An Air France classic

Among the Air France collector’s items, there are of course, some “classics”. Scale models, posters, ashtrays and particularly perpetual calendars have for the most part had a second life, not only as a collector’s item, but also as an object of decoration. The quality of their manufacture and their beauty has aroused the attention of their original and successive owners, resulting in their arrival here, going beyond their original promotional purpose in life.

These objects were just like the services offered by the company. The company didn’t have cattle to transport from A to B, but actual customers who had the time to appreciate their journey and who enjoyed the attention, care and service bestowed on them. But all this progressively and quickly crumbled with the arrival of jet planes.

The Gerrer perpetual calendar here is an example of this. This manufacturer made several calendars of this type for Air France, on which drawings of the most up-to-date airplanes of that era were shown. There are calendars which show a CD-4, a Super Constellation, a Starliner, a Caravelle, a Boeing 707 and finally, below, one with both a Caravelle and a Boeing 707. This is in fact, the last calendar of this type with a highly decorated pattern on it - the next and last of this type simply have a mirrored surface with the Air France logo and a vague silhouette of an airplane on it. This item, certainly very expensive and so unsuitable, simply disappeared with the event of jet planes and mass transportation.
 

Some think this is too recent, too modern and less well-made than its predecessors, particularly because the casing at the back previously was in wood, rather than moulded plastic. But all that is only a matter of taste and age. Nonetheless, the fact remains that this calendar is a very beautiful object, in full working order and in very good condition, even if occasionally the passage of time has left its mark. It marks even so the arrival of jet planes and has lost nothing of its youth despite being 49 years old !

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Air France perpetual calendar by Gerrer (1961)
  Size : width 9.80" (25 cm) , height 14.57" (37 cm) - Price : Sold ( Currency assistant).

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