These gifts will really fly
Cool memorabilia for aviation geeks.
Vintage flight schedules, pamphlets
In today’s internet age, it’s easy to forget that airlines once depended on print ads to get the word out to their customers. Even getting flight schedules required consulting a travel agent, airline representative or a good oldfashioned paper timetable. These timetables were printed each season by every airline, giving travelers a published guide that detailed routes and flight times for an airline’s entire network.
Carriers rolled out pamphlets that touted everything from new airplanes to nonstop flight options. Such advertising was essential in the era before modern television, let alone e-mail and the web.
Vintage timetables and ads are among the more popular items for collectors of aviation paraphernalia. Options abound on auction sites such as eBay, where both amateurs and dedicated collectors peddle their wares.
One regular seller is collector Werner Lindquist, who sends a weekly email to subscribers showing his latest offerings. Among the recent finds for Lindquist, who sells items under the pugman1948 handle on eBay, was a 1936 Pan American Airways timetable and fare schedule. Listed at $49.99, bidding drove the price to $83 by the time it sold on Dec. 9, but there’s a steady stream of others for sale on eBay and on dozens of collector sites. For those who prefer to browse in person, check out the website of the World Airline Historical Society to see a schedule of airline memorabilia shows where you can find items like these that were on sale at a show this year in Virginia.
Airline and travel posters
Few things hark back to the “Golden Age” of travel like a poster. Aviation enthusiasts will get an extra jolt from one depicting an airline that’s no longer flying. One good place to look is the Chisholm Larsson Gallery in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. If you can’t make it in person, the gallery’s website includes online browsing and purchase options, including this 1950s-era Pan Am poster touting Paris ($800). All works are originals.
Parts of actual planes, big …
Serious collectors can select from options that include bed frames made out of Boeing 747 engine cowlings or desks crafted from pieces of commercial airliner wings. Those looking to complete a home office might consider the “Delta Wingman” desk, on sale from the folks at MotoArt Studios.
“Born from the two rear stabilizers of the iconic DC-9 … this desk literally looks like it could fly out of the office back into the sky where it spent its life,” MotoArt says in its online description of the product. “Although Delta retired its last DC-9 in 2014, this aircraft lives on as a gorgeous piece of high-end, customdesigned airplane furniture.” Price available upon request.
… and small
For those looking for a less-ambitious aircraft repurposing, products from Looptworks might fit the bill. The company has “upcycled” leather from decommissioned seats of U.S. carriers Alaska, Delta and Southwest. Looptworks’ sleek “Alaska Airlines Weekender Duffle Bag” sells online for
$290. Southwest enthusiasts can pay
$185 for a leather tote bag in that carrier’s brown and blue motif. Another Looptworks option comes from Delta flight attendant uniforms, which have been refashioned into Delta pillows that cost $35.
Gift-buyers could turn to a smaller item from MotoArt Studios. Its recently launched PlaneTags line of luggage tags (planetags.com) are made from the skins of retired aircraft. Prices range from
$22 to $125 and include options for tags from World War II aircraft to commercial jets such as the Boeing
747. In true avgeek fashion, PlaneTags include the tail number for the plane they came from, allowing enthusiasts to find the history behind each tag. A tag made from a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340 that flew under the tail number G-VGAS goes for $32.95. Among commercial airlines, tags also are available from American, Delta, United, Allegiant and China Airlines.
Airline art, clothes
Who better to come up with aviationthemed merchandise than a self-described “avgeek”? The work of Canadian photographer Laird Kay is more modern than vintage, but his line of prints and clothing are sure to be a hit.
Whether it’s the “BKK” swimsuit showing an Airbus A340 at Bangkok
($160) or the T-shirt showing the underside of a Boeing 747 landing at AMS
($95), Kay shows off his aviation photography skills in his signature “Very Plane Clothes” line. Enthusiasts also can turn to Kay’s collection of striking “Runway Graphics” prints, including a limited-edition print showing a “headon” shot of a British Airways A380.