Vintage Canadian Pacific Airlines Advertising Board ‘Hats Off to the New Route’, ca. 1950–1960

Dimensions: height 45.5 cm, width 30.5 cm.

A striking original cardboard advertising board produced for Canadian Pacific Airlines, promoting a new international air route during the 1950s.

Under the slogan ‘Hats Off to the New Route’, a stylised world map is combined with a selection of distinctive headwear. A Spanish hat, Portuguese cap, North American cowboy hat and Latin American sombrero playfully represent the destinations of Madrid, Lisbon, Montreal, Toronto and Latin America.

Silhouettes of aircraft and bright yellow route lines connect the different continents. The use of fluorescent yellow, green, orange and red against the muted grey-green background gives the design a particularly bold graphic appearance. Its hand-drawn typography and illustrations are highly characteristic of mid-20th-century commercial travel advertising.

The board was printed in Belgium and was most likely intended for display in a travel agency, airport office or airline sales location.

Today, it makes a colourful collector’s item for enthusiasts of vintage aviation, graphic design and historic travel advertising. It would look particularly striking in an office, shop, bar, hallway or interior with mid-century elements.

In excellent original vintage condition. This is unused old stock, commonly known as new old stock, with at most minimal traces of age.

A rare and highly decorative example of international airline advertising from the 1950s.