Vibrant colours and attractive designs are typical of the advertisements used by Cunard during the 1920s and 1930s; often reflecting the changing expectations of travellers and the growing emphasis on cruising.

Immigration restrictions imposed by the U.S. during the 1920s had a direct impact on many shipping companies, including Cunard.  One of the most immediate effects was the decrease in demand for third class travel.  Cunard successfully adapted to these changes by redesigning the passenger accommodation on its ships and by introducing a new ‘tourist class’.  It was anticipated that these developments would appeal to a new audience and therefore a new type of passenger.  The changes were successful, with cruising becoming increasingly popular during the 1930s and an important revenue for Cunard.

D42/PR11/1 - Travel Poster: 'Cunard White Star'.

Advertisements in Print

Printed publicity material such as brochures and leaflets were one of the main ways for shipping companies like Cunard to advertise their services to potential passengers. The bright colours and eye-catching designs of the material on display illustrates how Cunard employed a range of artists, each with their own distinct style, to design their promotional material.

The beautiful landscapes and exotic destinations depicted on the covers of the marketing examples on display have a hint of nostalgia, while passengers are portrayed in a relaxed and carefree manner. 

Left: D42/PR3/11/30 - Brochure: Cunard Summer Cruises 1931 on Franconia and Carinthia.

Middle: D42/PR3/11/17 - Fold-out poster: 'Atlantic Holidays'.

Right: D42/PR3/10/44 - Fold-out Brochure: Cunard Summer Cruise 1927 on Carinthia.

Advertisements in Print

This romantic style, often coupled with an ocean horizon sets the tone and is a popular theme for Cunard’s advertising during the 1920s-1930s.

These visually striking records were produced before Cunard adopted a more formal brand identity for its advertising campaigns and highlights the lack of consistency in the design of Cunard’s logo during this period. It is not until decades later that we begin to see Cunard adopt the continuous usage of a standardised font and lion rampant emblem that is still recognisable today.

Left: D42/PR5/45 - Front Cover : Cunard Magazine, Vo. 11, No.4 (October 1923). Artist: Odin Rosenvinge.

Right: Uncatalogued - David Powers Collection - Brochure: Cunard Vacation Specials - The Cunard and Anchor Lines. Artist unknown.

Advertisements in Print

Left: D42/PR4/21/6 - Front cover of brochure for Aquitania's cruise to the Mediterranean. Artist: J. G. Rearu’e.

Right: Aquitania Uncatalogued Cunard Associated Deposits - Brochure: The Cunarder Aquitania. Artist: Fred J. Hdeatz.

Imposing Headquarters

Cunard’s headquarters were based in Liverpool from the company’s inauguration in 1840 until 1967. The continued growth of the company saw its headquarters on Water Street become the “hub of an enormous business, concerned not just with shipping across the Atlantic to the United States and Canada, but also with routes to ports in the Mediterranean and Middle East”. Soon a purpose-built headquarters would be required and by 1914 construction of Cunard’s “shoreside palace to match the palaces of the sea” would begin.

Completed in 1917, the Cunard Building, one of Liverpool’s Three Graces, was the headquarters of the Cunard Company between 1916-1967. Its design was the combined work of Messrs. Willink and Thicknesse of Liverpool and Messrs. Mewes and Davis of London and was based on the Farnese Palace in Rome.

“Altogether, 180,000 cubic feet of Portland Stone was used on the exterior, and, 50,000 cubic feet of finest Italian marble on the interior.” The building’s position on Liverpool’s waterfront acted as a visual statement of Cunard’s importance in the shipping world.

For more information, please see this blog post.

D42/PR2/7/22 -The Cunard Building: Liverpool Office Exterior. 

Imposing Headquarters

Across the Atlantic in 1921 work was completed on the construction of The New Cunard Building, 25 Broadway, New York City. Designed by the architect Benjamin Wistar Morris, with Messrs. Carrere & Hastings appointed as consulting architects, the 22-storey building was able to accommodate the offices of Cunard, Anchor and Allied Lines.

