tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post7264096142743666526..comments2024-03-29T15:04:20.549+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: Thomas Cook, inventor of the package tour.Helshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-47243562156119382032023-02-10T22:30:38.160+11:002023-02-10T22:30:38.160+11:00Goadsworld
you are welcome. History of the era is...Goadsworld<br /><br />you are welcome. History of the era is important in its own right, but Thomas Cook was and is an important role model still.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-64182674296060035252023-02-10T11:38:51.852+11:002023-02-10T11:38:51.852+11:00Nice blogspot thanking for making nice blog.. Will...Nice blogspot thanking for making nice blog.. Will visit again Goadsworlda@gmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-53768095497482170942013-02-06T13:08:13.730+11:002013-02-06T13:08:13.730+11:00Jake
That is so true.
Some of my most popular pos...Jake<br /><br />That is so true.<br />Some of my most popular posts in this blog have been about train trips. It is a personal goal of mine to go on all the best trips..in 2012 it was Barcelona to Madrid to Lisbon. I loved every moment!Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-13947189815456411432013-02-05T20:31:00.692+11:002013-02-05T20:31:00.692+11:00He sounds like quite a character! What better way ...He sounds like quite a character! What better way to teach young people about him and to encourage travel than to arrange <a href="http://www.voyagerschooltravel.com/" title="school tours" rel="nofollow">school tours</a> by rail? It could be an adventure for lots of us.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02565443533157078742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-15822302649170574852011-08-16T15:48:31.878+10:002011-08-16T15:48:31.878+10:00Andrew
you are quite right! It has gone into the ...Andrew<br /><br />you are quite right! It has gone into the language.<br /><br />A Cook's Tour is a guided but cursory tour of the major features of a site new to the viewer. The rushed nature, implied in the expression, sounds derogatory to me. <br /><br />It reminds me of those upper class critics who had endless months themselves to tour. They hated it when the middle classes, by virtue of travelling in an organised Cookian way, “profaned the very sanctity of the monuments they visited”.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-27205089390600340602011-08-16T12:32:00.938+10:002011-08-16T12:32:00.938+10:00I don't think the obvious has been mentioned. ...I don't think the obvious has been mentioned. A Cook's tour, seeing many places or things in one go. eg We went on a Cook's tour of the city. Unfashionable phrase now, I suppose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-14752272686319923662011-08-15T13:45:35.342+10:002011-08-15T13:45:35.342+10:00Emm
it is so true. Historians assume they know ev...Emm<br /><br />it is so true. Historians assume they know everything about history; fine arts scholars assume they know everyting about art and architecture etc etc. The truth is that there is so much to know and so little time to learn it in.<br /><br />Blogging helps enormously because the posts are usually under 1000 words and can be read in one sitting. Books cannot.<br /><br />I am knee deep in Vienna, the Secession and the Workshops at the moment. If ever I think I know all that stuff, reading clarifies that I do not!!Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-48524772866191403982011-08-15T00:48:49.726+10:002011-08-15T00:48:49.726+10:00What a stunning post! I had no idea that Thomas Co...What a stunning post! I had no idea that Thomas Cook was such an established company and that they had such a history.Mandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11931248631361366673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-68877224382925113142011-08-14T02:02:14.909+10:002011-08-14T02:02:14.909+10:00Dr Doolan
The assumption of the superiority of we...Dr Doolan<br /><br />The assumption of the superiority of wetsern civilisation must have been a very ambivalent experience for Cook's tourists. On one hand, they definitely wanted to visit the antique, the exotic, the precious relics of very foreign nations. One the other hand, the planned and paid for everything before they left home - familiar food, "suitable" hotels, membership in European-only sporting clubs.<br /><br />Interestingly Thomas Cook Co was able to offer a 212 day Round the World Tour in 1872. The steamship crossed the Atlantic, stage coach crossd the USA to the westcoast, then paddle steamer to Japan and an overland trip across China and India. India yes, but I was surprised and delighted that clients queued up to see China.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-54170345635594037752011-08-13T20:21:16.996+10:002011-08-13T20:21:16.996+10:00Really enjoyed this post Helen. I collect Thomas ...Really enjoyed this post Helen. I collect Thomas Cook guidebooks from the 19th century to World War Two. Two things strike me regarding these guides. Firstly, how chock-ablock full their suggested iteneraries were - very little time to sip a a coffee. Secondly, the assumption of the superiority of wetsern civilization - the rest of the world is simply an exotic panorame for our amusement.P. M. Doolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16673509230835222713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-57970248434888731522011-08-13T11:19:35.201+10:002011-08-13T11:19:35.201+10:00Hermes
thanks for the reference.
