Special thanks to Serenity Stitchworks today for the following guest post on the history of travel posters. Morocco has long been a favorite travel destination, as evidenced by the abundance of vintage travel posters that were created. Visit our Green Olive Arts Moroccan Travel Posters board on Pinterest to see some of our favorite travel poster works of art.
“Posters reflect our culture and are like visual graphic icons of the times in which they were created.” ~ Robin Shepherd, travel poster collector.
Travel posters not only advertised travel destinations, they were used by hotels, airlines, railroads and tourism companies to graphically represent themselves to the public. Many of them were considered works of art and ranged in style from art nouveau to mid-century modern.
Railroads, ocean liners and airplanes, the technologic marvels of the early 20th century, inspired pleasurable and luxurious travel, and gave people the freedom to explore the world. This sparked the “Golden Age of Travel” which lasted until the outbreak of World War II.
At the same time the lithographic printing process was developed which was ideally suited to producing posters. They combined large images with bold text and were a very effective medium to inspire travelers to explore the world. They were prominently displayed on kiosks and in the train stations of Europe and America.
In 1935, the gigantic ocean liner, S.S. Normandie, was launched, which inaugurated a new era in transatlantic travel. It set new standards of luxury, speed, steadiness, comfort and safety. It was the largest liner afloat and was different in almost every respect. It was a new kind of ocean liner and was considered the epitome of luxurious travel.
Then came the era of intercontinental air travel. This began after World War II and afforded travelers a more timely arrival at their destination.
This was a boom time for travel posters, and they could be found everywhere. Since then, they have undergone many transformations in design. At first they were a jumble of images and text and crowded with information. By the early 1900s, Hugo d’Alesi (France), Emile Cardinaux (Switzerland) and Adolfo Hohenstein (Italy) simplified the travel poster by using fewer details which added power to the message. By the 1920s, A. M. Cassandre, his pupil Fix-Masseau, Tom Purvis, Frank Newbould and other artists transformed the travel poster from illustration to symbol. Posters continue to evolve with new methods and ideas and will always be a major part of our world.
We can quickly jet across the globe today; and sadly, the romanticism of travel has been lost. Perhaps the best place for inspiration comes from the past. The old days of travel and exploring foreign lands was left to the select few who could afford it, and the rest were left to dream.
Travel posters are one of the most popular areas of poster collecting today. More than any other poster category, they awaken our dreams of adventure, beauty and wanderlust.
Some of our favorite Travel Posters can be see at the following link: Travel Poster Patterns