The two photographs capture The New Cunard Building’s imposing exterior and interior Great Hall which in the words of the architect: “Eye and mind are at once impressed with a sense of space and dignity unusual in a room designed for the transaction of business”.

Left: D42 New York Office interior.

Right: D42 New York Office exterior view.

Company Offices

Alongside its headquarters, Cunard also had a presence within major cities across the world, most predominately in Europe in the form of company offices. Many of these offices were located in local travel agencies who represented Cunard. The two photographs show the exterior views of Cunard’s offices in Algiers and Vienna, both featuring large travel posters and promotional imagery in their window displays.

Top: D42/PR2/7/1 - Algiers Office exterior. Photographer: Jean Geiser.

Bottom: D42/PR2/7/45 - Vienna Office exterior.

Company Offices

Company offices supplied potential passengers with promotional literature for Cunard services, its travel routes and ships. During the 1920s and 1930s advertisements also focused on encouraging travel more generally. Examples show advertising material for an American audience promoting travel to Europe. Visually eye-catching and decorative they include guidance on saving to travel and a campaign featuring Alice in Wonderland aimed at addressing passenger concerns over the exchange rate of the dollar. Such records demonstrate how Cunard not only needed to reassure potential passengers of their ability to travel but also their ability to travel at a desired standard.

Left: D42/PR3/10/43 - Brochure: Promoting Tourist Third Cabin services.

Right: D42/PR3/11/31 - Brochure: Cunard 'Alice in Wonderland' Information series (advertising campaign).

For more information, please see this blog post.

Passenger Memorabilia

Voyage ephemera produced by Cunard for its passengers during the 1920s and 1930s was largely in printed format and included items such as menu cards, passenger lists, postcards and daily programmes. Made available to passengers as a way of advertising Cunard’s services and communicating important information about their journey, they help provide an insight into life on board Cunard ships – from the food passengers were eating, to the songs that they sang on board.

Left: D42/PR3/9/45 - Front Cover: The Cunarder Magazine, Vol.1 May 1921 No.1.

Right: D42/PR4/28/8/3 - Breakfast menu, Queen Mary (16 September 1938).

Passenger Memorabilia

Often highly decorative pieces in their own right, Cunard cruise ephemera became desirable to passengers as collectable memorabilia or keepsakes. Some surviving menu card examples include handwritten annotations or the signatures of fellow passengers.

Although memorabilia can mean different things to different people, such items are often treasured or valued, acting as a tangible connection to an event, person or experience. The Cunard memorabilia on display includes examples of printed ephemera that have in some instances been kept by passengers and passed down through family members or entrusted to friends.

Left: D1158/2/1 - Lancastria Passenger List - 9 June 1934.

Right: David Powers Collection - Programme of Sports - RMS "Carmania".

Passenger Memorabilia

Cunard Magazine Vol. IX No. 6 (December 1922)

Article from the Christmas edition of the Cunard Magazine, giving the reader an insight into how art was used in Cunard's menu cards.  

Left: D42/PR5 - Cunard Magazine: Article, 'Art in Menu Cards'.

Right: D42/PR5 - Cunard Magazine: Article, 'Art in Passenger List Covers'.

For more information, please see this blog post.

Photography in Cunard Advertising

During the 1920s and 1930s Cunard's advertising typically featured illustrations with vibrant colours and attractive designs. As photography became more accessible, Cunard's printed promotional material began to include photographic images. Cunard used photography to showcase its ships, their launches and company news.

Top: D42/PR1/14/137 - Mauretania II launch  - Photographer: Stewart Bale Ltd.

Bottom: D42/PR2/1/97/B14 - Queen Mary Arrival in New York, 1936 - Photographer Stewart Bale Ltd.

Photography in Cunard Advertising

Life on board scenes often showed passengers in comfortable surroundings and were commonly used in brochures and magazines. These photographs reflected the changing expectations of travellers and the growing emphasis on cruising during the 1920s and 1930s.

