(1) Primary Source. Primary Source: ‘Louis Vuitton: Icons’, by Stephane Gerschel , Pg 33. Photographer Unknown.

I began my research with this image, taken from ‘Louis Vuitton: Icons’ by Stephane Gerschel which I found in the University’s library. I found this particular book under a section in the library which specifically had books about various fashion designers and fashion houses which was the topic I was eager to research. This particular book interested me as it looked at the idea of ‘stylish travel’ and focused in on the fact that the fashion house originated from its bags and giving a more glamourous look and style to travelling. I was intrigued to explore images of designs from Louis Vuitton through the different era’s and time periods. The image above that I have used as my primary source is clearly a photograph that has been taken in the past yet we can still identify it as glamorous and luxurious. Therefore this photograph is a primary source as it is a photograph found in a book from the past.

(2) Secondary Souce: photographer and source unknown. Taken from fastcodesign.com. Article, ‘What It Was Like To Fly During The Golden Age Of Trvael’, 12.05.13 by John Brownlee.

When searching the internet for my secondary source, an object, I came across this photograph of an airplane from the 1950s. This image relates to my primary source as the topic of the article is about glamourous and luxurious travelling. The article, written by John Brownlee discusses how air travel was not as sumptuous as ‘The Golden Age of Travel’ makes it sound. Although the primary and secondary sources that I am looking at in my research have comparisons in that they discuss luxurious travelling around the 1950s period, they contrast as well. They contrast as my primary image, taken from ‘Louis Vuitton: Icons’ presents a woman looking as though she’s elegantly travelling, whilst the article I’ve used as my secondary source argues that travelling in this era was not as glamorous as it would appear. John Brownlee debates that air travel in the 1950’s was not luxurious as a result of how expensive it was to travel by plane: 40% more than it is today. Furthermore, there were more plane crashes and deaths occurring during the ‘golden age’ which meant it was more dangerous. Other factors that Brownlee discusses is the racist aspect of travel: only white people tended to be allowed to travel and the fact that anyone was allowed to smoke and drink as much as they wanted on flights which meant passengers could be sitting in planes full of smoke for long periods of time.

(3) Solent Sky Museum, Southampton. Taken from tripadvisor.com. Source and photographer unknown.

When researching various archives and museums which would give context to my primary and secondary research about travel in the 1950’s, I came across a nearby museum in Southampton called the ‘Solent Sky Museum’. This contributed to my understanding of aircrafts and travel in the 1950s as the pictures of the museum on the internet showed detailed images inside and out of aircrafts which enables you to imagine what travelling in the 1950 era would have been like.

Bibliography:

‘Louis Vuitton: Icons’ by Stephane Gerschel, Pg. 33.

https://www.fastcodesign.com/3022215/what-it-was-really-like-to-fly-during-the-golden-age-of-travel

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g186299-d215546-i273025591-Solent_Sky_Museum-Southampton_Hampshire_England.html