By Maureen Quinlan, news correspondent
From Sweden to India to Tasmania to Alaska, the Boston Public Library’s (BPL) exhibit “Away We Go” takes visitors on a visual journey to a whirlwind of world-wide destinations.
“Away We Go” is a vintage travel poster exhibit that showcases posters from the 1920s to the 1950 promoting 25 various locations around the world. Visitors begin the exhibit in Portugal and end their journey in New England. These posters are not like the advertisements travelers see today. They display the bright colors and artistic simplicity of their respective time periods, with large blocks of solid color made to look sleek and fantastical. They also promote modes of transportation previously not available to the public and new ideas.
Each poster brings a unique sense of national pride to the small room. The plaque describing Japan’s 1937 poster says it “captures the national mood in Japan during this period with a delicate balance of traditionalism, symbolized by the cherry tree and national flag, and industrial modernity, represented by speeding railway and telephone masts.”
All the posters were created in the country they each promote and show off its national symbols. Egypt’s poster uses hieroglyphs, Austria’s illustrates a skier, and Australia depicts the rugged outback. However, not every poster features a typical tourist trap.
“I liked how the posters were about touristy things not stereotypically thought about,” said freshman communications major Chelsea Addy. “They represent things people who lived there would want you to see.”
The posters and overall exhibit give an interesting historical perspective of everyday thought and desire of people living during the roaring 1920s. The swinging jazz and upbeat ragtime songs add to the feeling of nostalgia.
Each poster is enhanced by fun, historical facts about each country.
“I liked learning that France was the most visited country at that time with 80 million tourists,” Addy said. “And that the Germany poster was made just four years before World War II.”
The wall opposite each poster offers a few sentences about the country, the country’s national animal or flower and how to say welcome in the country’s native language.
“This inspires me to travel to some of the places I’ve never heard of, like Java,” Addy said.
For those with similar sentiments, the library has provided a section in the middle of the exhibit with modern-day guidebooks to begin planning a trip of one’s own.
On the way out, visitors can sign a guest book filled with signatures in every language, from all corners of the earth. From Boston to Hawaii to Japan, comments exude an overall pleasure with the exhibit. One entry by James Rieliano from Laguna Beach, Calif., puts it perfectly: “A trip to paradise!”
“Away We Go” is free and on display at the BPL in Copley Square through Sunday, Oct. 17.
