This is a poster advertising cheap train tickets for the Tel Aviv Purim festivities of 1934. The poster states the exact dates for buying the discount tickets.
The Tel Aviv Purim festivities were a central part of the cultural life of the Yishuv (the Jewish population of pre-state Israel) during the British Mandate. Many people from all over the country came to Tel Aviv for the festivities, and therefore the train company advertised discount tickets from all over the country. The highlight of the festivities was the Adloyada Parade, which included giant puppets, bands, and costumes. The parade was sometimes used as a protest against the British Mandate or against Hitler or as an opportunity to raise important topics such as the use of the Hebrew language. The theme in 1928 was “Ten Years Since the Balfour Declaration”; in 1933, giant puppets of Hitler with a sign reading “Death to the Jews” around their necks were used. The German consulate in Jerusalem demanded an apology, but Meir Dizengoff, the mayor of Tel Aviv, refused, citing the importance of free speech. The theme in 1934 was the “Twelve Tribes.”
The first Adloyada Parade was held in Tel Aviv in 1912 and was organized by Avraham Eldemar, an art teacher from Tel Aviv’s Herzliya Gymnasia School. The Adloyada Parade was less prominent during World War II but was renewed for Purim in 1955. Today the biggest parade takes place in Holon, a town just south of Tel Aviv.
The name Adloyada comes from the Talmud (Megillah 7b) where it states that it is one duty on Purim “to drink until one doesn’t know [Hebrew – ad lo yada] the difference between ‘blessed is Mordechai’ and ‘cursed is Haman.’”
The advertisement is signed by Cecil Richard Webb, general manager of Palestine Railways until 1942. The management offices were located in Haifa, which was the main railway junction. Due to a drop in the number of people using the trains, the management decided in 1933 to improve the system’s utility and joined forces with the bus system that connected Tel Aviv and Rosh Ha’Ayin. The poster clarifies that the discount tickets could not be used on that particular line.
