Vintage in the Skies: The Original 1960s El Al Sign ✈️

A Piece of Israeli History: The Original El Al Tin Sign from the Jet Age! ✈️🇮🇱

Look at this vintage beauty! This is a large, rare, and original tin sign of the “El Al” airline from the 1960s, taking us back to one of the most exciting eras in Israeli aviation history.

About the sign:
This is a large sign that comes in impressive dimensions of 159×59 cm (which is about 62.6 by 23.2 inches). Its design is a masterpiece of mid-century graphic minimalism, unmistakably divided into three sections: at the top, the Hebrew letters “El Al” in bright orange on a dark blue background; in the center, an elegant white silhouette of a passenger plane on a light blue background; and at the bottom, the English text “EL AL” in blue on an orange background. The marks of time, scratches, and rust spots around the edges don’t detract from its beauty – on the contrary, they tell its story and add a lot of authenticity and old-world charm.

The story behind the plane:
The plane illustrated in the center of the sign isn’t just a random choice. It is the Boeing 707, the aircraft that took “El Al” (and the entire State of Israel) by storm into the Jet Age.

Until the early 1960s, flights were a long and slow business in propeller planes. But then, in April 1961, El Al made history and received its first Boeing 707 (registration mark 4X-ATA). The excitement in the country was so immense that the plane was given the symbolic Hebrew name “Shehecheyanu” (a Jewish blessing of thanksgiving). By June of that year, it was already taking off for commercial flights, crossing oceans at record speeds for those days, making the world smaller for Israelis, and becoming a symbol of progress and national pride.

This sign is much more than a decorative collectible – it’s a window into an era when every takeoff was a festive event, and design lines were clean, full of optimism and hope for the future.

About ELAL

Israel’s national carrier El Al Airlines (LY/ELY) was established in 1948, the year the State of Israel itself was founded. El Al, which means “to the skies” or “upward” in Hebrew, has connected Israel to the world for 75 years, and has played its own part in the country’s security and politics since its inception.

The early years
The airline’s origins can be traced back to the Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah, which recognized the need for an Israeli airline to transport Jewish immigrants and supplies during the turbulent years leading up to Israel’s foundation. El Al was officially founded on November 15, 1948, and it launched its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv (TLV) using a piston-powered Douglas C-54 Skymaster military transport aircraft acquired from the United States. El Al famously brought the state’s first president Chaim Weizmann to Israel from Geneva on an early flight.

The airline’s first scheduled flights began in 1949, with two Douglas DC4 aircraft operating between Tel Aviv, Rome (CIA) and Paris (CDG). Charter flights to North America followed in June 1950, and were followed by expansion to Johennesberg, Nairobi and Livingstone later that year. The airline struggled to update its fleet initially, but became one of only two operators of the pioneering Bristol Britannia turboprop airliner in 1955. This aircraft enabled El Al’s first non-stop service between London and New York (JFK).

1960’s
As times progressed, so did El Al, continuously expanding its route network and modernizing its fleet. The introduction of the Boeing 707 in the early 1960s brought El Al into the jet age and cemented its place among the famous global flag carriers. The 707 connected Tel Aviv directly to New York, a route which was the longest commercial service in operation at the time. The 707 also marked the turning point for El Al’s fleet strategy, as the airline has only ordered Boeing aircraft since.

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