Escape from Winter, Orient Line to Australia
Maker
Orient Line
(1878 - 1966)
Artist
Peter Morgan
Date1937
Object number00015602
NamePoster
MediumColour lithograph on paper
DimensionsOverall: 683 x 1060 mm, 0.4 kg
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis poster promoting winter escapes on the Orient Line from the USA to Australia was designed by Peter Morgan in 1937. Sunshine and the theme of opportunity were often used by shipping companies to promote travel to Australia throughout the 20th century. This poster is typical of those produced by the Orient Line in the 1930s, with stylised graphics that aimed to engage attention through the bold use of design rather than a literal representation of steamships.HistoryJames Thompson initiated a ship broking company in 1797 and by the mid-19th century operated sailing routes around the world. Scotsman James Anderson joined the company in 1828, his nephew James Anderson joined the firm in 1854, and by 1869 the company was trading under the name Anderson, Anderson and Co. In 1878, keen to initiate a service to Australia, the company purchased a fleet of steamships owned by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company and founded the Orient Steam Navigation Company (shortened to the Orient Line). In 1879 the ORIENT, a ship purpose-built for the company, entered service on the Australia route.
By the turn of the century the Orient Line had a close association with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, with the two companies sharing an Australian Government mail contract. This was a time of rapid expansion for the Orient Line with a succession of large 12,000 tonne steamships entering into service in 1909. P&O acquired a controlling interest in the Orient Line in 1919, but the firm Anderson, Green and Co managed the subsidiary as a separate entity until it was formally absorbed in 1960. The fleet was upgraded after World War I with five 20,000 tonne ships built in the 1920s. The state-of-the-art ORION (with what became the Line's signature corn-coloured hull) was launched in 1935.SignificanceThe Orient Line was one of the first shipping companies to embrace Modernist conceptual designs as part of their marketing strategy. This poster was used in the USA to promote passenger services to Australia; however it was designed and printed in the UK.
