Sunset Magazine

"Sunset Magazine... is the only magazine that faithfully tells, by pictures and text, of the wonders of California, and of the Nation's western border land. ... If you want to learn of California and the West read SUNSET regularly."

Sunset Magazine, a work of the Southern Pacific Company, began publishing in 1898. Established to add gloss to the rough image of the West--and to add allure to places such as California as travel destinations--the magazine was a blend of travelog, poetry rag, history essay and train travel advert. Google Books currently has volume 1-35 (with a few volumes missing) available in full view.

Much as the magazine does today (overtly, in its motto: "Sunset is the premier resource for achieving the ultimate Western lifestyle"), the historical editions presented to travelers an harmonized, if seemingly achievable, sense of Western ideals. Nature, adventure, technology, ease, and comfort all co-mingle in its pages, in an attempt to sell the West as a set of possibilities as much as a gathering of geographic places.

For researchers, the pages present an interesting perspective on the selling of the West, while providing a treasure trove of travel writing and photography. The advertisements alone are worth perusal, and offer a chance to imagine yourself a passenger westbound on the overland, covetous, perhaps, of the sleek new 1916 Hudson...



or dreaming of a camping trip with the family...



or planning your next train trip...