Monthey – Champéry | Monthey – Ollon – Aigle

Posters advertise, and because advertising is advertising, it should be taken with a grain of salt. It was no different over 100 years ago (and probably won’t be in 100 years), as this original poster from 1907 shows: While the railway line from Monthey via Ollon to Aigle in the canton of Valais actually went into service in the summer of 1907, the line from Monthey to Morgins, which is also advertised here, fell by the wayside. The connection opened at the beginning of 1908 only went as far as Champéry; the continuation to Morgins had been saved because of doubtful profitability.

Instead of a locomotive or a train, a young shepherdess knitting (crocheting?) in front of the Dents du Midi takes centre stage, in a symbolist manner, without reference to the product, just for the sake of the idyll – but the concentration on only one motif (i.e. without additional small scenes that advertise further aspects of the product) shows that Reckziegel could not escape the development towards a simpler, easier to grasp, simply more striking design.

see as well:

Bernina-Bahn | Engadine