Left: D42/PR2/1/17/D72 -  Passengers Aboard Aquitania. Photographer unknown.

Top right: D42/PR1/41/115 - Interior of Aurania (1938-1939) - Photographer: Stewart Bale Ltd.

Bottom right: D42/PR2/1/17/D133 - A Dance Aboard Aquitania. Photographer unknown.

RMS Queen Mary Moments

Top left: D42 Queen Mary Transparency - Asta (Movie Dog) - Photographer: Ocean Pictures.

Bottom left: D42 Queen Mary Transparency - Helen Gilliland (actress) with Mr and Mrs Hillman - Photographer: Ocean Pictures.

Top right: D42 Queen Mary Transparency - Dorchester glamour girls - Photographer: Ocean Pictures.

Middle right: D42 Queen Mary Transparency - Hubert Julian (aviator) - Photographer: Ocean Pictures.

Bottom right: D42 Queen Mary Transparency - Eddie Cantor (actor) - Photographer: Ocean Pictures.

The Experience

Cunard’s communication with potential passengers during the 1920s and 1930s was largely reliant upon printed publicity material in the form of leaflets and brochures. Such items would have contained factual information about Cunard’s ships, routes and fares.

In addition to this informative style of advertising, Cunard also used narrative to showcase the Cunard experience. Using storytelling in advertising was a powerful way for the Cunard Company to capture their audience’s imagination and to shape their public image.

The following records are examples of how highly descriptive language was used alongside beautiful illustrations to create a romanticised view of a Cunard cruise; taking the reader on a journey that they would hopefully one day experience.

Image from 'My Cunard Trip' , artist: A. K. MacDonald. Captioned: Dinner at the Captains Table "Berengaria".

David Powers Collection - 'My Cunard Trip'.

The Experience

My Cunard Trip by A. K. MacDonald [192-]

David Powers Collection - 'My Cunard Trip' , artist: A. K. MacDonald.

The Experience

The New Art of Going Abroad [1929] Cunard Line.

David Powers Collection - The New Art of Going Abroad [1929] Cunard Line.

The Experience

The Art of Dining: dedicated to all men of appetite and experience by Darius

Liverpool: The Cunard Steam Ship Co. Ltd. (1927)

Artist A. K. MacDonald.

D42/PR3/10/17 - The Art of Dining: dedicated to all men of appetite and experience by Darius. Artist: A. K. MacDonald.

The Experience

The New Franconia: A Floating Palace of Rest and Recreation [1923].

D42/PR4/33/1 - Promotional booklet entitled "The New Franconia: A Floating Palace of Rest and Recreation".

Collectable RMS Queen Mary Souvenirs

It is perhaps difficult today to appreciate how significant RMS Queen Mary was when she entered service, for not only was she the largest and fastest ship the world had ever known but she was also the most expensive. Branded items helped to demonstrate the impact RMS Queen Mary had on the country and her wide-ranging appeal.

Examples include a jigsaw, hand-held Queen Mary puzzle from the ‘R. J. Series of Popular Puzzles’, collectable confectionery and cigarette cards that used illustrations to demonstrate the scale and features of the Queen Mary to the public and potential passengers.

Many of these items were donated by Kit Syder in memory of her Grandparents, Tom and Hilda Roby who collected the items through their connection with the John Roby Ltd Company (later Roby & Utley) and as passengers on a Cunard cruise.

Top left: D1169/1/4a - Collectors cards - Queen Mary 1934.

Top right: D1169/1/2 - The Queen Mary Puzzle 1934.

Bottom: D958 - Queen Mary Jigsaw.

For more information please see this blog post.

Collectable RMS Queen Mary Souvenirs

RMS Queen Mary souvenir magazine and a "Take to Pieces" Model of RMS Queen Mary.

Top: David Powers Collection - Magazine: "The Story of R.M.S. Queen Mary - A descriptive souvenir, lavishly illustrated, of the world's greatest ship".

