Vintage Travel Posters: The Art of an Earlier Era Is Still Collectible Today
As summer is winding down here in the United States, many people are already looking back fondly at the memories they made during vacations just a few short weeks or months ago. Photographs and souvenirs help preserve those memories once the summer has passed and ordinary daily life resumes. Travel for pleasure, with its sense of excitement and adventure, has been part of the American fabric of life for generations, so it comes as no surprise that travel-inspired memorabilia, such as vintage travel posters, is in demand today as collectible decorative items.
During the first half of the twentieth century, travel became more affordable and accessible to a larger number of people due to the establishment of cross-country railways and the development of commercial air and ocean liner transportation. This period of time became known as the Golden Age of Travel, as technology finally brought vacationing within the reach of more Americans.
Vintage Travel Posters as Advertising
In the era before television and online advertising, one of the primary ways of reaching potential customers was through posters. Travel posters hung in railway stations, airports, and travel agent offices, advertising destinations both close to home and far away on other continents. These posters were colorful and bold, with artistic graphics that conveyed the various qualities of the vacation spots they portrayed. Many artists of the art nouveau, art deco, and modernist eras contributed their work for these posters. Notable names include Joseph Binder, a graphic designer who brought bright, flat colors into his poster work; Fred Ludekens, a billboard artist and illustrator whose 1950s poster have a distinct mid-century feel; David Klein, an artist whose work encapsulated modernist commercial illustration; and Abram Games, a British designer who injected an element of whimsy into many of his air travel posters.
 Washington, DC travel poster by Joseph Binder, c. 1950s. |
 Los Angeles travel poster by Fred Ludekens, c. 1950s. |
 New York travel poster by David Klein, c. 1960. |
 Jersey travel poster by Abram Games, date unknown. |
Today, these Golden Age of Travel posters are highly sought-after collectibles. They evoke nostalgia for a by-gone era, remind people of the places they’ve been, and trigger happy memories. Vintage posters are not only collected, they are displayed as home décor to bring color and atmosphere to a room. Many of these original posters sell for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.
Decorate Affordably with Vintage Travel Calendars
For the 2023 season, Asgard Press brings you vintage calendars that showcase a curated selection of Golden Age travel posters so you, too, can enjoy this colorful way to advertise exciting adventures. Each calendar features a baker’s dozen of faithfully restored and reproduced vintage travel posters, every image is perforated for easy removal from the calendar and fits a standard-sized 11” x 14” frame so you can easily display all your favorites.
The 2024 Vintage America Calendar features poster art for a variety of uniquely American tourism sites, from National Parks to state vacation destinations.
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The 2024 Vintage Travel Calendar showcases travel posters from around the world, highlighting the best Golden Age global journeys.
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Love them both? Take advantage of volume pricing – the more you buy, the more you save. And all 2024 Asgard Press calendars come with free gifts with purchase. See more about that here.
Happy travels!