireland" cover by George Giusti |
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1963 8 August "The Rocky Mountains" |
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1964 10 October"Germany" cover by George Giusti |
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1964 April "Canada: Hudson's Bay"by Ronal Searle |
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1964 October "Germany: Black Forest" by Ronald Searle |
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1965 1 January "Travel Europe 1965" |
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1965 2 February"A Lively Look at Palm Springs" cover by Ronald Searle |
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1965 4 April "Spain" cover by George Giusti |
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1965 5 May "Rome as the Romans Saw It" cover by Benito Montresor |
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1965 7 July "Richard Bissell's Lightning Tour of America" |
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1965 10 October "California without clichés" cover by Samuel Maitin |
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1965 11 November "Limericks by Ogden Nash" |
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1965 December "Hawaii, Honolulu" by Ronald Searle |
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1965 December "Hawaii: Hotel Street, Honolulu" by Ronald Searle |
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1966 1 January"Travel Europe: The Mediterranean Coast" cover by George Giusti |
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1966 6 June "Zambia" cover by George Giusti |
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1966 September "Morocco: Family. Casablanca" by Ronald Searle |
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1967 3 March "The New Chicago" Sculpture by Pablo Picasso |
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1967 10 October "Crisp Fall Reading"cover by Samuel Martin |
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1967 12 December "Israel" cover by Joan Miró |
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1967 November cover by Milton Glaser (Pushpin Studio, NY) |
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1968 1 January "Travel Europe 1968" cover by Ronald Searle |
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1968 9 September"Lincoln Center" cover by Seymour Chwast(Pushpin Studio, NY) |
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1968 Augustcover by Benito Montresor |
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1969 9 September |
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1970 5 May "America" |