The Descriptive Finding Guide for the Global Airline Luggage Labels Special Collection
SDASM.SC.10003
Finding aid prepared by Cindy Chen
San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives
2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park
San Diego, CA, 92101
(619) 234-8291
2011
Title: Airline Luggage Label Special Collection
Identifier/Call Number: SDASM.SC.10003
Contributing Institution:
San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.2 Cubic feet
3 binders
Date (inclusive): 1920-1960
Abstract: This collection contains luggage labels from a variety of global airlines. The majority of the labels date from before World
War II.
Language of Materials note: English
Biographical/Historical note
Interesting design and oftentimes colorful airline labels were in abundance in the golden age of air travel, and their function
extended to displaying and conveying the glamour of air travel. It also highlighted those who could partake in the as yet
exclusive lifestyle of traveling by air. The labels themselves, small “works of art,” also doubled as airline advertisement,
and the popularity of these labels were at a peak in the 1920s up to WWII. After WWII, traveling by air became much more economical,
and the appeal and glamour of air travel all but disappeared. For example, in Britain during the war, most airlines became
part of the military, when the focus on colorful labels also disappeared. As airlines and routes developed, the use of labels/tags
became more utilitarian and focused on tracking and identification. Today, collecting labels is a hobby that started in the
1930s.
Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Conditions Governing Use note
Some copyright may be reserved. Consult with the library director for more information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Acquired by museum before 1978 fire; original donor name lost.
Scope and Contents note
This series contains various airline luggage labels and related stickers and baggage tags from international locations, including:
North and South America, Australia, Asia and Europe.
Preferred Citation note
[Item], [Collection], Archives, San Diego Air & Space Museum
Related Archival Materials note
Airline Special Collection
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Deutsche Lufthansa (1593-).
KLM (Airline).
Pan American Airways Corporation.
Concorde (Jet transports)
Graf Zeppelin (Airship)
Box 01 Binder – Luggage Labels: United States, Asia, Africa, Canada, Mexico, South America, Australia
Physical Description:
1. Airplane-shaped sticker, American Airlines
2. Pan Am, “passenger baggage”
3. Bonanza Airlines, “BonanzaLand U.S.A.”
4. Allegheny, “Airline of the Executives”
5. Alaska Airlines
6. United Airlines
7. American Airlines
8. Robertson “Mail, passenger, express”
9. Stout Airlines
10. Standard Airlines
11. Central Airlines
12. Maddux Air Lines
13. Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc.
14. Chicago and Southern Airlines
15. Embry-Riddle “Airmail contractors”
16. Wedell-Williams Airlines (Baton Rouge-Houston, San Antonio-Beaumont)
17. NAT (National Air Transport, air mail)
18. Chicago and Southern Airlines
19. Rapid Air Transport Inc. “safe scenic swift service”
20. Florida Airways
21. Bowen Air Lines
22. Pittsburgh Airways Inc.
23. “Join the Battle for Britain,” Air Florida
24. Dixie Flying Service “by air to the South”
25. Universal Air Lines System
26. Otto Airlines “route of the stateliner”
27. Tours, Inc. (Grand Canyon, Boulder Dam)
28. Boston Maine-Central Vermont Airways
29. West Coast Air Transport Corp.
30. “Special Christmas Flight C.A.M. 30, Dec. 25, 1929,” Interstate Airlines, Inc.
