Cunard Etats Unis/Canada - Dowd
Date: 1950s
Size: 25 x 39
Notes: Poster, Large Poster, Linen Backed
Artist: Dowd
Information: For more details, please call 514 656 3301
About The Poster: By design, travel posters must express, in clear, concise and easily understandable graphic language, who the carrier is, where there destinations are, how they get there, and why you would want to use them. Whether we are talking about the great posters of the French (or Swiss, or Italian) railways from the early 1900's, or the early Canadian Pacific Railway (or airline) posters, or mid-century airline travel posters or shipping posters - like this one for the American Export Lines - the posters had to grab your attention, and make you want to travel. Shipping companies have always played an integral part in the discovery and exploration of new lands. I first became aware of the importance of maritime posters when a collector was kind enough to consign a collection amassed over a lifetime to me- and when he did so, he accompanied each poster with detailed notes about each boat and her travels. It was then that I realized how devoted the followers of maritime and nautical ephemera are... So, for those of you who may not know Cunard Line is a British- American owned shipping company, which is based in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century. In 1839, Canadian-born Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract, and the next year formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company to operate the line's four pioneer paddle steamers on the Liverpool–Halifax–Boston route. For most of the next 30 years, Cunard held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic voyage. However, in the 1870s Cunard fell behind its rivals, the White Star Line and the Inman Line. To meet this competition, in 1879 the firm was reorganized as Cunard Steamship Company, Ltd to raise capital. White Star joined the American owned International Mercantile Marine Co. in 1902. The British Government provided Cunard with substantial loans and a subsidy to build the two superliners needed to retain its competitive position. Mauretania held the Blue Riband from 1909 to 1929. The sinking of her sister ship Lusitania in 1915 was one of the causes of the United States' entering the First World War. In the late 1920s, Cunard faced new competition when the Germans, Italians and French built large prestige liners. Cunard was forced to suspend construction on its own new superliner because of the Great Depression. In 1934 the British Government offered Cunard loans to finish the Queen Mary and to build a second ship, the Queen Elizabeth, on the condition that Cunard merged with the then ailing White Star line to form Cunard White-Star Ltd. Cunard owned two-thirds of the new company. Cunard purchased White Star's share in 1947; the name reverted to the Cunard Line in 1950.' (Wikipedia) This is an a wonderful - and often reproduced - poster, signed, measuring approx. 25 x 39.5 inches, linen mounted and in pristine condition. The poster comes from the private collection of a noted collector, author and poster expert and has been in his possession since it were printed over 50 years ago.
