Going, going, gone: KC’s TWA days on eBay

TWA is a distant memory now, and Kansas City’s fountains sit dry today, but yesteryear’s come-hither tourism advertising is ready to jump-start the economy. The economy of an eBay seller in Shawnee who has listed this memento in an auction ending tomorrow.

The good news: According to the signature on the print (also pictured with the listing), the poster is taken from a design by David Klein, a midcentury wizard of abstract illustration.

The bad news: This is Klein past his prime, with a children’s-menu font, a palette fit for a 1973 Kenmore kitchen, and familiar landmarks (Liberty Memorial being the most prominent) linked by gaudy bubbles. It reads “The City of Fountains,” but it says: “Kansas City — when you can’t make it to Atlantis.”

Of course, if it were going for $20 instead of (at this hour) $132.50, I’d have it on my office wall by the end of the month.