BOAC
Men Only / July 1950
Here, dear readers, is the precursor to the UK’s ‘flag carrier’ airline, British Airways. Unsurprisingly, Wikipedia has an excellent summary of BOAC’s history, but the main topic of interest for this site are the old names for what were, in some cases, still parts of various countries’ empires, or newly-independent countries. Perhaps the thing that strikes me the most is the blanket terms for huge areas of Africa, something which Westerners still do without really realising, and was clearly just one of the reasons why independence movements were in full swing in so many areas of the continent. Frankly, just thinking about the Horray Henrys that this advert was aimed at jauntily shooting and patronising their way across Empire makes me feel a bit ill.
Anyway, it’s also notable for the alliances mentioned with Qantas Empire Airways (now just Qantas), South African Airways (still operating under that name) and Tasman Empire Airways (forerunner of Air New Zealand). These alliances presumably were to ease long-haul journeys to these countries, as BOAC were the first to enter the jet age in 1952, two years after this advert was published (the De Havilland Comets are fascinating in themselves). Not only were Horray Henrys the only people able to afford foreign travel at this point, they were also the only people with the time available!
Fun fact: BOAC became British Airways just before the operation of Concorde, with the first Concorde delivered to British Airways having the registration G-BOAC.
Tags: retail, social history, transport