Press Room
Hotel Retro: Vintage Luggage Labels from Tokyo to Buenos Aires [330 Travel Ephemera Stickers]: Letterform Archive Debuts First-Ever Sticker Book Drawn from the Golden Age of Travel
Media Contact
Katie Peeler Ranahan, [email protected], +1.415.802.7485
SAN FRANCISCO, California, March 19, 2026 — Letterform Archive announces the release of its latest book Hotel Retro: Vintage Luggage Labels from Tokyo to Buenos Aires [330 Travel Ephemera Stickers], a richly illustrated volume that transports readers across continents and decades through hundreds of vibrant hotel luggage labels—faithfully reproduced as hundreds of full-color removable stickers.
In the late nineteenth century, as industrialization gave rise to the leisure class, an unprecedented number of travelers began touring the globe by train and sea. From far-off destinations, they returned home with eye-catching labels bearing the insignia of grand hotels, plastered to their steamer trunks as badges of adventure. Today, these labels endure as artifacts of graphic design history spanning the opulence of Art Deco to the crisp geometry of Swiss Style.
Featuring hundreds of delightful examples from the collection of Letterform Archive, Hotel Retro celebrates the artistry of illustration, lettering, and typography found in these small but spectacular works. Each label is a window into the visual culture of its era and destination, from the cosmopolitan inns of London and Paris to the beachside resorts of Rio de Janeiro, from the Swiss Alps’ storied chalets to the adventurous outposts of Bali and beyond. Now restored to their original adhesive purpose, the book’'s 330 stickers invite a new generation to bring these vintage graphics back to life.
Designed by French studio Violaine & Jérémy, the book’s scale and meticulous reproductions honor the ambition of Like all titles from Letterform Archive Books, Hotel Retro reflects the Archive’'s commitment to the preservation and celebration of graphic design history. The selection offers an unparalleled survey of international hotel label design from its heyday, making this volume both an irresistible keepsake and a notable reference for designers, illustrators, and lovers of ephemera.
For a press kit, including downloadable high-resolution images, visit letterformarchive.org/ press
Hardcover | $40
6.75 × 8.5 inches | 240 pages | 330 stickers
Spring 2026
About Letterform Archive
Founded in 2015, Letterform Archive is a non-profit center for preserving and sharing the history of the graphic arts. Letterform Archive Books produces exquisite titles based on its collection of more than 100,000 artifacts, as well as bold new books on design, type, and lettering. Distributed worldwide by D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers), the Archive’s publications include Bauhaus Typography at 100; Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911; The Complete Commercial Artist: Making Modern Design in Japan, 1928–1930; Citizen Printer: Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.; and Lettres Décoratives: A Century of French Sign Painters’ Alphabets. Learn more at letterformarchive.org/publishing.