Railway original vintage posters for sale

Vintage and original railways posters

The railway industry was the biggest commissioner of illustrated posters. They typically promoted its vast network that kept expanding over the course of the century resulting in thousands of stations, each with a destination in need of promotion. From the Puy Mary in the Mount of Cantal to the suburbs of Baghdad, dozens of railway companies were fighting to pack their carriages with keen travelers. In France the PLM (Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean), the Paris-Orléans which acquired the Midi line to become the PO-Midi, the Eastern, Western and Northern Railway Companies and the International Sleeping-Car company competed for half a century to get a share of France’s growing trainline market. The pioneering studios of François Hugo d’Alési hosted artists such as Julien Lacaze, Constant Duval, Roger Broders, Pierre Commarmond, Paul Emile Champeix, Charles Hallo (Alo) advertised the charms of the French terroir one train station at a time until almost every town had their own poster. During the 1920s, the art-deco movement was reflected in the style of many posters of this time with purple shadows, sun-kissed red, orange and tawny colours being fashionable. The Japanese influence of Henri Rivière became the signature of the Brittany school. Every train station in France was an opportunity for companies to compete through the successive spring/summer and autumn/winter campaigns. Waiting rooms, platform shelters and halls were all fitted with standardised poster billboards for which the French state collected taxes under the 1881 law that regulated the right to post and advertise. Everyone could now enjoy the pleasure of 1st, 2nd and 3rd class comfort for the price of a ticket. In the 1890s, posters sung the praise of spending winter in Nice, Biarritz or the Bay of Arcachon. Spas and mountain resorts became national landmarks in a time that encouraged hedonistic pastimes as a way of life. Brittany was now a train ride away and Brest, which was previously only accessible by stagecoach, was now connected by the western railway company. The French terroir was now for all to see and enjoy, with its charming towns, bustling cities and picturesque villages, the racing tracks of the Gulf of Morbihan or the Saint-Malo city ramparts. At the turn of the century the whole of France was seemingly invited overnight to visit the beaches of Trestrignel and Dinard. Fix Masseau and Joseph de la Nézière were illustrating an even more exotic dream, the Orient-Express that would take you to Mesopotamia and the Middle-East. Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Libya were now but a train-ride away or could be reached with a boat-and-train end-to-end ticket. The exotic East was now on Europe’s doorstep, with countries better known for their flowers and honey, archeological wonders, ancient history, sciences and mysterious tales were expertly invoked by artists such as d'Aboville, known as Dabo, the British Augustus Osborne Lamplough who painted the Nile in Aswan or the Pyramids on the Giza Plateau. Japan was also regularly portrayed with its countryside and modern railways at a time when posters were also widely used for diplomatic purposes. Propaganda was never far away.

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Showing 1-28 of 537 item(s)

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Original vintage travel poster Bains de mer de Pornic - Ch. Jousset - Circa 1900 - 41.34 by 29.13 inches
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Vintage travel poster by Ch. Jousset Circa 1900 -Seaside Resort of...

Original vintage travel poster created by Ch. Jousset Circa 1900, Seaside Resort of Pornic - Seaside Station - Orléans - Ouest État Railways

Printed by: La Lithographie parisienne - Paris

Printing type: Lithograph

Dimensions: 41.3 x 29.1 inches

Linen backed

Condition: A

Price €2,000.00
Original vintage poster Châteaux de la Loire - Visitez la France - French Railways - Jean Garcia - 38.98 by 24.41 inches
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Vintage travel poster by Jean Garcia from 1952 - Châteaux de la...

Original vintage travel poster created by Jean Garcia in 1952, Castles of the Loire - Visit France - Take our trains and coaches - National Society of French Railways

Printed by: S.C.I.P. Paris

Printing type: Lithography

Dimensions: 39 x 24.4 inches

Linen backed

Condition: A+

Price €1,000.00
Original vintage travel poster Normandie - France - Devos - 39.17 by 24.61 inches
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Vintage travel poster by Devos from 1947 - Normandie

Original vintage travel poster created by Devos in 1947, Normandy - National Society of French Railways

Printed by: De Plas

Printing type: Lithograph

Dimensions: 39.2 x 24.6 inches

Linen backed

Condition: B+

Price €1,200.00
Original vintage travel poster Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme - France - L. Wufirer  - Circa 1900 - 39.37 by 29.13 inches
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Vintage travel poster by L. Wufirer Circa 1900 -...

