This poster is a bit unusual. Dutch airline posters featuring Fokker airliners aren’t rare, but there’s a few unusual things about this one.

Created by Adriaan Joh van’t Hoff, in 1933, it is an expected Fokker trimotor, but not the ever popular F.VII, but either a Fokker F.XVIII or possibly a F.XII – very similar looking noses. The other puzzler is it doesn’t mention the Dutch airline that WAS flying to the Dutch Netherlands East Indies, the now almost completely forgotten KNILM, a sister airline (not subsidiary) of the world famous (and still going) KLM. The Dutch were desperate to break into the British Empire route to Australia, as seen in my post here, as well as mentioned in the KNILM link above. If I read the text correctly, it’s basically saying ‘airmail from the Netherlands to the Netherlands Indies’, but if so who’s poster is it? The Dutch post office?

Either way, it’s a great image, and different, too, but it sits in a series of posters including several other ship ones of a similar look, in an interesting oeuvre, one here, and the same one in English. (Though there doesn’t seem to be an English one of the airliner.)

James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer.

Poster brought to my attention by Renee Jansen on the Facebook Golden Age of Illustration group here. Found in This Flickr stream by Maryellen  McFadden.