A Postcard History of the Passenger Liner

Book excerpt: From around 1880, for almost a hundred years, shipowners commissioned a wealth of paintings that depicted their magnificent liners as well as the routes they travelled, their exotic destinations, and life onboard. These paintings, rich in imagination and atmosphere, appeared on postcards and posters of the day and were used to advertise the companies and their ships; and so was born a whole genre that produced tens of thousands of paintings which formed a wonderful record of the great era of the passenger liner. In 1900, there were over thirty shipping companies operating passenger liners across the North Atlantic. Other oceans were similarly served. But now, with just a few exceptions, the companies and their liners have disappeared along with the art they once inspired. Little remains to recall this aspect of our maritime past except the postcards; and they tell an evocative story of the vanished world of elegant ships and leisurely travel, of social and political times much changed by the history of the past century. Here, brought vividly to life in more than 500 colourful postcards, are the ships on which so many of our predecessors sailed—as emigrants, soldiers, administrators, or simply as tourists—in days long past. These cards, which are now highly collectable, show how steamships developed over the years, but they are also a fine tribute to the artists who painted them. This volume also includes a glossary of some 170 illustrators, which forms an important reference section, and advice on collecting.