Nationalisation...Hermes<br />thanks for the reference. <br /><br />Nationalisation of trains, bridges, docks, shipping, canals etc I can understand and agree with. But I wonder why Thomas Cook was included. Other travel agents didn't seem to be.<br /><br />If Thomas Cook was up in heaven watching the events of the post-war years, I bet he wasn't happy.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-37078304784869336162011-08-13T02:34:11.668+10:002011-08-13T02:34:11.668+10:00http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AThomas_Cook
h...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AThomas_Cook<br /><br />http://www.railwaybritain.co.uk/nationalisation.html<br /><br />Can't find a long explanation but part of the large programe of the time. They're not doing very well at the moment:<br /><br />http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jul/12/thomas-cook-profit-warning-middle-east-unrestHermeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968366076064269729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-67212128147461538912011-08-13T01:32:15.875+10:002011-08-13T01:32:15.875+10:00Hermes,
oohh thank you. I wasn't going to men...Hermes,<br /><br />oohh thank you. I wasn't going to mention any innovations after Thomas died, but of course they introduced circular notes or traveller's cheques way back in 1874!! I must be getting old.<br /><br />Why would a travel company be nationalised?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-7004280589894680782011-08-13T01:26:55.217+10:002011-08-13T01:26:55.217+10:00We Travel
Egypt was the perfect place. A few year...We Travel<br /><br />Egypt was the perfect place. A few years after the Suez Canal was built in 1869, the British government bought the indebted Egyptian ruler's shares. Britain was on route to making Egypt red. Outright British occupation came in 1882 and later a formal protectorate was established. <br /><br />In addition, Cook’s tourists could enjoy British horse races, polo games, lovely hotels and exotic antiquities. Have a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/24122157@N08/3416358401/<br /><br />Venice was also very popular.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-65021463678949363392011-08-12T20:10:20.622+10:002011-08-12T20:10:20.622+10:00Great post Helen. He actually became a Baptist Min...Great post Helen. He actually became a Baptist Minister and a small point he introduced travellers cheques which are so useful today. The company was nationalised in 1948 and nearly went under. I worked near their HO in Peterbough - not a good company to work for unfortunately so I was told.Hermeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968366076064269729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-7509537189699256702011-08-12T17:58:53.686+10:002011-08-12T17:58:53.686+10:00Why did Cook select slighty seedy Egypt and Turkey...Why did Cook select slighty seedy Egypt and Turkey. I would have thought that elegant France, Italy and Switzerland would have been more congenial.We Travelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-72509093012018287622011-08-12T12:19:11.052+10:002011-08-12T12:19:11.052+10:00foto fanatic
isn't that the truth! Thomas Coo...foto fanatic<br /><br />isn't that the truth! Thomas Cook did not come from a well connected family nor did he have any serious education; he was thrown into the labour market at 10!<br /><br />Yet because of his religious convictions, hard work and great ideas, he found many opportunities for people to uplift themselves culturally and morally. The rest, as they say, is history!<br /><br />He is lucky that his only child was just as committed to making a success of the business. Otherwise Thomas Cook and Son would have been a one-generation wonder. In other families, the son just wanted to race horses or get drunk or surf.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-65862030440962669712011-08-12T12:10:35.491+10:002011-08-12T12:10:35.491+10:00Andrew
thanks :)
I knew a great deal about trave...Andrew<br /><br />thanks :)<br /><br />I knew a great deal about travel opportunities for monied families a la Grand Tour, but that was always going to be for just a very small section of the population.<br /><br />What Thomas Cook showed was that ordinary middle class families could save up and go on an interesting holiday, often distant from home.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-8160610139191688342011-08-12T10:39:19.305+10:002011-08-12T10:39:19.305+10:00Yes, I agree with Andrew. The name is a byword eve...Yes, I agree with Andrew. The name is a byword even today, but my knowledge of the man was next to zero. Thanks for filling in the gaps.<br /><br />And isn't there a lesson to be had? The smallest idea can start a revolution.the foto fanatichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17234840691455844914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-50912519850764275972011-08-12T09:22:51.937+10:002011-08-12T09:22:51.937+10:00Who hasn't heard of Thomas Cook Travel but who...Who hasn't heard of Thomas Cook Travel but who knew anything about him? Nice work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com