Travelling in Style

I went back to my old university this week, to visit the exhibition Travel in Style - Iconic Cunard Advertising in the 1920s and 1930s at the Victoria Gallery and Museum. The Cunard archive is held in the University of Liverpool library (Cunard and the White Star Line were both Liverpool firms, and merged in 1934), and this exhibition features a number of vintage posters, along with brochures, menu cards and other souvenirs of the time.

Detail of a Cunard poster

During this period cruising and leisure travel became an increasingly important part of the company's business.

Poster advertising travel on the Queen Mary

As well as posters, Cunard created advertising material such as brochures to sell this new type of travel to the public, using both photographs and drawings. Naturally, I was most interested in images which included clothing.

Dancing on board in the 1920s

In the drawing room in the 1930s

"A quiet half hour" (minus pianist?) on the Aquitania

The 'grande descente' in the 1930s

Articles in The Cunarder, the company magazine, stressed the importance of all images striking the right tone: for example menu cards for breakfast would look very different from those for dinner. This is definitely a dinner image.

Elegant dining in the 1920s

The crossing would take five to seven days (I can get queasy on the Mersey Ferry, so even thinking about being afloat for that long filled me with horror!), and there were plenty of ways to pass the time.

Sports day on the Carmania

As the owner of a tiny piece of Cunard memorabilia, I looked for any references to the Berengaria. There were a few, all from the 1920s when the ship was still one of the more modern in the fleet.

Illustration of the Berengaria

"the spectacular Berengaria"

Clearly the Berengaria had an indoor swimming pool

My favourite item in the exhibition, though, was this publicity shot of the Dorchester Glamour Girls (a dance troupe who performed at the Dorchester Hotel) on board the Queen Mary in 1938. The hats! The suits! The shoes!

I'll take one of each ensemble, please

Travel in Style - Iconic Cunard Advertising in the 1920s and 1930s runs until 16 March 2024.