"This edition of The Herald Road Guide, produced under the auspices of the Herald Touring Club and managed by Douglas H. Day, dates to 1963, as evidenced by the internal map credit "Herald Copyright - Sale 63" and period advertising, pricing in shillings, and pre-STD telephone numbers throughout.
This compact but comprehensive road guide captures Australia at a pivotal moment in post-war motoring culture, when long-distance car travel was becoming increasingly accessible to the public. It details the main Victorian roads and major interstate highways linking Melbourne with Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Adelaide, Perth and Alice Springs, combining practical town-to-town mileages with clear strip maps and regional overviews. The inclusion of Melbourne city street maps, regional Victorian destinations, and scenic routes such as the Lakes Entrance to Cann River drive provides a vivid snapshot of mid-century travel planning before the era of modern freeways and GPS navigation.
Beyond its cartographic value, the guide is rich in period advertising that firmly anchors it in early-1960s Australia, featuring motels, banks, automotive products, and government tourist bureaux, all reflecting the optimism and mobility of the time. These advertisements, together with the typography and graphic design, make the book as much a social document as a functional road atlas. This copy would particularly appeal to collectors of Australian motoring history, mid-century travel ephemera, Herald publications, and anyone with an interest in pre-freeway Australian road culture."
