But the vibrant fabric of Queensland’s identity and the wash up of how it has evolved during decades of tourism campaigns is about to get a full airing when the State Library of Queensland unveils a collection of hundreds of vintage souvenir tea towels.

The “Queensland to a T” exhibition of “textile art” from 6 August showcases the story of Queensland, from the state’s coastal holiday hotspots to regional heritage landmarks and experiences, told through tea towels.

The tea towels are splashed with images of the tourism pleasures of the Gold Coast, Cairns, Mackay, Bundaberg and Gin Gin through to state-defining events such as the 1982 Commonwealth Games or Expo ’88.

Queensland locations from Birdsville to Thursday Island feature on the tea towels produced from the 1950s through to the modern day.

Drawn from the 1500-strong Queensland tea towel collection of art historian and curator Glenn Cooke, the collection is understood to be the only one of its kind in the world.

Cooke said it celebrates the nostalgia of the affordable and functional souvenir art and how they captured the visual identity of the state.

“One of the things about tea towels as a souvenir is that people have an idea to take something from a place that they had a good experience of and tea towels are ideal because you can fold them up, put them away, and store them in memory. Or you can actually use them,” Cooke said.

“A lot of tea towels have been used to death and thrown away, but the things that survive are how we construct our idea of the past.”

Cooke said the tea towels gave a unique insight into how the cities and regions saw themselves and how Queensland appealed to visitors.

“Tea towels are still being produced. A lot of them are not necessarily as specifically tourism, but they are still reflecting the visual culture of Queensland,” Cooke said.

“They’re more related to location, asserting what you might say is their regional identity.”

The Queensland to a T exhibition at the State Library is open from 6 August to early next year.