North Carolina Zoological Park, Asheboro NC

Kudos to the North Carolina Zoological Park for their design work on this brochure. While the front is a bit lacking, the inside shows a design esthetic ahead of its late 1980's production.

There's one important footnote on this brochure that was key to my entire collection. If you look carefully at the bottom of the back panel, you'll see

"250,000 copies of this public document were printed at a total cost of $8,935 or $.036 per copy."

Why was this important? Well certain states/organizations provided this information, allowing me to roughly gauge how rare a brochure was, and how much it was worth. So I could get excited that this one was "worth" 3.6 cents. Hey, this whole collection might be worth $12.00! At a young age I had a keen sense of the worth of objects, even if I was still naive enough to think I was sitting on a pile of gold. Twelve dollars!

Lexington North Carolina, Davidson County

I don't know that this brochure would convince me to stop at Lexington, or Davidson County, but it certainly shows the people who lived there, or at least their Chamber of Commerce, had great pride in their hometown.

Morehead Planetarium, 1986-1987

My favorite part of this 1986 - 1987 brochure for the Morehead Planetarium at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has nothing to do with planetarium programs. No, it's the full panel, customized Hardee's ad on the back that makes it all worth it. Unless I'm missing something, the good folks at Hardee's must've commissioned this space-themed ad just for this publication. Kudos to them for sponsoring the planetarium, and doing it in a way that actually ties into the theme of space...



Also, if anyone out there saw the show, I'd love to know more about this "Cosmic Cat" and his friend Astro Owl.

St. Augustine Florida: Our Nation's First City

I've always thought it must be tough for St. Augustine to lure visitors off of Interstate 95. After all, if you're headed to a Florida beach by car, you're probably going to Daytona Beach, just down the road, yet far enough that you want to keep driving. And let's not forget that other Florida attraction. If you've got a car full of kids, and Disney World is less than two hours away, would you stop and potentially have to deal with the whiny kids while you explore history?

For those who do venture to St. Augustine, it's a fine destination with a lighthouse (worth the climb) and a Ripley's Believe it Or Not. St. Augustine takes pride in its claim as "Our Nation's First City" although I've never seen people walking around in period garb as shown in this brochure.



Also, without this pamphlet, I would've never known that Hastings Florida is "Potato Capitol of the world." I know some folks in Peru who may take issue with that claim.

Idlewild Park, Ligonier, PA

Idlewild Park. Sadly I was just a little too old to appreciate you when I found your brochure in the late 80's. My seven year-old niece though, is a big fan today.

This brochure doesn't necessarily show just how geared this park is toward kids under ten. Today, it's made more obvious.



While attractions have been added through the years, including Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, most of the attractions pictured here still remain. The H2OHHH Zone is now the Soak Zone. Otherwise, why change a good thing? After all, Idlewild is consistently recognized as one of the best parks in the world (yes, world) for kids.

Share your thoughts on visiting or working at Idlewild below!

Sunshine Key Camping Resort, Florida

If you only make a quick glance at this brochure, it looks like Sunshine Key Camping Resort is a fairly run of the mill campground. Sure there's amenities like a fishing pier, diving gear, and boat rental that might give away it's proximity to the water. (Not to mention the word "Key" in the name.)

It's not until you look at the picture on the back that the true selling point become obvious: Sunshine Key isn't a campground on an island/key, it IS the island!

Sunshine Key still exists today, and it probably ranks as one of the most unique campground locations in the U.S. I'd love to make the trip sometime. It doesn't look like everyone shares my enthusiasm for the place, though. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a website for Sunshine Key.

God's Country: Potter County

I don't know what year this brochure was produced, but the photo copyright says 1979. I suppose being that it's God's Country, there should be some sort of timelessness to it.

Anyhow, Potter Country Pa, continues today to consider itself God's Country. I've never entirely understood who the rest of the country belongs to if God had been relegated to a small county in Pennsylvania. At any rate, Potter County did, and continues to represent some of the most unspoiled land in Pa.

