text: They’re the kind of colourful adverts that would have been created by the real-life Don Drapers, Peggy Olsons and other ‘mad men’ of Madison Avenue. These vintage posters are a throwback to the golden age of air travel, when flying was an exclusive experience, passengers wore their best clothes and there was plenty of legroom. They’re featured in a new coffee table book, Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975, which revisits a time when the skies were dominated by the likes of Pan Am, British Overseas Airways Corp (BOAC) and Continental. Scroll down for video . Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) was a dominant and influential airline which declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in 1991 . Many of the adverts in the book featured beautiful women in an effort to glamorise destinations and encourage people to travel . British Airways promoted its launch of the Concorde in the 1970s (left) while Trans World Airlines (TWA) promoted its New York route . Authored by Matthias C Huhne, the 436-page book contains dozens of glamorous adverts that encouraged those who could afford to fly to visit far-flung destinations such as Haiti, Hawaii, Japan, New York and London. The simple but effective posters showcase each destination with eye-catching cartoons or photos of beautiful women, landmarks such as Times Square and Tower of London, and natural beauty spots including Bermuda’s picturesque coastline and Sydney Harbour. New York was one of the most popular destinations featured in the adverts in Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975 . The adverts were created for the biggest airlines of the day, including TWA and Canadian Pacific, which no longer exist . British Overseas Airways Corp led to the creation of British Airways (left) while Continental merged with United Airlines' parent company . It was a time when it cost an incredible amount of money to purchase a ticket for a commercial flight, with many of the ads promoting transatlantic or transpacific travel. The adverts created for the biggest airlines of the day, including many which no longer exist, offer a glimpse at how air travel, advertising and society changed over the 30-year period covered in the book. From a psychedelic image of a surfer in Hawaii to British Airways' introduction of the Concorde, the posters reflect the eras in which they were created by some of the best creative minds of the time, including Ivan Chermayeff, Otl Aicher, Massimo Vignelli and Saul Bass, Academy Award-winning filmmaker. The posters are a throwback to the golden age of air travel, when flying was an exclusive experience and passengers dressed smart . The book hails the designers' creative genius and uses special techniques to replicate their work as accurately as possible . In addition to drawings the adverts include photos of natural beauty spots, including Sydney Harbour (left) and Bermuda's beaches (right) Mr Huhne’s book hails their creative genius and uses 17 colours, five types of varnishes and two methods of foil printing and embossing to replicate their work as accurately as possible. Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975 was published by Berlin-based Callisto Publishers, which offered this synopsis of the tome: ‘It provides unique insight into the design and advertising methods of an era when airlines were considered the most glamorous business sector and quality was the main criterion for selecting a flight.’ It retails from approximately £270 online in the UK and from $250 online in the US.
target: Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975 revisits a time when the skies were dominated by now-defunct airlines .
  At that time flying was an exclusive experience and passengers wore their best clothes .
  Adverts feature drawings or photos of beautiful women, famous landmarks and natural beauty spots .
  The book, published by Berlin-based Callisto Publishers, celebrates the creative genius of the designers .