31. Braniff International Airways
32. I.A.F.
33. Pennsylvania Airlines, Inc. (Akron, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington)
34. Varney Speed Lines
35. Mid-Continent Airlines
36. Pacific Seaboard Air Lines Inc. (mail, passenger, express)
37. Bowen Lines
38. General Air Express “nation-wide coverage, door-to-door service”
39. General Air Express (The Interline System)
40. Trans-American Airlines Corp.
41. Consolidated Airlines
42. “Do the ‘Bahama Hop’ Air Florida
43. Wilmington Catalina Airline, LTD. (Catalina Island, CA)
44. Colonial Airways System (mail, passenger, express)
45. NPA Airways Inc. (Utah, Idaho, Montana)
46. Licon Airways Inc. (freight)
47. Gorst Air Transport, Inc. “carried by AirFerry,” (Seattle-Bremerton)
48. Boeing System
49. Wyoming Air Service, Inc.
50. Pickwick Airways
51. Hanford Air Lines (U.S. Air Mail)
52. Century Pacific Lines “frequent daily schedules”
53. Cardiff and Peacock Airlines Ltd. “serving the San Joaquin Valley”
54. Gilpin Airlines (Los Angeles, Agua Caliente, Long Beach, San Diego)
55. The Ludington Line (New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington)
56. Martz Airlines (Wilkes-Barre, PA)
57. TWA (Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc.
58. M.A.T.
59. PAA (Pan American Airways System)
60. Panagra
61. New York Airways
62. Customs sticker, Pan American
63. Piarco Guest House, Pan American
64. Western Air Express
65. 25th Anniversary, 1951, Western Air Lines
66. Delta Airlines
67. Delta Air Freight
68. Concorde Braniff International “The only U.S. airline to fly Concorde”
69. Assorted, small 1” Delta
70. Eastern Air Lines
71. TTA (Trans-Texas Airways)
72. FAL (Frontier Airlines)
73. All American Airways
74. Munz Air Service
75. Ozark Air Lines
76. Lake Central Airlines “serving the Lake region and the Middle West”
77. Mohawk jets 20th Anniversary year, 1945-1965
78. North Central Airlines
79. Northwest Airlines
80. National Airlines, “New York to Amsterdam starting Dec. 13”
81. Capital Airlines
82. Republic Airlines
83. Hughes Airwest “top banana in the West”
84. Pennsylvania Central Airlines
85. Southern Airways
86. W.A.E. (Western Air Express)
87. Continental Airlines
88. Aloha Airlines
89. Alaska Washington Airways
90. Scenic Airlines “Grand Canyon experience air tour”
91. Alaska Coastal Airlines
92. Cordova Airlines (Anchorage, Alaska)
93. TCA (Trans Caribbean Airways), (Caribbean islands and South America)
94. Pacific Northern Airlines “The Alaska flag line”
95. Caribair “the route of the Trade Winds”
96. Pacific Western Airlines “air freight”
97. Railway Express Agency Inc., via Air Express
98. General Air Express
99. “1933 National Air Races July 1*2*3*4” Los Angeles Municipal Airport
100. “National Air Races Cleveland 1932”
101. Fokker
102. Northrop
103. Dornier (utility, commuter aircraft)
104. Grand Central Air Terminal, Curtiss Wright Flying Service (Glendale, Los Angeles)
105. Sabena “Go Belgian”
106. “Miami All-American Air Races Jan. 5, 6, 7”
107. TransAmerican Airlines Corp.
108. Air Canada
109. Alaska Cruise Lines Ltd.
110. JAL
111. Pan American World Airways (Australia)
112. Inland Air Lines
113. Brown Palace Hotel “Where the world registers” (Denver)
114. Northwest Orient
115. McDonnell Douglas “The Wide One”
116. Southwest Airlines (San Diego reservations and information)
117. Baggage Identification-National Airlines
118. Baggage Identification-Northwest Orient
119. Baggage Identification-American Airlines
120. Baggage Identification-United
121. Baggage Identification-Allegheny
122. Baggage Identification-Aspen Airways, Inc.
123. Baggage Identification-Reeve Aleutian Airways, Inc.
124. Baggage Identification-Ozark Air Lines
125. Baggage Identification-British Caledonian
126. Baggage Identification-Air Florida
127. Baggage Identification-Lufthansa
128. Baggage Identification-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
129. Baggage Identification-British Midland
130. Baggage Identification-Southern
131. Baggage Identification-Aer Lingus
132. Baggage Identification-TAP
133. Baggage Identification-Pan American
134. Baggage Identification-Piedmont
135. Baggage Identification-Wien Air Alaska, Inc.
136. Baggage Identification-Olympic Airways
137. Baggage Identification-Air New Zealand
138. Baggage Identification-Bonanza Air Lines
139. Baggage Identification-Aloha
140. Baggage Identification-Cyprus Airways
141. Baggage Identification-various foreign
142. Pan American (Mexico)
143. Trans-Canada Air Lines
144. Yukon Southern Air Transport Ltd.
145. Mackenzie Air Service
146. Laurentian Air Services Ltd. (Ottawa)
147. Canadian Airways Limited
148. Maritime Central Airways (Canada)
149. Canadian Pacific
150. Pacific Western Airlines
151. Air Canada
152. British South American Airways
153. Per Guinea Airways Limited
154. Varig Airlines (Brazil)
155. Syndicato Condor (Brazil)
156. Quantas (Australia)
157. Quantas Air Express (Australia)
158. Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. (Brisbane, Longreach, Charleville, Cloncurry)
