French tourism posters (1950s/1960s)
Marcel Jacno’s eponymous Jacno (Deberny & Peignot, 1950), paired with red caps from Europe – the name under which the French foundry cast their version of Futura. Back then, no-one felt the need to retouch the ferry’s impressive exhaust fumes.
To celebrate the start of summer, Bibliothèque Forney posted a series of vintage travel posters from around the 1950s and 1960s, promoting vacation in France. A library of the City of Paris, the Bibliothèque Forney specializes in fine arts, decorative arts, graphic arts, and fashion.
These posters stem from the pre-globalization era, and exclusively feature typefaces designed – or at least fonts produced – in France. See the captions for details.
Poster by the French railway company SNCF, advertising their touristic autocar (i.e. motor coach) services, featuring Chambord étroit, a condensed member of the Chambord family designed by Roger Excoffon for Fonderie Olive, Marseilles, in 1949. Just like regular-wide Chambord closely follows Cassandre’s Peignot, the condensed is quite similar to the (all-caps) Initiales Peignot étroit.
The fortified city of Carcassone and three styles of Adrian Frutiger’s Univers (1957). Although commonly associated with the Swiss International Style, this momentous typeface family was designed at Deberny & Peignot in France.
Le Corbusier’s Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut (1955) and more Chambord étroit. Neither Chambord demi-gras nor Peignot/Touraine (nor Île de France) seem to match the caps used for “France”. My best guess is that it's custom lettering based on Chambord.
The Musée national Fernand Léger in Biot, south-eastern France, featuring Chambord demi-gras. I’m coming to think that “France” is a logotype.
Another in-use example of Chambord étroit (“Bretagne”), here paired with regular-wide Chambord gras.
More beaches, more Chambord, this time featuring its italique style.
Univers and Antique Olive Nord, advertising the beaches of northern France.
1 Comment on “French tourism posters (1950s/1960s)”
French AF!