"TWA Trans World Airline U.S.A. - Europe - Africa - Asia Air Routes"

Subject: World, Airline Maps
Period: 1948 (dated)
Color: Printed Color
Size: 15.8 x 23.7

This attractive two-sided airline souvenir map highlights Trans World Airlines' routes around the world. The recto traces TWA's routes across the United States in bold red lines, with connecting airlines depicted as narrow black lines. Small illustrations fill the map, including the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., a rodeo rider in San Antonio, the Grand Canyon, and a cameraman around Los Angeles. A mountie appears in otherwise unengraved Canada, and a bullfighter is shown in a similarly blank Mexico. The verso highlights TWA's routes in Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and India. Numerous illustrations decorate the landscape, including a Londoner in the shadow of Big Ben, a windmill outside Amsterdam, the Egyptian pyramids, and the skyline of Istanbul. Two TWA planes soar through the air, and a smaller world map, backed by the moon and sun, provides a comprehensive view of TWA's international routes.

Founded as Transcontinental & Western Air in 1930, TWA was one of the four major airlines in the United States. After WWII and the introduction of the incomparable Lockheed Constellation airliner, TWA expanded into Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, thereby becoming the second international airline based in the United States (after Pan Am).
Condition: B+
Issued folding with minor wear and a couple tiny tears along the folds. There are faint stains and a minor abrasion around the cartouche on the United States map.