Pan Am and the Glamour of Mid-Century Air Travel

For the past five years, we have seen an incredible surge of interest in the mid-century travel posters. We have sold a lot of these posters, and it got us wondering: why are there so many mid-century airline posters?

Original "Paris by Clipper" Poster by Anonymous, 1951

The short answer is that the US  made huge innovations in aviation technologies during World War II, and, after the war, airlines enhanced the routes. Once there were planes and hubs,  it was up to advertising agencies to build the market for international travel. And voila! The posters.

Original "Portugal and Spain by Clipper" Poster by Carlu, 1950

Original "Germany Fly Pan American" Poster by E. McKnight-Kauffer, c.1949

Mad Men got people thinking about ad men, and Pan Am, ABC’s new Sunday night  show, is going one step further, bringing to life the glamour of travel by plane in the 1960′s. We have enjoyed watching the show and couldn’t help noticing the many posters they use in their decor. So we decided to pull out our own collection of Pan Am travel posters.

Original "Caribbean Pan American" Poster by Anonymous, c.1965

Right now  in our Berkeley Showroom we are featuring travel posters for destinations VEP staff have visited and loved. Come take a look and catch the travel bug!

Original "Mexico Pan American" Poster by E. McKnight-Kauffer, 1949

We will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11.30-5 in November — except for Thanksgiving — and the first three weekends in December.