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Colourful South Africa is a charming mid-century photographic souvenir album showcasing fifty-four colour images of South Africa’s landscapes, cities, industries, wildlife and cultural attractions, produced by the South African Tourist Corporation for international promotion.
1 in stock
Colourful South Africa is a beautifully conceived tourism publication produced by the South African Tourist Corporation to promote the Republic of South Africa to overseas visitors during the mid-twentieth century. Presented in an attractive landscape format and featuring fifty-four colour photographs, this volume captures a fascinating visual snapshot of South Africa during a period of rapid development and growing international tourism.
Colourful South Africa showcase many of the country’s most recognisable attractions, including scenic mountain landscapes, coastal destinations, wildlife, modern cities, agricultural regions and industrial achievements. Publications such as this were distributed internationally through South African Tourist Corporation offices around the world and served as important ambassadors for the country’s tourism industry.
Particularly interesting is the list of overseas tourist offices included within the publication, with representations in London, New York, Beverly Hills, Frankfurt, Salisbury and Sydney. The reference to Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, together with the South African Tourist Corporation’s use of “Republic of South Africa”, suggests publication during the 1960s, making Colourful South Africa an appealing period piece for collectors of South African history, travel ephemera and tourism memorabilia.
The striking red-and-black cover design, featuring gold-stamped decorative motifs, differs from other known editions and demonstrates the variety of cover styles issued for this title. Today, these souvenir albums provide an evocative record of how South Africa presented itself to the international travel market during the golden age of illustrated tourism publications.
An attractive and increasingly collectible item for enthusiasts of Africana, vintage travel publications, South African photography, tourism history and mid-century graphic design.
Condition – Poor
Undated landscape-format hardcover. Covers show wear and marking. Binding compromised with some loose pages present. General age-related wear and handling marks. Internally largely clean with the photographic plates remaining attractive. A reading and reference copy of this increasingly uncommon South African tourism publication.
