1985 MIDWAY One of Chicago's Two Great Airports
DESCRIPTION
This vibrant pictorial poster promotes Chicago Midway as “one of Chicago’s two great airports,” created for Midway Airlines in the mid-1980s. Rendered in a lively, cartoon style, it was designed to catch travelers’ eyes and celebrate the convenience and personality of Chicago’s close-in airfield.
The artwork presents a cheerful bird’s-eye view of the region with Chicago at center stage. A Midway jet arcs across the sky above the bold MIDWAY title while the skyline rises in a dense cluster of recognizable towers along the lakeshore. Landmarks such as the Water Tower, the Picasso, Buckingham Fountain, and the Hancock and Sears towers appear amid boats on Lake Michigan and neighborhood streets that flow south toward the airport. In the foreground, an arched “Midway Airport” entry frames a busy terminal ringed with parking lots, buses, taxis, and a tidy lineup of red-and-white Midway Airlines aircraft ready for departure.
In a knowing joke, “O’Hare” is banished to the map’s far north, hovering near labels for the Arctic and Siberia, with a jumble of aircraft circling as if stuck in a holding pattern, a playful jab at O’Hare’s distance and congestion that underscores Midway’s centrality and ease.
Historically, the image marks the rejuvenation of Chicago’s original municipal airfield. Opened in 1927 and renamed Midway in 1949 to honor the World War II battle, the airport was the world’s busiest in the late 1940s before traffic shifted to O’Hare in the 1960s. Airline deregulation in 1978 set the stage for the launch of Midway Airlines in 1979, which rebuilt service at the south-side field and marketed its proximity to downtown.
This poster came out of that optimistic era, capturing the city’s resurgence, the carrier’s growing network, and the civic pitch that Chicago boasted not one but two great airports, with Midway as the quicker, friendlier choice.
CONDITION
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622