Lighter Than Air

(Above) 1950’s Russian Christmas ornament.

(Above) Postage stamp, Graf Zeppelin, 1930s.

(Above) Very rare Graf Zeppelin toy, c. 1930s.

(Above) Mama Zeppelin, and baby.

(Above) Snapshot, 1930s.


(Above) Tintype from 1930s, arcade photo.


(Above) Press photo, Graf Zeppelin, 1930s.


SO, WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU GO TO EBAY AND TYPE IN THE WORD “ZEPPELIN?” Well, you get everything from toys to postcards to snapshots to yes... you guessed it—Led Zeppelin. Love the group, but as far as eBay goes, the band has hijacked the name. That’s mainly what you find.

Who doesn’t like Zeppelins? They are so weird! And ominous—and strange. And SLOW. I love the misguided idea of it. When they built the Zeppelin, it was like someone said: “Let’s build the biggest, slowest and most dangerous flying machine we can!” And, you’d think one of those giant flying monsters could hold about 5,000 people. Oh no. They needed room for the flammable HYDROGEN! “Let’s take a trans-Atlantic flight in a really slow flying BOMB!”