Holiday camps on the coast are about childhood, about sand and shells and swimming in the sea. But just as often, they're also about children homesick far from home, families in poverty, and children who need to recuperate. So many memories often stir something in our visitors. You can still find a selection of the many, sometimes intensely emotional, reactions on the website about holiday camps on the Belgian coast .
Amsab-ISG also published a beautiful and richly illustrated work on the same subject. And although the book dates back to 2010, it's still in regular demand after all these years. We've arrived safely! Holiday colonies on the Belgian coast, 1887-1980 , as the title suggests, tells the story of the origins of the institutions that offered holidays on the Belgian coast, but within a broad historical context.
We read about the Freemasons of Les Amis Philantropes and the Université Libre de Bruxelles, who launched the first initiatives from Brussels, soon followed by other cities where liberals were in power. Later—also in the context of the School Struggle—the expansion to other political persuasions and pillars, ultimately resulting in an evolution from voluntary charity to structural support by mutual insurance companies. But we also read about medicalization, disciplining, and early trends in preventive medicine. This in-depth study provides a broader framework for the stories on the website and constitutes a necessary supplementary component.
Because our printed copy is gradually running out, we're happy to give this work a second life in digital form. You can read and download the entire book for free from our online catalog .
Martine VERMANDERE
We've arrived safely! Holiday camps on the Belgian coast, 1887-1980.
Ghent/Brussels: Amsab-ISG/ASP, 2010, 191 pp., illustrations, ISBN 978 90 5487 694 6.
