We’re not Pinterest junkies or addicts, and we don’t do a lot (anything, really) to promote a following of our boards, but we do have some pretty nifty travel-related Pinterest boards, like our Where We’ve Been board (with mostly pins of our own photos) and our Where We Want To Go board. We also have a nice little Airliners board. But the board we spend most of our time admiring our own pinning work is our Vintage Travel Posters board.
You know the posters we’re talking about: those colorful advertising posters meant to entice you to consider a vacation to an exotic or breathtakingly beautiful location. The posters that are truly vintage travel advertisements (or at least copies of the originals) often date from the thirties to the fifties, when the exploding airline industry suddenly put places like the Caribbean and Hawaii in reach of middle class Americans. With a little more saving or a little more good career fortune, Americans could ogle over the previously unseen sights of South America or the South Pacific and dream of a visit.
The posters sometimes were printed by the governments or tourism departments of the destinations, but often they were produced and distributed by the travel industry, particularly the airlines. Names of bygone companies–like Pan Am, TWA, or Braniff–allow us regular travelers to reminisce over those more romantic days of travel.
Vintage travel posters often only evoked imagery of the destinations instead of specific landmarks. Jungle vegetation gives a tropical feel to the Caribbean poster above (do you say Care-uh-BEE-uhn, or CUH-rib-ee-uhn?) Unless of course the posters were for London or Paris, and in that case images of Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower have always been obligatory (respectively, of course).
If the poster sports a native, they must always be donned in cultural garb, as if all Scotsmen still where kilts and scraggly red beards and all Cuban ladies wear leggy, wavy dresses and play maracas with a smile. Some promoted specific events: world fairs were vary popular subjects.
But in all cases, these vintage posters (some are modern creations in a “vintage style”) are just plain fun. And for good reason: after all, who wants to go somewhere not fun?
A few of our other Pinterest boards:
Airports and Train Stations – Awesome architecture in airports and train stations
Colorful Food – Eye-popping eats and drinks
Doors & Stairs – Who knew doors and stairs could be so picturesque?
Cruise Ships and Ocean Liners – In and around really big boats
Scooters! – What’s more fun than a scooter?
