?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
DESIGNER UNKNOWN
THE VISTA - DOME CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR / WESTERN PACIFIC. Circa 1950.
38x23 inches, 96 1/2x58 1/2 cm. Condition A-: minor creases in image; minor staining at upper right edge. Paper.
The California Zephyr, advertised as "the most talked about train in America," was built by the Budd Company in 1947 and the train made its very first departure between Chicago and Oakland on March 20, 1949. It was the first long-distance train to carry vista domes in regular service; it included a baggage car, a dining car and sleeping cars, and the car hostesses were known as "Zephyrettes." According to Western Pacific advertising records, this poster was first used in February 1950. The Western Pacific Railroad was purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982, thus becoming part of a combined Union Pacific rail system: the Union Pacific Railroad, the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and the WP. Although Western Pacific was a prolific advertiser in magazines, very few posters for the company exist.
