Before the Second World War (and of course, with a big pause during the First World War), there was quite an upsurge in European travel. Cars were becoming more common, roads were being built and suddenly the world seemed to open up to people. I have a real weakness for those vintage travel posters – and, as the British Library discovered, they make great book covers for books from that period too! All of the images below are available on multiple art/framing/poster sale sites, so I think all of them can be bought.
Greece – the panoramic view that never quite existed.
I think it’s safe to say that is our standard view when we think of Tuscany.
A slightly more unusual angle for this image of Venice.
Can’t resist this 1937 poster from the Monaco Grand Prix.
From the South we head up towards Lyon via the Route des Alpes – a road I’ve taken quite a few times – but without any close encounters with cows.
How can I forget beautiful Annecy, maybe not quite so stylish nowadays though?
And another place close to where I used to live, Vevey in Switzerland.
Even Romania had its travel posters in the 1920s-30s – Sinaia, mountain resort and royal summer residence.
Although my favourite is this jaunty blue-and-white image of Constanta Yacht Club.
I’ll end with a bit of a sad one from the 1950s: Berlin Awaits You Once More (but not for long – by 1961 it became very hard to visit both sides of it). Fits in well with the German book I am currently translating, set the summer that the Berlin Wall was built.
findingtimetowrite 