"One's destination," mused Henry Miller in the 1930’s while living in Paris, "is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."
This sentiment encapsulates the spirit of travel destination marketing posters, which have long served as powerful visual narratives inviting us to explore the world beyond our most immediate horizons.
The earliest travel posters were first created as far back as the 1870’s and became increasingly popular by the 1890’s, as railway companies began to commission these posters to encourage railway passage purely for pleasure, a concept becoming increasingly democratised with the falling cost of rail travel and increases in disposable income amongst middle classes in Europe and north America. If tourism began with the ‘Grand Tours’ of the extremely wealthy who didn’t need to work, the concept of travel for pleasure was, slowly, becoming more accessible.
The earliest versions of these travel posters were “simili-aquarelle prints” (a labour and capital intense 20-colour process), but which rendered beautiful landscapes. Around 1895, beautiful people were also added into these landscapes, and then by the turn of the century there was a move away from static photos to a more dynamic approach; a novel idea came into focus in 1910 with the concept of “dreaming about travelling”, one which we still entertain today over a hundred years later.
Then-colonial powers like Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands employed vibrant and evocative imagery to showcase their ‘exotic’ colonies, igniting a sense of adventure and exploration back home. These posters, with their bold colours and captivating narratives, played a pivotal role in enticing travellers to embark on these first journeys by train, boat, and, finally, by air.
As transportation technology advanced and travel became more accessible, the focus of these travel marketing posters shifted from promoting destinations countries had colonial links to, to showcasing the allure of both domestic and international travel to other places. The "Golden Age of Travel," spanning the early to mid-20th century, witnessed a surge in tourism, fueled by the allure of adventure and the promise of new experiences.
Thus, travel posters became a powerful tool for the tourism and hospitality industry as well as for the ad agencies that created them; producing bonafide works of art whose value we still recognise today.
It was during this “Mad-Men” era of the 1950’s the shift definitively turned away from railways and towards the more modern, glamorous airline travel and with it, a new type of poster emerged.
Airlines commissioned ad agencies who hired talented graphic designers and artists to create visually stunning works of art that captured the essence of their many new destinations. These posters, often crafted using lithographic printing, showcased a diverse range of styles, from Art Nouveau to mid-Century modern.
There is no doubt that the evolution of travel posters mirrors the broader cultural and societal shifts of the 20th century, it is a way of seeing the world through the lens of the past. As the world became more interconnected and accessible, the desire for exploration and adventure grew, and so did the ‘eye’ of the artist, agencies and airlines commissioning these works. It is a historiographic and artistic genre that produces as many questions as answers, reflecting times and concepts of the past in a way that can serve us today as we continue to readdress how we, as a society, continue to travel.
Travel posters, with their ability to evoke emotions and inspire dreams, played a crucial role in shaping our perception of the world and inspiring countless journeys. Not all were beautiful, not all are worth celebrating and hanging on our walls, but at Stick No Bills® this is the work we relish; the careful unearthing, remastering and promulgating poster artworks from the most iconic travel brands of the 20th century, either because they are of historic value and worth preserving, or because they are simply beautiful artworks in and of themselves, and we want to help ensure this creative legacy lives on.
