Advertising the United States:
Discovering America’s flagship through prints, posters, and advertisements
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The SS United States made her maiden voyage in 1952, at the dawn of what has since become known as the Ad Age. For the next two decades, as the ship sped back and forth between Europe and New York, advertisers developed complex, psychological techniques to capture the public’s attention—and change the very way they experience the world. Advertising the United States: Discovering America’s Flagship through Prints, Posters, and Advertisements is a digital exhibition that highlights the intricate, exciting, and often beautiful visualizations of the SS United States in advertising and how these advertisements affect our understanding, experience, and memory of America’s Flagship and her namesake nation.
Emerging from the horrors of war, the SS United States provided the American people with a beacon of hope and the promise of safety. Built to operate as both a commercial liner and a convertible troop ship in case of wartime, the SS United States was a national asset in more than one way. Breaking the transatlantic speed record on her maiden voyage and establishing herself as the fastest ship in the world–a record she holds to this day–she was considered a symbol of national pride and a technological marvel: a monument in her own right. Built entirely on American soil, an endeavor which promoted industry and created jobs, the SS United States was seen by the public as the embodiment of American ingenuity, perseverance, and pride.
On the poster-clad walls of travel agencies and in the glossy pages of The New Yorker and Holiday Magazine, advertising informed the public—both American and international—how to think about the SS United States. She became “the Queen of the Seas:” a stage set, used to sell everything from boot polish to high-end clothing, and, at the same time, to shape consumer preferences. Finally, as more and more passengers chose to fly across the Atlantic by jet, she was recast as an “Unrushable” bastion of leisurely luxury travel. By engaging with ads featuring the SS United States, we can begin to discover the ways in which the ship's identity became irrevocably tied to the identity of the American people.
A note about the exhibition:
This exhibition is divided into three distinct parts: The first, Advertising the United States, discusses the role advertising played in the post-War tourism boom and how advertisements of the SS United States presented the public with a "monument" of American ingenuity and innovation. The next section, The United States as Stage, thinks through the ways in which the ship was used as a "set" for commercial advertisement, how products became attached not only with the name of the ship, but with her superlative qualities as well. Finally, the third part of the exhibition, Sailing in the Age of the Jet, considers the use of mid-century modern style and iconography, as well as the ship’s partial rebranding as “the most luxurious way to Europe,” in order to re-invigorate the public’s interest in the SS United States while competing with the rise of commercial airlines. Each section features a selection of images that best interrogates these themes.
Advertising the United States is the SS United States Conservancy’s inaugural digital exhibition in a series planned to explore unique and compelling historical and cultural dimensions of America’s Flagship. These presentations will showcase the Conservancy’s growing permanent curatorial and archival collections as plans continue to advance for a permanent shipboard museum and permanent display.
Curator:
Sydney Sheehan, Curatorial Associate, SS United States Conservancy
With support from:
Emerson Jones & Griffin Watson
SS United States Conservancy
Allee Davis, Preservation and Outreach Director, SS United States Conservancy
Susan Gibbs, President, SS United States Conservancy
The SS United States Conservancy is deeply grateful to all of our supporters who made this exhibition possible. We extend special thanks to those who kindly loaned items for inclusion in this exhibition: Susan Gibbs, Mark Perry, Marc Shenfield, and Paul Stipkovich.