Hong Kong

Year: Circa 1965
Artist: Chester Kronfeld
Size: 44 X 34.5
 
Image credit: Pan Am History, Design & Identity by M.C. Huhne
 
Notable sales:
Potter & Potter, May 2021, $1,500
 
From the late 1950s through the mid-1960s, Pan Am produced a poster series based on photographs by Chester "Blackie" Kronfeld who was Pan Am's staff photographer from 1950 through his tragic death in an American Airlines plane crash on March 1, 1962 while on assignment.
 
This series of posters includes a couple of notable departures from previous and future Pan Am posters. First, they have a horizontal  orientation. Second, they are larger than the typical 28 x 42 poster, measureing 44 x 34.5. Finally, this series leverages destination images as the poster hero, with the only text telling you that Pan Am will take you there.
 
Pan Am published several versions of this poster series, first with a black and red Pan American logo tagline with a stylized prop plane, then a similar Pan American logo tagline with a jet plane, and finally a blue and red Pan Am logo tagline with a jet plane.