This pioneering image by gifted painter Plinio Colombi is considered to be the first modern winter tourist poster in Switzerland. Commissioned by the national railway in 1904 as skiing was in its infancy, it was the first distributed internationally to reach adventurous, upper class Europeans.

The railroad carefully calculated its message. While skating was already a leading sport, the poster shows off four up and coming attractions: luge, bobsled, skiing and snowshoeing. And the poster is remarkable in showing that winter sports are for everyone, including women. 

Finally, in what would become a hallmark of Swiss posters - it was an artistic design by a leading artist. It would set the bar for a century of Swiss posters that made the country the leading winter sport destination in Europe.

Barbier, Georges, l'Hiver (from Four Seasons - Falbalas et Fanfreluches), 1924 

Famed fashion illustrator Georges Barbier created exquisite portfolios of hand-colored prints that would become to many the quintessential expression of the high fashion world of the Roaring Twenties. His print for "Winter" is an incredible vision of pure Art Deco style. Two young lovers - he clad in a jazzy patterned sweater and she in understated clean lines - kiss in a pose where two become one below a magnificent mountain vista.

Willi Trapp, Davos Weltmeisterschaft - Hockey Club (World Cup), 1935

Jagged shadows created by a skater rushing the ice makes this design for the 1935 Hockey World Championships irrepressibly dynamic.  Built on diagonals, Trapp's poster simultaneously captures the speed, power and grace of the sport. 

Held in Davos, the championship fielded 15 teams and was won by Canada, its second championship in a row (The US won in 1933 and was runner-up in 1934 but did not compete in 1935.) Host Switzerland won the European Division championship.

Sascha Maurer, Ski the New Haven Railroad, circa 1935 

This classic Art Deco image promoted the New Haven Railroad?s innovative "Snow Trains" that provided transportation from New York plus equipment, room and board at the mountain. The Snow Train concept spread to other railroads and was hugely popular, especially as driving to the slopes was nearly impossible and lodging virtually nonexistent. They were particularly instrumental in the growth of the New England ski industry.

More than any other artist, Sascha Maurer's posters captured the public?s imagination for the slopes with bright and stylish designs. Trained in modernist design in Germany, and himself an accomplished skier, Maurer's streamlined images offered one of the few bright spots for the beleaguered railroad during the Depression.

This poster is a self-portrait of the artist. A photograph was taken of Maurer in this pose with a stack of books under each ski. It is one of a handful of classic posters the artist created for the New Haven Railroad, and one of the best of all American ski posters.