Expo '86: The 1986 World Exposition

I'm a longtime fan of the 1964-65 World's Fair. As a kid, this brochure made me think the grand old days of the World's Fair were back. The 1986 World Exposition or Expo '86 brochure heralded "The U.S.A. U.S.S.R. and the People's Republic of China together on one site." For me though, it was the wonders of transportation and technology the Expo promised that appealed to me. One-day tickets cost $15, with a season ticket available for $86. "Children 5 years and under admitted free!"



Sadly given the distance, and the relatively short duration of the fair (May 2 - Oct 13, 1986) I didn't get to go. I did recently get to go to the site of the 1964 fair. But that's a story for another day...




Did you go to the Expo? Share your experience in the comments.

Sunbird Towers Condominiums, Panama City, 1987

This brochure for the Sunbird Towers Condominiums in Panama City from 1987, makes a lot of use of white space, long before it was a hip design trend. I think Sunbird's choice may have less to do with design esthetics, and more to do with not having much to say. After all, once you've made it clear that you offer cable TV and HBO, haven't you said it all?


The pictures also tend to indicate the rooms are more crowded than the beach. And what a cold and un-inviting beach it seems to be. They must have done something right, because The Sunbird Towers still exist today, and it's interesting to see how the surrounding area has changed.

Any current/former Sunbird residents out there?

Peony Park, Omaha Nebraska The Place to Party!

I have no idea how this brochure got into the collection. I've never been to Peony Park, nor even Omaha for that matter. There was a time in which I would send away to different attractions, hoping to get a brochure in return, so that could explain it.

This 1987 brochure has two covers. Open the brochure in one direction, and you learn about Peony Park, which apparently had some sort of bee/wasp as a mascot. Or is that a character borrowed from The Jetsons? It looks like there were several smaller rides at the park. It's interesting to note the cover calls this the "new" Peony Park. Little did they know that in 1994, there would be a new park, as the old location (8100 Cass St.) was boarded up in 1993, and the park re-opened in 1994 at a new location, according to rcdb.com



In 1987, admission was $1.50 per person, with all-day ride passes of $8.95. You could also get the $11.95 party pass and gain access to the swimming pool and water slides. During regular season, the park was open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Free parking! You can find out more about the history of the park, including it's footnote in segregation history, here.


If you open the brochure from the other direction, you learn about "The Royal Terrace Ballroom at the NEW Peony Park." It's strange, but somehow photos of food tend to date brochures more than anything, except clothing styles. Theres nothing wrong with the steak and potato featured on this cover, and yet something just doesn't feel contemporary about it.


Inside we learn the ballroom can seat up to 1800, and you can choose from "a simple menu to a gourmet delight." Ah! It all comes together! It looks like the focus of this brochure was to promote Peony Park as a party destination, combining the Party Pass option with the Royal Terrace Ballroom.

So who visited Peony Park? Were the meals at the Royal Terrace as tasty as promised? Leave a comment below!

Luray Caverns, Va. Circa 1988

Despite having this brochure for over 20 years, and despite Luray Caverns being less than a five hour drive, I still haven't made the trip. (If anyone from Luray is reading this, I'd love to come down and shoot video of the caverns for the site.)

Just look at those mighty stalagtites/mites on the front. I've seen the Luray Caverns brochures many times over the years, and it still features the same front cover photo. And rightfully so.

It's also fun to see the detailed map inside. After all, this was produced well before GPS and Mapquest and all that good stuff. It was smart for attractions to include a map, and all the better if it made it clear just how easy it was to visit in a day.








Have you been to Luray Caverns? Leave your comments below!

Welcome To Folded Memories

My family did a lot of travel by car when I was young. Inevitably, this meant a lot of stops at highway rest areas. For me, each stop was an adventure. Yes, I was excited to visit at some of the shadiest (and some of the nicest) rest areas around. Why? Because I devised a hobby to keep myself entertained: I began collecting attraction brochures. Each stop meant another chance to add to the collection.

I've heard from others that they did the same thing. Unlike others though, through some amount of luck, I managed to keep most of those brochures and pamphlets to this day. Some were for places I visited many times. Others I only visited in the brilliant hues of these trifold pamphlets. Now they serve as a time machine of sorts. I hope if you've visited the places shown, that you'll comment below each one, and help bring back the memories across the years of these special, and in some cases, infamous places.