Today’s Poster, a ‘special’ version from the 1939 New York World’s Fair. You may be surprised… It’s from a rather well known and popular film in the aviation niche, ‘The Rocketeer’. It makes a kind of sense from the film, but you really need to see the film to get it – go on, it’s…
Tag: Inter-war
A Balbo of Flying Dutchmen
Yesterday I promised a mass of posters for today’s post, and here we are. Tracing the variety of Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (Royal Dutch Aviation Company – KLM) ‘Flying Dutchman’ themed posters. First is the set with updated aircraft types (all overlaying intentionally similar ‘Flying Dutchman’ ship artwork) as machines and routes improved in the…
A Transatlantic Menu
A magnificently produced menu card to commemorate Alcock and Brown’s successful non-stop flight across the Atlantic, here from a blog from the RAF Museum highlighting a fascinating range of artefacts from their archives relating to the flight. As the cover of the menu says, it’s a VIP event, with Capt J Alcock DSC, and Lt…
Top Pun?
A billboard today, with a reference to a rather-well-known aviation film. Taking a steampunk aesthetic (top hats in steampunk, not so much in aviation) for the ‘we’re cool’ that massive companies use in response to the boutique smaller makers. I’m not sure what the pipes under the wings are meant to be, but the first…
Stork on a Plate
When the Douglas DC-2 of KLM, PH-AJU, named ‘Uiver’, (Stork) came second in the 1934 England – Australia air race, the Dutch, understandably, went wild over the achievement. It was, by any measure an extraordinary achievement, as I detail here on the ABC website. The result of the Netherlands-wide enthusiasm was a extensive array of…
Tidy Bombing
An Argentine cartoon from ‘Quino’; or Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón. It’s a great visual gag, worked through in detail. The aircraft connection? The picture on the wall is, of course ‘Guernica’, by Pablo Picasso, the searing indictment of Fascist bombing, by Italian and German aircraft of civilians in the Spanish Civil War. The painting, of…
St Rota & Dragon
One of the numerous boy’s magazines from the inter war era, featuring a Cierva C-30 or Avro Rota autogiro. Specifically The Modern Boy No. 387 Vol. 15 19th January 1935. The registration, G-ACMB was in reality allocated to a DH.60X Moth. Even more surprising is the other subject, a inflated monster, something like a Nessie,…
Rupert’s Aeroplane Adventure
From a Facebook post come these two photographs of delightful period book illustrations from the Rupert Bear series, Rupert being a much-loved children’s book character in the UK, still going strong from these early adventures starting in the 1920s. Annie Hughes writes: “With thanks to a correspondent following the Ch5 Programme ‘British Airways- 100 Years…
3,000 km Across the Atlantic
Today’s Poster. Commemorating Italo Balbo’s 1930 flight of twelve Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boats from Orbetello Airfield, Italy to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between 17 December 1930 and 15 January 1931. The poster is listed as from 1931 – I.G.A.P. Roma, 98 cm x 140 cm, artist : Umberto Di Lazzaro. This is where the term…
Service on Air
Today’s Poster.A classic from Fougasse, for Imperial Airways of his lightfooted airline steward. Fougasse was the pen name of Cyril Kenneth Bird, CBE. Not only is the poster a classic design with Bird’s light, sure penmanship, but it is, apparently in recent use as part of British Airway’s menus. James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer. Image…
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 