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Commercial airlines become successful, late 1930s

New Zealand Union Airways Ltd, Speed comfort regularity by air; Union Airways, 1936-1939, Relief print, red, green, silver and black, on paper, 886 x 570 mm, Printed Ephemera Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: Eph-E-AVIATION-1930s-01

 

There is something intriguing about cut-away pictures showing a peek inside an inner world, normally hidden from view.

 

It is often used in children’s illustrations and the covers of toy model boxes! On the other hand, the heading “speed, comfort, regularity” evokes advertising for another type of product altogether.

Union Airways was, from 1936, the largest New Zealand airline, and began a scheduled interisland service on 16 January 1936. In 1938, it merged with East Coast Airways, which had begun in 1935. Both companies had financial backing from the Union Steam Ship Company.

 

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Uploaded on October 31, 2011
Taken circa 1938