Discover the Pacific Ageless World of Infinite Variety

Mid-century efforts to transform public perception about the Pacific.

This eye-catching promotional poster of the Pacific and Oceania features artwork by the San Francisco-based artist Louis Macouillard. It was published around 1955 by an industry consortium (airlines, cruise ships, etc.) organized as the Pacific Area Travel Association.

The central composition features a stylized, sweeping projection of the Pacific Basin, boldly populated by Macouillard’s signature vignettes of indigenous peoples in colorful traditional dress. Surrounding the upper portion of the image is a clean text border that explicitly catalogs the exotic regions and newly independent nations open to Western tourism, including Malaya, India, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Macao, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Hawaii, and Tahiti. Despite having a significant presence in the Pacific, China and the Soviet Union are deliberately omitted – unfortunately, due to the realities of Cold War-era geopolitical circumstances.