Throughout their history, posters have been a significant means of mass communication, often with striking visual effect. Wendy Wick Reaves, the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery Curator of Prints and Drawings, comments that "sometimes a pictorial poster is a decorative masterpiece-something I can't walk by without a jolt of esthetic pleasure. Another might strike me as extremely clever advertising ? But collectively, these 'pictures of persuasion,' as we might call them, offer a wealth of art, history, design, and popular culture for us to understand. The poster is a familiar part of our world, and we intuitively understand its role as propaganda, promotion, announcement, or advertisement."
Reaves' observations are especially relevant for the impressive array of aviation posters in the National Air and Space Museum's 1300+ artifact collection. Quite possibly the largest publicly-held collection of its kind in the United States, the National Air and Space Museum's posters focus primarily on advertising for aviation-related products and activities. Among other areas, the collection includes 19th-century ballooning exhibition posters, early 20th-century airplane exhibition and meet posters, and twentieth-century airline advertisements.
The posters in the collection represent printing technologies that include original lithography, silk screen, photolithography, and computer-generated imagery. The collection is significant both for its esthetic value and because it is a unique representation of the cultural, commercial and military history of aviation. The collection represents an intense interest in flight, both public and private, during a significant period of its technological and social development.
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Air Orient Europe-East Far-East Weekly Service
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Fliegt!
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All Wings Toward Cleveland William B. Leeds Trophy Race
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Cie Air Union Lignes d'Orient
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Imperial Airways - An Ensign Airliner for European Services
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Aeropostale La Flèche d'Argent
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Christmas Day Delivery in Distant Cities Via American...
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United Air Lines Air Travel is Economical
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MISR Airworks Egyptian Airlines Cairo
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British Airways London
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Braniff International Peru
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Flights Delayed for Lack of Special Parts