159. Air India
160. Union of Burma Airways
161. Avianca
162. Iberia Airlines of Spain
163. Holden’s Air Transport Services Ltd. (Salamaua New Guinea)
164. Eastern Air Freight (Latin America)
165. Stewart Island Air Services
166. Finnair
167. Sabena Belgian World Airlines
168. TACA (Central America)
169. Curtiss (Cuba)
170. Antilles Air Boats (Virgin Islands)
171. (JAL) Japan Airlines
172. MAS (Malaysian Airline System)
173. Singapore Airlines
174. Indonesian Airways (Air freight)
175. China Airlines
176. MEA (Middle East Airlines)
177. Phillipine Aerial Taxi Co. (Manila-Baguio Air Line)
178. Cathay Oriental Jet Flight
179. China National Aviation Corp.
180. South African Airways
181. Ansett (Australia)
182. Ethiopian Airlines
183. East African Airways
184. Air Ceylon
185. Nord Africa Aviazione
186. Polynesian Airlines Limited
187. Gulfair
188. PIA
189. Air Laos
190. East Coast Airways Limited (Gisborne-Napier)
191. Cook Strait Airways Limited
192. New England Airways (Sydney, Lismore, Brisbane)
193. Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, S.A.
194. AA (Aerolineas Argentinas)
195. Eyre Peninsula Airways Ltd. (Adelaide)
196. LAB “daily to South America”
197. Real Airlines of South America
198. Vasp Brazilian Airlines
199. Linea Aerea Nacional Chile
200. Linea Aeropostal Venezolana “The Venezuelan Airline”
201. SCADTA (Columbia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru)
202. Union Airways Ltd.
203. Cathay Pacific
204. Haj
205. Atlantic Gulf
206. CAT (Civil Air Transport—Orient)
207. NEAL (Sydney, Lismore, Brisbane,)
208. Nigeria Airways
209. TDA Cargo
210. Eurasia Aviation Corp.
211. Misr Egyptian Airlines
212. Indian National Airways
213. Air Orient
214. C.N.A.C.
215. American Airlines
216. Aerovias (Brasil)
217. PLUNA “Primeras Lineas Uruguayas de Navegacion Aerea”
218. Guest “Aerovias Mexico”
219. Prinair
220. Malayan Airways
221. Wilson Airways Limited (Nairobi Kenya Colony)
222. BOAC Overseas Airways Corporation
Box 02 Binder – Luggage Labels: Airline Labels: Europe and Air Bus Douglas
Physical Description:
1. El Al Israel Airlines
2. Cyprus Airways (freight)
3. Various series shaped airline labels
4. Finnair
5. LAI (Linee Aeree Italiane)
6. “Skytruck” Italian Cargo Airlines
7. MALEV Hungarian Air Transport
8. Scandinavian Air Express
9. Iberia Lineas Aereas Espanolas
10. A-B Aerotransport
11. Norske Luftruter
12. Sabena Belgian Air Lines
13. Deruluft (Soviet-German airline)
14. Aeroput
15. CSA (Czechoslovak Airlines)
16. LOT (Polish Airlines)
17. Olympic Airways (London-Athens)
18. Icelandair
19. Deutsche Lufthansa A.G.
20. Luftschiffbau Zeppelin G.M.B.H.
21. Lufthansa Flugschiff D.O.X.
22. Fokker
23. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
24. ABA Swedish Air Lines
25. Dornier
26. Hapag-Lloyd Flug
27. Tyrolean Airways (Innsbruck, Austria)
28. LTU International Airlines
29. KNILM Royal Netherlands Indies’ Airways
30. Imperial Airways
31. Handlery Page Transport Ltd. (Paris-London)
32. Guernsey Airlines
33. Air France
34. Farman Air Lines
35. British United Airways
36. Cargolux
37. British Eagle
38. Eagle Airways
39. Boeing 757
40. Aer Lingus Irish Air Lines
41. Lockheed L-1011 Dash 500
42. SwissAir
43. ALA Littoria S.A. (Roma)
44. RhineAir
45. Interflug, various
46. CrossAir
47. SISA Societa Italiana Servizi Aerei
48. DDL Det Danske Luftfartselskab
49. Hillman’s Airways (Essex, England)
50. Aberdeen Airways
51. Hunting Air Transport Ltd. (Safari Service U.K. to East Africa)
52. Highland Airways Ltd. Inverness Orkney Air Service
53. Great Western and Southern Airlines Ltd.
54. Scottish Airways Ltd.
55. Northern & Scottish Airways Ltd.
56. Aquila Airways Ltd.
57. Jersey Airways Limited (London, Jersey, Paris)
58. Crilly Airways Ltd.
59. Irish International Airlines
60. Provincial Airways
61. Large oval, A300, various airlines