DESIGNER UNKNOWN AROUND THE WORLD VIA PANAMA CANAL / HAMBURG - AMERICAN LINE. 1914.
28x20 1/2 inches, 71x52 cm.
Condition B+ / B: losses in upper left and top margins, slightly into image; tears at edges, some into image and text; sharp vertical fold in left image; small tear in central image; creases in margins and image. Paper.
A rare and historically fascinating poster, in which refined and well-attired travelers survey the view of the Panama Metropolitan Cathedral, the sea and their vessel from the foothills outside Panama City. The S.S. Cleveland went into service for the Hamburg America Line in 1909. As early as 1913, her name began to appear in magazine ads (Popular Mechanics, Scientific American, Current Opinion Magazine, etc.) promoting a cruise "around the world through the Panama Canal . . . duration 135 days rates $900 and up." Ads in 1914 even mentioned that the ship would leave New York in January 1915 and reach San Francisco in time for the opening of the Panama Pacific Exhibition (February 20th, 1915). All of this was wonderful editorial speculation, as the Panama Canal did not, in fact, open to ship traffic until August 15, 1914. As it so happened, the opening of the 48-mile canal coincided with the outbreak of the First World War, and German shipping service was suspended for the duration of the hostilities. Consequently, this cruise nevertook place; this would account for the rarity of the poster, which is previously unrecorded, as the shipping company may have had the posters destroyed after printing, either for lack of utility or to eliminate any American connection to Germany at this sensitive time.