Here’s a commemorative marker, a sticker, I think*, for a half-century of Pan Am’s flying a transatlantic service starting in 1939 – quickly disrupted by the Second World War.

The service was started with Boeing 314 flying boats, as illustrated here – a type that went onto a notable number or remarkable flights and records.But the tragedy implicit in this poster is that Pan Am wasn’t to last much longer. Founded in 1927, the airline closed up in 1991 the bankruptcy brought on by a number of factors.

As seen here, they were an airline very conscious of their heritage, and even today their legacy is well known, in part because of that heritage and pride.

The image comes from the Don Thomas poster collection in the ownership of the San Diego Air & Space Museum, and one of the resources linked too in the resources of this blog.

James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer.

*The image is listed by SDASM as a poster, but it looks like it was intended as a promotional slicker from the low level of detail ion the design. Image held here.