IT’S TIME FOR: 1930s-1960s AIRLINE POSTERS
Strong graphic design combined with wanderlust would seem the best explanation for the activity Woodstock, New York-based vintage poster dealer Debra Clifford (www.vintageposterworks.com) is seeing. “There is a real interest in early airline posters—from the 1930s up through the 1960s,” says Clifford.

Demand is high right now for vintage posters from PanAm, Air France, United, TWA—any of the airlines. The posters are in the “one-sheet” size, approximately 24-by-39 inches, and depict either a destination or an actual airplane. The posters are linen-backed, and typically sold unframed. Prices for the 1930s-1960s airline posters range from $500 up to $4,000, Clifford says.

“Younger collectors seem particularly interested in 1950s and 1960s posters, and especially interested in illustrators like Stan Galli,” says Clifford. Galli, a native Californian, did a series of advertising posters for United Airlines in the 1950s and 1960s. Clifford had a 1950s United Airlines poster done by Galli, depicting Southern California, in her inventory recently; it was priced at $625.

Vintage posters depicting other transportation modes are also popular, says Clifford. “Anything related to ocean liners, shipping, or French railroads seems to be doing well,” she said.