Advertising the United States:
Discovering America’s flagship through prints, posters, and advertisements
“American Tourister” Commissioned by American Tourister, December 1959, Holiday Magazine
Image courtesy of the Collection of Paul Stipkovich
“Smarter. Lighter. Stronger. Roomier...Triumphant...New.” Words meant to advertise a suitcase applied equally well to the SS United States. Superimposed on a photograph taken from the starboard Sports Deck, the sleek, blue suitcase with gleaming aluminum trim could almost itself be a part of the ship. The company name, “American Tourister,” suggests another layer of conflation: the American tourist who carried this suitcase aboard the superliner would also be “improved.”