After 15 years of Belgian control, Thos. Cook & Son, that uniquely British institution, became all-British again. The British Custodian of Enemy Property sold its impounded shares to the big four British railways,* turned over its banking business (travelers' checks, etc.) to Grindlay's private bank. Cook's most valuable asset-its name-stayed put.
Thomas Cook, a teetotaler printer and lecturer, began his famed endeavor 101 years ago. He chartered a Midland Railway excursion train to carry a temperance convention from Leicester to Loughborough (24 miles) for a shilling a head. A Cook's tour from Leicester to the then-remote wilds...