Lot 106: BEN NASON MARTHA'S VINEYARD / THE NEW HAVEN RAILROAD. Circa 1945.

42x28 inches.
Condition B: restored losses, overpainting and restoration along right edge and in top corners; repaired tears through margins into image
At the end of World War II, the New Haven Railroad launched a campaign to attract vacationers to New England. Here the simple images of brightly-colored, gingerbread-style houses and small waterfront fishing shacks do much to promote the island as an ideal family vacation spot. The railroad actually delivered passengers to Woods Hole, where a ferry transported the travellers to the island itself. The enormous figurehead that bisects the image is a romanticized reminder of the whaling ships that populated the island's history.