Original vintage travel poster created by L. Wufirer Circa 1900, Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme - Northern Railway - Porte Guillaume - Porte de Nevers

Printed by: Gaillac Monrocq et Compagnie, Paris

Printing type: Lithograph

Dimensions: 39.37 x 29.13 inches

Linen backed

Condition: B+

Price €2,000.00
Original vintage travel poster Lac Chambon - Auvergne - France - Constant Duval - 41.34 by 29.53 inches
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Vintage travel poster by Constant Duval from 1922 - Lac Chambon -...

Original vintage travel poster created by Constant Duval in 1922, Lac Chambon - Auvergne - Orléans Railway - Route from Mont-Dore to St Nectaire - Automobile services

Printed by: Imp. Champenois

Printing type: Lithograph

Dimensions: 41.34 x 29.53 inches

Linen backed

Condition: B+

Price €2,000.00
Original vintage travel poster Le bas Limousin - Uzerche - Constant Duval - Circa 1920 - 40.55 by 29.13 inches
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Vintage travel poster by Constant Duval Circa 1920 - Le bas...

Original vintage travel poster created by Constant Duval Circa 1920, Lower Limousin - Uzerche - Orleans Railway

Printed by: Imp. F. Champenois in Paris

Print type: Lithography

Dimensions: 40.6 x 29.1 inches

Linen backed

Condition: B+

Price €1,800.00
Original vintage travel poster Les gorges du Tarn  - E. Paul Champseix - Circa 1925 - 41.34 by 29.33 inches
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Vintage travel poster by E. Paul Champseix Circa 1925 - Les gorges...

Original vintage travel poster created by E. Paul Champseix Circa 1925, The Tarn Gorges - Midi Railways - Coach Tours departing from Millau - France

Printed by: Lucien Serre

Type of printing: Lithography

Dimensions: 41.3 x 29.3 inches

Linen backed

Condition: A+

Price €2,000.00
Original vintage travel poster Vallon d’Autoire - Lot - Haut Quercy - France - Constant Duval - 41.34 by 29.13 inches
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Vintage travel poster by Constant Duval from 1924 - Vallon...

Original vintage travel poster created by Constant Duval in 1924, Vallon d’Autoire - Lot - Haut Quercy - Paris to Orléans Railway - Vallon d'Autoire - Automobile Tours of Haut-Quercy

Printed by: Imp. Champenois

Printing type: Lithograph

Dimensions: 41.3 x 29.1 inches

Linen backed

Condition: A+

Price €1,800.00
Original vintage travel poster Route d’hiver des Alpes - PLM - Jean Julien - Circa 1925 - 41.93 by 30.31 inches
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Vintage travel poster by Jean Julien Circa 1925 - Winter Route of...

Original vintage travel poster created by Jean Julien Circa 1925, Winter Route of the Alps - PLM - Automotive Services - from Aix les Bains - Mont Revard to Nice

Printed by: Lucien Serre Paris

Printing type: Lithograph

Dimensions: 41.9 x 30.3 inches

Linen backed

Condition: A-

Price €3,500.00
Vintage travel poster - Lille Centre d'affaires - Charles-Jean Hallo - 1930 - 41.9 by 29.9 inches
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Vintage travel poster by Charles-Jean Hallo 1930 - Lille, Centre...

Original vintage travel poster created by Charles-Jean Hallo in 1930, Lille, Business and Tourism Center - 1st provincial museum - Northern Railways

Printed by: Imp J. E. Gossens

Printing type: Lithography

Dimensions: 41.9 x 29.9 inches

Linen backed

Condition A+

Price €2,000.00
Showing 1-28 of 537 item(s)