Vintage advertisement posters are much sought after, and have been recognized for their artistic merit as well giving us a chance to look at days gone by. There have even been dedicated exhibitions of such posters in art museums. I like these nostalgic images and will post a few grouped per theme. Today's theme is "airplanes". The image above is created via Photofunia and is free from copyright issues.
This recruitment poster dates from
April 1918, half a year before the so-called Great War ended, is probably one of the first advertisement posters to depict airplanes. I simply love the biplanes
from those days (a throwback to my childhood when I devoured the
Biggles pockets). No information about the designer unfortunately.
An awesome poster of a vintage airplane in Art Deco style - and for 'our' KLM. One of the early ones promoting travel by air. The design is by Charles Dickson, done in 1928.
When I came across this attractive Art Deco poster advertising the German national airline Lufthansa, I was intrigued by the spelling Luft Hansa - one I had never seen before. Turns out that the Lufthansa as we know it was formed as late as 1953, but that its predecessor was indeed Luft Hansa, which started in 1926. The poster must be from around 1930.
This poster was issued in 1930 to commemorate that France was the first country to establish commercial flights across the south Atalntic. To translate the cocky top line: "It is France who gives the world wings".
A beautiful Art Deco poster for the Swedish airline A-B Aerotransport. It is from 1932, but I could not get more information.
Here we have a different type of advertisement: rather than travel or transport, this poster is trying to find new students for the Dutch National Aviation School. It dates back to 1932.
Vintage travel posters are a delight to see, but they can also remind us
that the world can change a lot in a few decades. This poster from 1934
shows French pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry flying over
the Mekong delta in French Indochina - which just a few decades later
was in the headlines for years because of the Vietnam war. The design is
by Romain Hugault.
The Royal Dutch Airlines,
KLM, share their nickname The flying Dutchman with one of
Wagner's famous operas, and indeed the ship that plays the main role in
it features here as well. The poster, depicting the famous Douglas DC-3
airplane, is from 1938 - no information about the designer.
A beauty in many aspects, this Pan American travel poster from 1938, designed by Paul George Lawler. It was in the news a few years ago, because an original version was sold for $20,000.
A poster form the time that the Indonesian islands were still part of the Netyerlands. The KNILM (Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische
Luchtvaart Maatschappij = Royal Dutch Indies Airways) was not associated
with KLM by the way. The 1938 poster is by Jan Lavies.
This poster is from 1948 and promotes the French company Air-Fer who specialized in transporting packages by a combination of trains and planes. No information on the designer.
Copyright statement: posting lower quality vintage advertisement posters is deemed fair use.
