Vintage Travel Posters

An Original Vintage Travel Poster will often include both textual and graphical elements, designed to be eye-catching and informative, their main purpose was to attract tourists to remote destinations. Now, a Vintage Travel Poster can serve as a charming reminder of a much-loved holiday, honeymoon, or fond memory of a particular place.

Beginning in the early 20th Century, Travel Posters were a persuasive form of advertising to influence and entice people to travel to locations via plane, train and boat. During the 1920’s, as commercial aviation became more popular, airline companies were able to promote the advantages of air travel to remote or hard to reach locations.

Travel posters were particularly popular before the advent of television, as it was a strong and effective way of advertising. French travel posters for airlines, such as Air France, were are often bright and colourful.

Cruise line as well as railway advertising posters were also an effective way to promote destinations, such as the famous 1964 ‘Relax’ poster by fashion illustrator Rene Gruau depicting an Audrey Hepburn figure reclining on a deck chair aboard an ocean liner. Or the famous 1930’s Vintage Poster advertising Lorne by the popular artist, James Northfeilds.