As a regular attendee at local vintage fairs, it’s hard to miss Karen Lansdown’s beautiful travel posters. The founder of Travel on Paper has an outstanding collection of colourful, midcentury prints that immediately draw the eye. What started as a hobby, 25 years ago, turned into a business in 2018. After studying typographic design at Camberwell College of Art, Karen spent decades working in art, design and interiors. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to create a couple of successful retail businesses which she was involved in up until a few years ago; when her collection of vintage travel posters took off – and at the age of 60, Karen had found her true niche.
In my latest Creative Women at Work profile, I chat to Karen about her Travel on Paper business – and ask her advice on what to look for if you’re buying a vintage poster:
How did you get into travel posters?
We took my son to vintage railway stations when he was young ( he’s 27 now), where they’ve got all the posters up. And so I thought, I’ll buy a couple of posters at auction – which I later found out were very expensive, so I decided to sell one and then buy some more. I started in 2000, and by 2007 I had quite a lot, so I went to the Mid-Century Modern show and met the organiser, and asked if I could have a stand. She said yes, it really was quite organic.
After art school I worked at Homes & Gardens magazine for a few years. When I left, I was in a design partnership with Susy Smith ( who went on to become editor of Country Living magazine) from 1987 – 89. Then, while freelancing as an interiors stylist, I got chatting to a neighbour – we had noticed that we were both listening to Joni Mitchell at the time, and had a lot in common. We went on to run two successful retail businesses together. The first was a shop, Artisan, selling furniture and accessories; the second was an online retail business, Brume, selling window film. I finally sold out to my partner in 2018 to concentrate on Travel on Paper. It’s always been a kind of part-time hobby and interest. I started to do fairs more regularly and from 2018, it has become a business.
Do you sell mainly through the fairs?
Yes, and online a bit – but that’s usually around the fairs. People come along because you need to see them in real life. Also they’re quite expensive, so you need to think about where they’re going to be put, how the framing is going to work, which is a big part of the decision to buy. I’ve got these little business cards and quite often people will take one that they like and then come back six months later saying, ‘ I’ve had that on my mantle piece for six months. Have you still got the poster? Or, can you get me it?’ People do want to know if they can live with it.
I probably average one fair a month, with more towards Christmas and fewer in the summer. My son is quite keen to help at fairs so I have help loading and unloading the posters; I tend not to take anything framed so I can pack everything into my relatively small hatchback.
*Details of upcoming fairs at the end of the feature
So were you always interested in travel posters?
That’s what I started buying originally. Then I did a few fairs and people said, ‘ Have you got a TWA, or, have you seen that United Airlines poster? Then Mad Men came along; David Klein, who designed posters for TWA in the 1950s and 60s, was one of the original ‘Mad Men’, he worked for the ad agencies on Madison Avenue. So, I started to look around and buy more of his posters.
Customers also asked me for Olympic posters – and they are encouraging people to go to the destinations – so I started buying Olympic posters and now have quite a collection.
So what are you looking for then when you’re buying?
Over the years I have kept an eye out for airline posters by David Klein, Stan Galli and Guy Georget but prices have crept up so they are increasingly difficult to find. It’s quite personal really. Often people come to me and, and ask for things and then I’ll do some research. Maybe it’s where they’ve been for their honeymoon or where they’ve worked. You know, for instance they’ve spent a lot of time in Washington and now they’re back in London. It’s all sorts of things but it has to resonate. Usually they buy something because they’ve been there. And, if I like the posters, I’ll buy more.
Brexit has made it difficult to bring in and send out posters to Europe mainly due to extra costs. Hopefully that may change with time…
And what advice would you give to people that are looking into buying a vintage poster?
It has got to work in your environment. I don’t tend to frame things because people are quite specific about what they want. It’s totally down to personal taste, really. The posters are expensive, so it’s not an impulse buy. I would also say buy what you like. Don’t think about the value too much – but the condition is very important. When looking for a poster, always check that the size is correct and it hasn’t been trimmed.
It is worth paying more for a poster that is in good condition. Although, you can have them restored, and they can be backed – this is a conservation process and preserves the poster and allows ease of handling. I work with linen-backers, which makes the posters easier to handle. I get that done in America, I just send a whole batch off. There’s not many people who do it in the UK, but there are so many dealers in America.
I am a member of the International Vintage Poster Dealers Association (IVPDA). Membership guarantees authenticity so look for the logo when searching for posters. I have been shocked at how some people are quite happy to sell reproductions as originals. I have been caught out myself; I bought an Olympic poster online – it was the right size and looked authentic but when it arrived the paper was wrong and the image very slightly out of register – luckily I had an original one in stock so had something to check it against.
I can see that collecting travel posters could become addictive! Do you have repeat buyers?
I do have repeat buyers, but for the smaller things, usually the coach posters, people like to collect them and they’re quite affordable.
How do you decide what to sell and what to put up on your own walls?
Again, it has to resonate. I’ve got a beautiful 1949 Dartmouth College poster – I’ve never been to Dartmouth, the reason I bought that poster is because my husband was born in that year and my birthday’s February the 11th ( this date is also on the poster). The graphics are lovely and it was done by a student. More generally, I think what happens is I buy something and I sell it and I regret selling it! So I try to find it again. Over the years I have really regretted selling posters that I wish I’d kept to put on the wall at home – and spent years finding a replacement – I don’t make the same mistake the second time around.
And every now and again I think I’ve just got to swap over. If I want to keep that one, I’ve got to sell something, you know, one in, one out.
So when you are not planning and arranging the fairs and those events, what’s kind of a typical day?
Well, I’m semi-retired. I’m 67. On a working day, I’ll be updating the website. I’ll be looking for posters and I’ll be researching. Before a show I’ll be looking through my collection to see what I’m going to take. Looking back and maybe updating the mailing list. Sending out a mailer. Social media…that kind of stuff.
What do you do in your spare time?
On Monday mornings I go to a ( modern copper plate) calligraphy class at City Lit. It’s a nice way to start the week. I like going to galleries and walking. I’m in a book club, and we all go walking, and sometimes to my beach hut. My husband’s retired as well, so you know, we can go off and do things, walking and exhibitions, and we go inter-railing every summer. Last year we went to the Bauhaus and Lübeck via a few other German cities, this year we went to Paris, Marseilles, Alassio, Genoa and Bologna. ( And yes, I have some railway posters online! – mainly UK and French ).
Photos: Neil Mackenzie Matthews
Now, please talk me through your personal style…
I like simplicity and quality fabrics – investment pieces in natural fabrics – linen in the summer, wool in the winter. Ideally black and white but that might vary in the summer. I buy clothes that will last so nothing that is too fashionable: a Macintosh raincoat, Tod’s patent loafers, an agnes b suit … And maybe something more casual from MHL, Toast or Vetra for work. I keep everything fairly minimal but I might add a silk scarf or one piece of jewellery – either Amanda Caines for a brooch or Romilly Suamarez Smith for earrings.
In the last photograph, Karen is wearing her Cubitts glasses. On a very muggy day in London, she took them off for the photoshoot because they kept steaming up!
Travel on Paper will be at the following shows:
So Last Century, Beckenham 25 August 2025
So Last Century, Catford 18-19 October 2025
Gallery Show, Clapham, 3-9 November 2025
Midcentury Modern, Dulwich, 16 November 2025
Projekt Market, Peckham, 28-30 November 2025
Follow travelonpaper2 on Instagram for more information.
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This post was published on
thatsnotmyage.com
on August 18, 2025 and written by Alyson Walsh.