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Title: Royal Dutch Airlines |
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Description: Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, or KLM, was founded in 1919 as Holland’s national airline. It’s founding, initially to satisfy “the natural desire of the Dutch to provide a link between their distant empire and the homeland,” was finally realized in 1924 when KLM successfully completed its first trip from Amsterdam to Batavia (modern day Djakarta, Indonesia), the capital of Dutch East Indies. In 1929 KLM launched regular service between Amsterdam and Batavia, and by 1934 service between the capital and it’s most distant colony was offered twice-weekly. Previously the only means to reaching the distant island colony, 8,540 miles from Amsterdam, was by ship. When KLM successfully flew to Batavia in 1924 it shattered world records for flying distance, earning the title “World’s Longest Air Line,” an honor prominently displayed by the text on the poster, a decade later. As an airplane soars over the roaring ocean, ships linger throughout the background as shadows: first in the distant background, fighting the torrent waves and then as visions in the clouds above, as KLM |
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Fokker F.XII glides easily above – signaling the passing of a bygone era and celebrating KLM’s achievements. This imagery is even more potent in a Dutch-language version of the 1932 poster: above the cockpit the viewer sees the shadow of a sail mast, imagery reiterates the metaphorical passing of the baton from ships to airplanes. The poster’s imagery is also nationalistic: an image of the Dutch flag waves gloriously in the background, appearing as an extension of the airplane itself and flying from the one of the plane’s four speeding propellers. Though an ostensibly small detail, it has larger historical connotations as it reflects the cultural ideology surrounding KLM airlines in the early twentieth century as a source of Dutch national pride. For the Dutchman, KLM was more than an airline – it was a “symbol of pride, identifying him with his homeland.” This notion is first mirrored and then reiterated in KLM advertising from the period as published materials, such as this poster, declare the prowess of “The Flying Dutchman.” Some scholars have noted that KLM was the first airline to successfully employ sophisticated branding techniques. “The Flying Dutchman” – displayed prominently on this poster – was one such example of KLM’s strong branding. It was designed to imbue Dutch individuals with the sense they were personally invested as active participants, not just passive observers, of KLM’s incredible, yet accessible, fetes. The famous KLM slogan, “Fiction Becomes Fact,” is also displayed prominently on the poster. The English-language slogan was adapted from the original Dutch “ees legend thans werkelijkheid,” which translates literally to “once legend now reality.” The “Fiction Becomes Fact” slogan is a fixture on most KLM advertisements from the period and appears on other KLM posters in this collection. Interestingly, it also appears in 1932 on published documents for Fokker’s new F.XII – the same plane depicted in this KLM poster (also published in 1932). This branding and slogan cross-pollination illustrates the deep – if not inextricable – relationship between KLM and Fokker. The Fokker models were the mainstay of KLM’s fleet, all designed domestically by the Dutchman Anthony Herman Gerard “Tony” Fokker. Notably, it was Fokker himself who demonstrated the Fokker F.II to the press on KLM’s inaugural May 17, 1920 flight. Both KLM and Fokker prospered in this partnership throughout the 1920’s and within nine years, KLM had expanded at a staggering rate to include a fleet of 20 aircraft – all Fokkers. |
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