Contents of the Collection
The John Wegg Commercial Airlines Collection consists of printed ephemera, photographs, documents, and other materials pertaining to the aviation journalism and writing career of John Wegg, from approximately 1929-2004. The bulk of the collection consists of ephemera collected from commercial airlines from around the world. There is also a large number of photographs taken by Wegg, with a total of 294 photographic prints of various sizes. The materials are divided into two series: Commercial Airlines and Personal and Professional Work.
The first series consists of documentation of commercial airlines from around the world from 1929-2004 with the bulk of materials from circa 1960s-1990s. It includes various types of ephemera such as brochures, decals, menus, safety cards, tickets and ticket holders, and, most predominantly, timetables. The series also contains 299 photographic and photomechanical postcards, ranging in date from the 1950s-2000s and depicting aircraft from a wide range of airlines, as well as some airports.
It also contains four films depicting various commercial airline flights, including Western Airlines, National Airlines, Capital Airlines, United Airlines, Mid-Continent Airlines, and Northwest Airlines.
- Commercial airliners at unidentified airfield, circa 1950s
- Mid-Continent Airlines aircraft at an unidentified airfield, circa 1950s
- Northwest Airlines aircraft at unidentified airfield and aircraft crash site, circa 1940s-1950s
- Aircraft, aerial views, and travel scenes, circa 1940s-1950s
The second series is a mix of materials related to Wegg’s professional work with some personal items. It contains notes and articles relating to stories written by Wegg or the publications these were printed in, including Pacific Flyer Magazine. Though he was a prolific writer, the collection only contains a minimal amount of items related to his writing. This series is predominantly photographs with a total of 237 photographic prints and four transparencies of Martin Company aircraft dating from the 1940s-1980s, mostly shots of Martin 404s and 202s, including both military and commercial aircraft. There are also two folders containing various photographic and other materials, including microfiche. This series contains one film containing footage of trains and railways, circa 1930s-1960s.
Dates
- Creation: 1929-2004
- Creation: Majority of material found within circa 1950s-1990s
Creator
- Wegg, John (Person)
Language of Materials
Many pieces of printed ephemera from various airlines are in languages such as Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Turkish. All other 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: John Wegg
John Wegg is best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of Airliners and Airways magazines, as well as contributor to other publications and author of 12 books on aviation history, airlines, and aircraft manufacturers. In the 1960s and 1970s, Wegg worked for Lufthansa, World Airways, and Finnair.
Wegg was born in Ipswich, United Kingdom. He retired to New Zealand in 2014, and died in 2018.
Biographical note sourced from LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wegg-john-48bb204/?originalSubdomain=nz)
Extent
2.7 Cubic Feet (5 full-width letter size document boxes, 1 half-width letter size document box, 2 oversize folders, and 5 film reels)
Overview
John Wegg is best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of Airliners and Airways magazines, as well as contributor to other publications and author of 12 books on aviation history, airlines, and aircraft manufacturers. The John Wegg Commercial Airlines Collection consists of about 2.7 cubic feet of material such as printed ephemera, photographs, documents, and other materials pertaining to the Wegg's aviation journalism and writing career, from approximately 1929-2004.
Arrangement
The collection was organized into two series, Commercial Airlines ephemera and Professional and Personal materials.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated by John Wegg.
Existence and Location of Copies
The films from this collection have been digitized and are available at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections.
Separated Materials
Approximately 3,730 items were transferred to the Library collection; details can be provided upon request. Approximately 11 cubic feet of clippings regarding crashes from the 19402-1980s was transferred to the Library Tech Files. Six cubic feet of materials were transferred to the Trade Literature Collection. One blank log book and duplicate photographs were discarded.
Subject
- Northwest Airlines Corporation (Organization)
- United States. Navy (Organization)
- Martin Company (Organization)
- United Airlines (Organization)
- Western Airlines (Organization)
- National Airlines (Organization)
- Capital Airlines (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the John Wegg Commercial Airlines Collection
- Status
- Completed Level 3
- Author
- A. Matthews
- Date
- 2021
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
- Sponsor
- Processing, cataloging, and digitization of the films in this collection was made possible by a Council on Libraries and Information Resources (CLIR) "Recordings at Risk" grant.
- Edition statement
- 1st edition
Repository Details
Part of the The Museum of Flight Archives Repository
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org