DESIGNER UNKNOWN CALIFORNIA / THIS SUMMER. Circa 1933. 41x27 inches, 104x68 1/2 cm. Newman-Monroe Co., Chicago. Condition A-: repaired tears at edges, some slightly affecting image; restoration and overpainting in margins; minor abrasions in upper image. "Travel by Train" was an "inter-modal competitive sales appeal" (Zega p. 63) adapted by many American train companies in the 1930s as widespread use of the automobile began to cut directly into ticket sales. "Their cooperative effort produced nearly a dozen posters portraying a range of national destinations" (Zega p. 109), on each of which the individual railroads succumbed to the larger good and replaced their individual company names with just the single, new slogan. "The idealized landscape of Southern California is strongly featured in this poster. A fair-skinned maiden in a chic, sleeveless patterned dress soaks up some sun as she sits beside a palm tree looking out upon golf links, a sailboat in the bay and Spanish Revival buildings. In the distance snow peaked mountains crown a vast expanse of green hills" (Southern California 9).
