Company Archives

Handbooks, programmes and brochures, 1845-present

Our main series of brochures begins in 1889 and, apart from a few small gaps, continues uninterrupted right up to the present day. This is the most extensive collection in the Archives, numbering several thousand items and covering most holiday destinations around the world. We also hold a small number of 'handbooks', forerunners of the holiday brochure, the earliest of which was published in connection with a trip to Liverpool in 1845. These small booklets contain detailed itineraries, descriptions of the chief places of interest along the route and lists of suitable hotels and boarding houses.

Copies of Cook's Excursionist newspaper, 1851-1902, and its successor, The Traveller's Gazette magazine, 1902-39 First issued by Thomas Cook to promote his trips to London's Great Exhibition in 1851, Cook's Excursionist provides page after page of detailed itineraries, fares, lists of hotels and Cook's offices, testimonial letters, accounts of tours, advertisements and editorial comment. The monthly issues of this publication, which was eventually issued in 13 separate editions around the world, document not only the expansion of Thomas Cook's business but also the early development of tourism itself. As such, this is probably the most important collection in the Archives.

Travellers' incidental records (ephemera), 1851-present A wonderful miscellany of itineraries, tickets, hotel coupons, luggage labels, menus, circular notes and handbills issued to Cook's tourists.

Travellers' diaries (originals and copies), 1855-1980 Many of Cook's early tourists maintained written accounts of their travels and adventures. Around 35 of these diaries, including those of Miss Jemima Morrell (who accompanied Thomas Cook on his first trip to Switzerland in 1863) and Miss Riggs (who went on the first Cook's Tour of Egypt and the Holy Land in 1869), may be consulted in the Archives.

Photographs of premises, staff and travellers, 1860s-1970s We have an extensive collection of historical photographs of Cook's offices around the world (mostly exterior shots), the majority of which date from the first half of the 20th century. We also hold photographs of Cook's tourists (mostly in Egypt) and staff from the late 19th century.

Company business records, 1870s-present Relatively few business records survive in the Thomas Cook Archives. The main series include agreement books (1871-1929), John Mason Cook's correspondence (1870s-1890s), board minute books (from 1924) and annual reports (from 1947). We also hold detailed information about Thomas Cook's sale to Wagons-Lits in 1928 and the company's arrangements with the British Government during and immediately after World War Two. Our most extensive collection of business records, however, relates to Thomas Cook's operations in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Railway timetables, 1873-present First published in March 1873, Cook's Continental Time Tables and Tourist's Handbook listed details of all the main railway, diligence and steamship routes across Europe. The handbook soon became a regular publication and today, more than 125 years later, Thomas Cook's European Timetable is still produced every month; a companion volume, Thomas Cook's Overseas Timetable, is also published six times a year. Copies of the earliest timetables (1873-75) may be consulted in the Archives, along with almost every issue from 1946 to the present. Our collection for the period 1909-1939 is also extensive, but unfortunately we hold only two further examples from the late Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Travellers' guidebooks, 1874-present Thomas Cook published his first guidebooks - for 'Switzerland' and 'Holland, Belgium & the Rhine' - in 1874. These guides were designed to provide relevant information for tourists, particularly those travelling under Thomas Cook's own arrangements, and were not intended to rival the more comprehensive volumes of Murray or Baedeker. Cook's guides still proved very popular, however, and more than 30 titles (some revised many times) appeared over the next 65 years. Many of these pre-WW2 guidebooks are available to researchers in the Thomas Cook Archives, where they may be studied alongside their modern counterparts (still produced by Thomas Cook Publishing today).

Historical images Some 500 images from the Thomas Cook Archives are currently available as transparencies, on a loan basis only, to picture researchers and private individuals. (A smaller - but growing - selection of images is also available in digital format.) All the images have been taken from our collections of posters, brochures and photographs and cover an enormous range of tourist destinations and travel-related subjects.

Film material The Thomas Cook Archives retains a series of 45 short films used by the company in the 1950s and 1960s to promote overseas holidays to the new mass market. Video copies of these films may be viewed here by researchers. The original films are stored in the Huntley Film Archives in London (www.huntleyarchives.com) and any requests to use or reproduce this material should be directed there.

For further information about Thomas Cook's history or archives, please contact:

Paul Smith, Company Archivist
Thomas Cook Archives
The Thomas Cook Business Park
Coningsby Road
Peterborough
PE3 8SB
United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0) 1733 417350
Fax: +44 (0) 1733 416255

E-mail: paul.smith@thomascook.com

• The Thomas Cook Archives are open to researchers, by appointment only, from 10am to 4pm, Tuesdays to Thursdays (except public holidays).
• Space is limited, so it is advisable to contact the Archives at least one week before your proposed visit.
• All researchers must provide a written reference and sign a copy of our standard research form on their first visit.
• A copy of any work resulting from research in the Archives should be sent to the Archivist upon publication.

The Company Archives are situated within the Thomas Cook Business Park, roughly three miles north of Peterborough city centre. By Train

• Peterborough is on the main East Coast GNER line between London Kings Cross and the North.
• Visitors arriving by train should take a taxi from Peterborough station to the Thomas Cook Business Park in Bretton.
• On arrival, please ask for the Company Archives at the main reception desk.

By Car - From the A1(M) Northbound

• Remain on the A1(M) until the A1139 exit for Peterborough.
• Leave the A1139 at the third slip road exit (junction 3) and at the roundabout turn left onto the A1260.
• Proceed on the A1260 to the A47 (junction 15) and turn right to join the A47 towards Wisbech.
• Leave the A47 at the second slip road exit (junction 17) and at the roundabout turn left into Bretton Way.
• Proceed to the third roundabout and turn right into Stirling Way.
• Turn right into The Thomas Cook Business Park (Coningsby Road) and report to main reception (in unit 17).

By Car - From the A1 Southbound

• Leave the A1 at the exit for the A47 towards Peterborough.
• Remain on the A47 for 7½ miles before exiting at junction 17.
• At the roundabout turn left into Bretton Way, proceed to the third roundabout and turn right into Stirling Way.
• Turn right into The Thomas Cook Business Park (Coningsby Road) and report to main reception (in unit 17).

By Car - From the A47 (Leicester)

The A47 runs East from Leicester City Centre through to the A1. · Beyond the A1, see 'From the A1 Southbound' (above), point two.