Bottom: Unique "Take to Pieces" Model of R.M.S. "Queen Mary". 

The Enigma of Cunard’s Artists

Charles Francis Hopkinson (Artist)

Information about the artists that were commissioned by Cunard to produce their advertising material is extremely limited within the Cunard archive. One of the few artists that we know about is Charles Francis Hopkinson and comes from a chance communication with his daughter, Anne Frances Henry, who provided the following details about her father’s life:

“C.F. Hopkinson was my father, and was a commercial artist for Cunard in Liverpool. As I understand it he painted the ships from the draughtsman’s drawings, before they were built or at least completed.

My father’s full name was Charles Francis Hopkinson and besides painting the liners, he also did the designs for most of the items on board such as playing cards, menus, postcards etc. His paintings of some of the liners appeared on the postcards. He had quite a distinctive style of lettering and so his work on these smaller items is easy to pick out”.

The information provided by Anne enabled the identification of Hopkinson in the photograph on display. He is pictured making final amendments to Samuel Cunard’s portrait bust.

D42/PR2/5/10/9 - Creation of Bust of Sir Samuel Cunard. Photographer: Stewart Bale Ltd.

For more information please see this blog post.

The Enigma of Cunard’s Artists

Charles Francis Hopkinson (Artist)

Further examples of Hopkinson’s work include The Dawn, an illustration printed in the January 1919 edition of The Cunard Magazine and the brightly coloured postcard depicting RMS Caronia, a Cunard ship launched in 1947 by HRH Princess Elizabeth and known as the ‘Green Goddess’ due to her unusual green livery.

Top: D662/2/2 - Postcard of The New Caronia. Artist: Charles Hopkinson.

Bottom left: D42/PR5/23 - Front Cover: Cunard Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1 (January 1919). Artist: Charles Hopkinson.

Bottom right: D42/PR5/23 - Artwork from Cunard Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1 (January 1919). Artist: Charles Hopkinson.

For more information please see this blog post.

The Enigma of Cunard’s Artists

A.K. MacDonald (Artist)

Although no business records referring to A. K. MacDonald being commissioned by Cunard have survived as part of the Cunard archive, there are some wonderful surviving examples of his work.

These include the colourful “Auld Lang Syne” RMS Lancastria menu card design and the souvenir publication entitled “My Cunard Trip”.

Top left and right: D1070/16 - Menu - 2 July 1936.

Bottom left and right: David Powers Collection - Images from "Auld Lang Syne" menu card and "My Cunard Trip" booklet. Artist: A.K. MacDonald.

The Queen Mary – A Book of Comparisons

RMS Queen Mary was the first ship to be launched by the newly formed Cunard White Star Line Ltd. To coincide with this momentous occasion, a souvenir publication was produced in 1936 entitled The Queen Mary, A Book of Comparisons. The publication employed the technique of using illustrations that “paints a picture of the ‘Queen Mary’ that could not be presented by any other means”.

A combination of famous landmarks alongside familiar domestic items were used to help members of the public understand the scale of the Queen Mary. 

John G. Langley Collection.

JGL/2/1/12/1 - Queen Mary Book of Comparisons.

Cunard Posters

Cunard used a variety of ways to promote its shipping services, including brochures, articles and photographs. One of the most visual methods was posters. The following examples are a selection of original travel posters from the Cunard archive that were used in Cunard's sales offices throughout the world. The glamour, excitement and safety portrayed in these posters would have informed potential travellers what they could expect from travelling with Cunard.

Their vibrant colours and attractive designs are typical of the advertisements used by Cunard during the interwar period; often reflecting the changing expectations of travellers and the growing emphasis on cruising.

D42/PR11/2 - Travel Poster: America this year by RMS Queen Mary. Artist: Tom Curr.

America this Year!

