Description

Los Angeles Steamship Company and Western Air Express [Published Date: NO date listed, circa 1928 - 1920]. Original vintage tri-fold brochure (single sheet printed both sides), measuring 10.5 x 6 inches when fully opened. Black and white with some lettering in red. Promotes a new deluxe joint service between Los Angeles and San Francisco, offering a round-trip combination of sea and air travel for a fare of $65.00. The front panel announces the option to "Go by Water, Return by Air or the Reverse," highlighting the collaboration between the Los Angeles Steamship Company (LASSCO) and Western Air Express. Features black-and-white photographic images of the S.S. Harvard (described as the exact counterpart to the S.S. Yale) and a 12-passenger tri-motored Fokker aircraft stationed at the passenger depot. The steamships Yale and Harvard were among the most luxurious of the era, with large modern staterooms, private showers, twin beds, shipboard orchestras, lounges, promenade decks, and even ballrooms - described in the brochure as providing "the utmost in comfort" and resembling "the interior of a palatial hotel." Western Air Express service featured upholstered lounge-type chairs, steward service, a served luncheon, and automobile transfer to and from air terminals. Includes complete travel schedules for northbound and southbound service, as well as departure and arrival locations in Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco. In very good+ condition Minor toning and edge wear. A well-preserved and richly illustrated example of intermodal luxury travel ephemera from the golden age of California coastal tourism.