Holden Withington Boeing SST Poster Collection

Collection

Identifier: 2018-03-28

Contents of the Collection

The Holden Withington Boeing SST Poster Collection is comprised of four posters, circa 1960s, related to the Boeing SST program and were probably used as motivational posters for the designers. It is likely these were collected by Withington during his 1941-1983 employment with Boeing.

The posters are 20x28" and include bold colors, psychedelic fonts, and puns on the slogans. The slogans on the posters are all reminders about keeping the SST designs lightweight.

The first poster includes a feather/SST design in the center with “Think Light” underneath it. The second poster also includes the feather/SST design on one side of a scale; the other side of the scale is the SST aircraft with "What are we weighting for?" underneath and "Think Light" along the very top. The third poster features an engineer/designer in the center and "Ideas eliminate weighty problems" underneath. At very base is a small feather/SSTt logo.

The final poster has "Lightening SSTrikes" in center with the feather/SST logo near the bottom. This poster is the only one to include an artist name which reads "Chuck Anderson." However, most likely Anderson created all four posters, since they are all very similar in their punniness, art and font style, and use of the feather/SST logo.

Dates

Creation: circa 1960s

Creator

Withington, Holden (Collector, Person)

Language of Materials

All materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.

Conditions Governing Use

The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Biographical Note: Holden Withington

Holden White Withington was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 17, 1917. Withington was recruited by Boeing in 1941 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he had earned a master’s degree and done research using the university’s wind tunnel. His first assignment for Boeing was to design and build a state-of-the-art wind tunnel. Withington was also one of the original designers of the Boeing B-52. Withington retired from Boeing as Vice President for engineering in 1983. He died at his home on Mercer Island, Washington on December 9, 2011.

Source:

"Holden Withington, Last Living B-52 Designer, Dies at 82." New York Times, accessed April 2, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/us/holden-withington-last-living-b-52-designer-dies-at-94.html