RAILROAD ADVERTISING
Nobody will take your train if they don't know it exists. Or if they don't know where it goes, or when it leaves, or where it leaves from.
More people will take your train if they think it's a good way to travel; if it will get them there quickly, in comfort, in style.
Here are thumbnamil images of some ads. The original ads vary in size and shape; the thumbnails on this page all have fixed width and the height adjusts to compensate. You can click on most of the thumbnails to download a higher-resolution version of the image.
By and large the ads speak for themselves. Watch the graphical design styles change! See the railroads emphasize speed, or comfort, or their freight and industrial services (a harbinger of the wholesale abandonment of passenger service that was to come in the 1960's).
Southern Pacific ("SP") Ads (Assorted topics, by date)
 1899 |
 1920 |
 1935 |
 1936 |
 1936 |
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 1942 |
 1943 |
 1945 |
 1949 |
 1950 |
 1950 |
 1951 |
 1951 |
 1953 |
 1955 |
 1956 |
 1956 |
Click pictures and drawings to download higher-resolution versions.
Contact us if you would like reproducible copies of them.
Original copyrights are the property of their creators or successors, where applicable;
image processing, layout, and presentation here copyright TravelHistory.org.
This page was created 29 December 2003; most recent update 6 June 2011.
REMEMBER: Peoples' attitudes toward race, religion, and culture were a lot different when this was written! The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of TravelHistory.org or of Hidden Knowledge, Publishers.