Apr 23, 2016 | Poster History
Just in time for graduation! We have two handsome original 12 x 18 inch lithographic prints from 1909. They are from a series of designs for all the members of the Ivy League, but to date only Yale and Princeton have surfaced.
Til Life’s Sun is Set… (Yale print) by Abigail Kellogg Hazard (1909)
This print features Yale’s lovable bulldog mascot, Handsome Dan. Adorned in a Yale Blue ribbon, Dan is surrounded by a snippet of Yale’s school song.
While the Tiger Stands De-Fender… (Princeton print)
by Abigail Kellogg Hazard (1909)
Although its mascot was initially the lion, the tiger grew in popularity at Princeton due to its inclusion in the fight song “The Orange and the Black”. In 1911, Woodrow Wilson’s graduating class replaced their previous graduation gift of statues of lions with statues of tigers. When Princeton became co-educational in 1969, female tiger statues were included for the first time.
Here is the original advertisement for this poster from the June 15, 1910 copy of The Princeton Alumni Weekly:
START RIGHT- AND WRITE AWAY!!!
For the New Princeton Posters
Price positively restricted to $1.00 each. Mail orders. Size 12 x 18. Designed, published, controlled by Miss Abigail Kellogg Hazard, 702 Newark Ave., Elizabeth, N.J. Original, artistic, symbolic, expressive of true college sentiment. In color. Tiger head conspicuous. Motto from the song “The Orange and the Black.” Also Princeton seal.
Mar 23, 2016 | Poster History
One of our most unique recent discoveries, this handsome calendar was printed for RR Donnelley & Sons, a Chicago-based company specializing in printing, binding, designing and engraving. Each month features a robust American sportsperson, absorbed in the sport of the season.
The calendar was designed by Harry Cimino, a successful and highly skilled Chicago wood engraver. Cimino expertly renders his figures in simple, clean lines, making them pop from the background. Each 21.8″ x 39″ exquisitely printed calendar page was designed to be hung on the wall – often in the offices of Donnelley’s clients. Note too the graphics placed in the blank days of the month – clearly Cimino had fun with his assignment.
View the entire series here.
Sep 2, 2015 | Poster History
Imre Spiegel, AZ Aero: Follow All Aviation Events. 1917. Lithograph backed on linen.
One of the great joys of being a poster collector is finding a rarity that brings you right back to your earliest interests and passions. As a boy, I was fascinated with WWI aviation and dove headlong into model-making, visits to the Old Rhinebeck aerodrome and reading about all the aces and battles. I remember going to the library and finding a musty copy of Eddie Rickenbacker’s Fighting the Flying Circus and marveling at his guts as he figured out by trial and error how far he could push a dive before losing the top wing of his airplane.
So imagine my joy finding this remarkable and extremely rare Hungarian poster for an aviation magazine during World War I. It dates from 1917, when the war’s outcome was very uncertain, and a period when the role of the airplane in combat was evolving quickly. To me, it is the most unusual and evocative aviation poster of the war.
The poster shows a squadron of Albatros bi-planes, the first German plane with twin machine guns. The plane was the scourge of the British air force in the Battle of Arras in April 1917, known as “Bloody April,” where the British lost a staggering 245 aircraft to 66 for the Axis.
The poster, with the headline “Follow All Aviation Events,” interestingly shows a Fokker Triplane in the distance. It was the counter to the British Sopwith Camel and other advanced machines which arrived in mid-1917 to duel the less maneuverable Albatros.
This poster probably dates from May to September of 1917, as deliveries of improved Albatros planes began to be produced for the first time in Austro-Hungary. It also corresponds to the arrival of the development and production quantities of the Fokker triplane.
The provenance of this poster is equally noteworthy. It belonged to Hans Sachs, the founder of The Poster Society in Germany and the largest and most important collector of his time with more than 10,000 posters. Sachs’ collection was later confiscated by the Nazis and only came to light in the basement of an East German museum in 1966. Sadly, after a successful multi-decade battle between the Sachs family and the German courts, the collection had to be sold to pay for the hefty lawyer bills.
May 7, 2015 | Poster History
100 years ago today, the sinking of Cunard’s luxurious Lusitania off the coast of Ireland by a U-Boat took 1,198 lives (including 123 Americans) and evoked a visceral anti-German reaction in England and the US. The deadly submarine cordon around Britain was one of the most visible signs that WWI would be the most destructive war ever — an all-out struggle involving civilians and soldiers alike. Ultimately the atrocity would be a chief reason for US entry in the war two years later against Germany and its allies.
This powerful 5 foot tall “Remember the Lusitania – Enlist To-Day” broadside was printed immediately following the sinking to appeal to the public sentiment surrounding the tragic loss of lives. Consisting of text only, it quotes from the jury’s verdict, which matched the intensity of feelings surrounding the atrocity: the great ship sank in 18 minutes, taking with it many leading figures of the era.
The creation of the Lusitania represented the optimism and technological sophistication of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. This recently sold poster by Odin Rosenvinge from around 1907 shows the majestic ship slicing through rough seas, seen under a moonlit sky and traversed by the beacon of a nearby lighthouse. Moody and romantic, it is one of the rarest and most beautiful of all ocean liner posters.
The Lusitania and its sister, the Mauretania, were the largest and fastest on the sea, utilizing steam turbines for the first time. Moreover, the ships displayed unrivaled luxury and comfort prompting its rival White Star to build the Titanic a few years later. The sinking of the Lusitania cut British pride to the core.
Erik Larson’s recently released narrative non-fiction novel, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and tells the compelling tale of the sinking of the Lusitania. Larson consulted archival materials, including code books, intercepted telegrams, photographs, U-boat logs, and even love letters from Woodrow Wilson. A great summer read!
Jan 25, 2013 | Poster History
Poster Mystery #1 – How did a department store in Italy start selling iPads in 1904?
| Leopoldo Metlicovitz, E. & A. Mele & Ci., 1904 |
Jul 22, 2012 | Poster History
Just in time for the opening ceremonies later this week, this gallery favorite tells a rich and timely story. In 1939, the Olympics were awarded to London for the 50th anniversary of the Games (to be held in 1944), but were cancelled due to World War II. After the War, London was chosen to host the Games in 1948 despite wartime damage and the strict austerity of its postwar economy.
None of this high drama is reflected in the timeless poster by Walter Herz, which combines the symbolism of the ancient games in the classical Greek sculpture of Discobolus, with the 5 interlocking rings of the Modern Games. In the background looms London’s dominant symbol, the Houses of Parliament, with Big Ben’s clock showing 4PM – the time at which King George VI would proclaim the Games open.
The so-called “Austerity Games” were enormously successful, featuring athletes from a record 59 countries (although Germany and Japan were not invited and the Soviet Union chose not to participate). The Games were the first to be televised; the BBC paid 1000 pounds sterling for the broadcast rights.
Also, for the first time in 1948, Americans could fly across the Atlantic to attend the Olympics. This example is a very hard-to-find variant with Pan Am Clipper text. There were 3 sizes created; this is the 20 x 30″ medium format.
Browse all of International Poster Gallery’s Olympic posters here.
