If you wanted to optimize for speed over comfort, the best choice was one of those new heavier-than-air planes from an airline like Imperial Airways or Lufthansa, which could get you from Western Europe to New york in roughly 20-30 hours.

If you didn’t mind taking your time and you could afford a ticket that was several times as expensive as an airplane ticket, an airship was the obvious choice. It would take you 2-3 days to get across the Atlantic on one of these puppies, but you were traveling in style – private cabins, observation decks, and gourmet meals prepared by a team of chefs.