A package deal

For five decades, northern Europeans have participated in an annual ritual unknown in most other parts of the world: the selection of the family's package holiday.

They have thumbed through colorful catalogs that advertise vacation packages and are filled with photos of inviting beaches and seashore hotels. Then they have chosen a destination for a fortnight's getaway.

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Spain for a c-note, air fare included

Two weeks on Spain's Costa del Sol, everything included. Price: 40 British pounds—or about $100 (U.S.).

As I thumbed through the Lunn Poly catalog of package holidays that rainy November day back in 1969 in England, I thought there must be a mistake. But a look at other advertised packages in the booklet reassured me this was the going rate.

For $100, I would get a round-trip flight from Luton Airport near London to Malaga, Spain; a room in a Mediterranean beachfront hotel at Torremolinas; three meals a day; ground transportation; and even two sightseeing trips to local attractions. It seemed an answer to a prayer for me, a recent American college grad spending my second dreary winter as an underpaid journalist in an industrial town near London.

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