Tourism - Selling the Known and the Mysterious

Today I offer a Southern Pacific Railroad broadside promoting California tourism. This example, a William Howard Bull print from 1897, features elements of the known: Christianity, combined with the foreignness of Spanish mission architecture. This type of imagery proved enticing indeed for well-to-do easterners looking to broaden their life experiences with a trip to the Pacific coast. Many found the region so appealing that they stuck around (and gave me something to write about...thanks).

But whether they stayed temporarily or set up housekeeping one thing is for sure: tourism never really faded. Anyone trying to find a parking place on a weekend day in Hollywood can attest to that.

With compliments,

Keith