Brochures is the largest series in this collection, 2,833 items dating from the 1880s to the 1970s, mostly from the 1930s to the 1960s. Boxes 1-63.

The brochures consist of printed items from one to many pages describing the attractions, and local business offerings by geographical location. This series is organized by State, with some States being further divided by subseries such as Cities and Towns, or regions such as Atlantic Coast, or Catskills.

The early part of the twentieth century saw a boom in travel in the United States. Traveling by passenger train, air travel or in your own automobile, Americans were eager to explore the country. Tourism bureaus invited tourists to visit by distributing colorful travel brochures describing the wonders of their location.

The golden age of the travel brochure was pre-World War II, producing the most artistically interesting and vibrant examples. While brochures continued to be produced abundantly post war, they tended to be less extravagant. The travel brochure is an often overlooked form of commercial art. Mundane places are turned into places of fantasy. While the texts are advertising copy often full of clichés and exaggeration these brochures often record a place, experience or era once shared by a large audience of travelers.

Related item: See the USA : the art of the American travel brochure / John Margolies, Eric Baker. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c2000.