Posters of the Canadian Pacific - Hardcover

Choko, Marc H.; Jones, David L.

4.23

13 ratings by Goodreads

9781552979174: Posters of the Canadian Pacific

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1552979172 ISBN 13: 9781552979174

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2004

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Three hundred vintage advertising and promotional posters.

During the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CPR) was widely hailed as "The World's Greatest Travel System." The Canadian Pacific transcontinental railroad spanned North America from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans. The company also operated luxury hotels and resorts, passenger ocean liners, cargo ships, and an airline.

To promote the company and Canada to the world, Canadian Pacific produced more than 2,500 stunning lithographic and silkscreen posters -- 1,000 of which were created in its own graphic studio.

Posters of the Canadian Pacific is a treasury of three hundred of the finest posters published by the company. They were displayed in Canadian Pacific offices and independent travel agencies worldwide from the 1880s until the 1970s. These posters enticed millions to visit and even settle in Canada.

The posters span the years 1883-1973 with special focus on the Art Deco style posters of the 1920s and '30s. They focus on travel and leisure -- activities on ski slopes, golf courses, beaches, and luxury resorts. Other posters feature Canadian Pacific ocean liners in exotic locations around the globe such as the West Indies, Rio, Hawaii and the Orient.

Posters of the Canadian Pacific will appeal to a wide audience including art lovers, history buffs and railroad enthusiasts.

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From the Author:

Between 1883 and 1963, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company turned out more than 2,500 poster designs, including better than 1,000 of the finest examples produced by its own in-house silkscreen studio. It was a publicity effort unrivalled until the advent of the electronic age.

Now more than 300 of the most eye-catching examples of these colorful posters have been faithfully reproduced in Posters of the Canadian Pacific, chronicling the fascinating tale of the railway that welded a nation from sea to sea, launched the 20th century's most extensive immigration and tourism campaign, and earned the unchallenged title of "The World's Greatest Transportation System."

Read about the famous transcontinental name trains, the spectacular chain of Chateau-style hotels and the majestic "Empress" steamships that plied the seven seas. Discover the many forgotten involvements of the giant transportation octopus known as the CPR, from folksong and handicraft festivals to big-game hunting and sport fishing, and much more. Find out who created these masterpieces of popular persuasion. But most of all, feast your eyes on some of the finest and most memorable graphic images and representations ever devised, in full-color, in many cases for the first time in decades.

From the simple woodcut productions of the poster's infancy, through the fine-lined work of the bank note companies, to the awesome beauty of the classic designs of the 1920s and thirties, this publication transcends nostalgia to offer a virtual museum and gallery of poster art. There's something here for everybody.

Take a peek, you'll be hooked.

About the Author:

Marc H. Choko is the Director of Design at the University of Quebec at Montreal.

David L. Jones is an archivist with the Canadian Pacific Company and the author of Tales of the CPR.

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