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	Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Timetable, 1883 Enlargement	Northern Pacific Railway Booklet, 1900 Enlargement

The years represented in this exhibit were an era of distinctive commercial art and design. Advances in color printing techniques, along with the involvement of many of the 19th century's painters and fine artists working as graphic illustrators, brought creativity and innovation to newspapers, magazines and advertising agencies. The railroads and steamboat lines recognized that great visual imagery would emotionally connect the public with the concept of their vacation destinations, and they used the graphic styles of the day to great effect.

New England ephemeral materials Enlargement	Providence and Stonington Timetable, 1886 Enlargement

New England - The Old Colony Railroad out to Cape Cod received traffic from connections with the mainlines of the New York, New Haven and Hartford at Providence, and the Boston and Albany at Boston. The sea breezes and open skies were a welcome contrast to the dense smoke of 19th century cities.

Day trips to shoreline amusement parks and beaches became a special service of coastal steamboat lines. The Providence and Stonington Bulletin features seaside romantic fiction to whet the emotional appetite of the vacation travelers.

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