#denison gift

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This program commemorated the coronation of Elizabeth Windsor, as Queen Elizabeth II of England, on June 2, 1953. At the same ceremony, she assumed the title of ‘Sovereign’ of most Commonwealth nations. To this day, the Queen holds sixteen regnal titles and dozens of honorifics.

The program features photos of the Royal Family, poems, songs, an overview of coronation procedures, and a history of monarchal and imperial coronations in Britain. It comes to us as part of the Barbara Denison collection. Ms. Denison was present at the coronation and was a lifelong collector of Royal Family memorabilia. 

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These travel booklets from throughout the UK were collected by Barbara Denison over the course of three decades, part of a larger collection consisting of dozens of volumes. Text-dense and diagram-heavy guides like these were meant to both give guidance while visiting and act as inexpensive momentos afterwards. Most of the booklets in the collection concern cathedrals, abbeys, and ruined castles that Denison visited over the course of her travels.

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This Shetland guidebook was published in the early 1960s, and was purchased by Barbara Denison during one of her visits to England around that time. The book includes a comprehensive list of local attractions and businesses. It is also full of ads, like the ones pictured here, which give us a good idea of the kinds of goods and services available to tourists in that period. 

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We found this buried deep in an unsorted box of Denison collection materials. It appears to be an authentic commemorative ribbon for Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. Barbara Dension, whose gift contains much royal family memorabilia, was present during the Queen’s coronation and during the Silver Jubilee proceedings. The jubilee was celebrated throughout the year and was marked by royal visits to 36 different countries. However, the bulk of the celebration occurred during the month of June, which corresponds with the Queen’s ‘official birthday’ - Her Majesty was in fact born in April. 

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This menu from a restaurant in Lincoln, England, given to us as part of the Denison gift, is dated June 3, 1970. Prices are listed in the form of “[shillings]/[pence],” with one shilling in 1970 = $0.88 in 2017, and one British penny in 1970 =  $0.07 in 2017. 

Notable menu items include “Avocado Pear, Prawn Mayonnaise,” “Cold Ham, Tongue, Roast Beef and Salad,” “Pilaff of Chicken Livers Oriental,” and, of course, “Steak & Kidney Pudding.”

Oddly, "Ravioli with Parmesan” is listed as an egg dish.

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Continuing our fascination with tourist memorabilia in the Barbara Denison gift, we share a promotional booklet for the Queen’s Hotel in Penzance, likely from the 1960s. The hotel boasts that some guest suites have private bathrooms and views of ‘The Lizard’ - the southernmost point of contiguous England. Anticipating visitors from America and throughout Europe, the booklet is presented in English, French, and German. 

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Many items in the Denison collection can act as glimpses into the history of global tourism, these being no exceptions. The first is a brochure for tours offered by the Swan Tour Company in 1970, while the second is a complete itinerary for the “Roman Britain” tour.