Since 4^th July 1840 when the Britannia left Liverpool for Halifax and Boston, Cunard has been synonymous with transatlantic crossings. The towering skylines of America depicted in the posters allude to the transatlantic routes that Cunard became known for.

During the 1920s and 1930s a westbound crossing between Southampton and New York would have taken approximately 5-7 days.

Left: D42/PR11/2 - Travel Poster: America this year by RMS Queen Mary. Artist: Tom Curr.

Middle: D42/PR11/5 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - Atlantic Holidays.

Right: D42/PR11/17 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - See America this year!

Cunard Cruises

Cunard’s advertising during the 1920s and 1930s is indicative of how cruising becoming increasingly popular. The timeless question of “what to pack?” is a glamourous conundrum faced by those travelling on a cruise and hinted at in the Going Cruising? poster.

While the Winter Cruises poster is an example of a specific voyage being promoted in Cunard’s advertising, the bright green Tours & Cruises poster is a relaxed yet prominent advertisement focusing on the enjoyment to be had from a Cunard cruise.

Left: D42/PR11/8 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - Going Cruising. Artist unknown. 

Middle: D42/PR11/20 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - Winter Cruises on the Lanconia in 1937. Artist: Jarvis.

Right: D42/PR11/21 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - Tours and Cruises. Artist: [J. J. French].

New World Rivieras

“The two New World Riviera posters are interesting examples of Cunard advertising. The company encourages a trip to winter sunshine. The font for the main text suggests modernity – this is the place to go and the way to get there. The gently coloured background of sea and palm trees hints at the warmth and relaxation to be found on arrival. The second poster, with its spectacular butterfly is an enigma; it’s quite unlike any other poster of which we’re aware.”

Graham Gladden, academic researcher.

D42/PR11/10 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star, New world Rivieras. Artist unknown.

D42/PR11/23 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - New World Rivieras, New Ways to Winter Sunshine. Artist: Jarvis.

For more information, please see this blog post.

RMS Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary was launched on 26^th September 1934 by Her Majesty Queen Mary – wife of His Majesty King George V - who became the first British monarch to launch a merchant ship. As she said the words, broadcast over the radio, “I am happy to name this ship Queen Mary; I wish success to her and all who sail in her”, millions of the King’s subjects heard his wife’s voice for the first time.

The nation was ecstatic as the launch of what King George V called “the stateliest ship now in being” seemed to symbolise Britain’s emergence from the years of economic hardship.

The Queen Mary’s “truly glamorous career in which the orchestra played until the last passenger left” is alluded to in these understated yet beautiful posters.

Extracts taken from The story of Cunard's 175 years: the triumph of a great tradition by Eric Flounders and Michael Gallagher (2015).

Left: D42/PR11/1 - Travel Poster: 'Cunard White Star'. Artist unknown. 

Right: D42/PR11/4 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - RMS Queen Mary. Artist: Jarvis.

The Destination in Focus

Cunard travel posters advertised specific routes and destinations to potential passengers. These two examples show Canada, complete with a photograph of passengers on board one of their ‘A Class’ liners and Dublin with its onward connections to the United States.

D42/PR11/12a - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - "A" Liners to Canada. Artist unknown.

D42/PR11/19 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - Dublin to Boston and New York. Artist: Jarvis.

Travel Icons

These travel posters are examples of the way in which Cunard ships were portrayed as being a reliable way to travel on the unpredictable ocean waves.

The first poster depicts Cunard’s iconic red and black funnels towering above a group of happy passengers. Dominating the scene, the funnels have become one of Cunard’s most iconic and recognisable poster design and are often interpreted as symbolising Cunard’s pride in safety at sea.

The second poster promotes Cunard’s connection with other travel providers in order to provide a seamless travel experience for passengers – in this example, Great Western Railway (GWR).

Left: D42/PR11/3 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - Great Western Railway. Artist unknown.

Right: D42/PR11/7 - Travel Poster: Cunard White Star - Ship Funnels. Artist unknown. 

For more information on the Cunard Archive please visit our website.