Ben Nason's work Nantucket, The New Haven Railroad (c. 1942)

The island of Nantucket is another popular summer vacation spot located off the southern coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. New Haven Railroad passengers wishing to go to Nantucket took the train to Woods Hole and boarded a ferry boat, much the same as if they were going to Martha's Vineyard.

The New Haven was an extremely passenger oriented railroad and a great proportion of its revenues came from New England vacation travel. An important element of the New Haven's postwar vacation travel marketing campaign was a series of seven travel posters, each about 27 by 42 inches in size, which promoted popular vacation destinations directly served by New Haven Railroad passenger trains. Designed with a somewhat stylized family resemblance by an artist named Ben Nason and executed in bright colors using an airbrush technique, these travel posters were printed (perhaps at first) starting about 1941. Distribution was curtailed during the Second World War, when all non-essential travel was actively discouraged by the railroad. However, the Nason posters were widely distributed to stations, ticket offices, travel agencies, and other interested parties (such as stores) starting in late 1945. The Nason posters remained in service (although perhaps in limited numbers towards the end) up through at least the middle of 1955.