Both branches of my family emigrated to New York City from Eastern Europe during the late 19th century. So, it’s natural that I’ve always viewed New York as the center of the known universe. Back in the 19th century, marketers began promoting the great metropolis as “the wonder city” in magazine and newspaper ads, enhancing the city’s allure for visitors and settlers alike. Now, Poster House in Manhattan is celebrating New York with an exhibition curated by Nicholas D. Lowry and designed by Ola Baldych, Wonder City of the World: New York City Travel Posters (on view through Sept. 8).

By the end of the 19th century, New York City became a major tourist destination that required the printing of travel posters. “A host of images as varied as her ever-shifting identity, seen from the water, from the ground and, eventually, from the air,” states the exhibition website. This special exhibit shows how the city was marketed to  millions, from tourists to immigrants.

Poster artists were able to capture the excitement and drama of the world’s growing metropolis, magnifying the bright lights and the imposing structures, “as well as managing to capture some moments of intimacy and slice-of-life imagery within the canyons and among the ziggurats.”