London Passenger Transport Board - a few facts about the Commercial Advertising Service : booklet, c1933 : Lift frames and Double Crowns
A delightful item of ephemera in so many ways. The London Passenger Transport Board, the LPTB and better known as London Transport, was a public corporation formed on 1 July 1933 to oversee public transport in London. It comprised at its core, the undertakings of the old London Underground Group that ran the majority of the tube network, the bus services of the London General (both Central area and Country area), the LUT, MET & SMET tramways and the nacient trolleybuses of the LUT. In addition they absorbed the Metropolitan Railway, the municipal tramway undertakings and numerous 'private' bus companies as their operating area included not just built up London but a large ring around the capital.
Selling advertising on vehicles, stations and sites had always been lucrative business for publci transport operators and the Underground Group in particular knew the value of this. In common with much else in the new LPTB the Underground's existing organisation was at the core of the management of Commercial Advertising as it centralised the organisation and selling of poster sites and opportunities. Several areas of the Board's services still had pre-existing advertising contracts to run out such as W H Smith & Son Ltd on the Met and Frank Mason & Co Ltd on the majority of the ex-municipal tramways including the vast London County Council fleet.
To publicise these services London Transport issued this wonderfully produced booklet - the high quality of production showing the high value of the product to prospective clients. The Underground Group of course was held in very high regard in the world of commercial advertising and publicity due to the work over Frank Pick over the previous two decades.
To continue in the 'house style' of the Group, it is printed at one of the foremost printing houses of the day, the Curwen Press in Plaistow, east London, and features Curwen Sans typeface not LT's own Johnston. The logo - that is of interest in that it is one new feature of the Board that didn't last long - the LPTB symbol. This was designed by C W Bacon but wasn't much loved and was soon supplanted by the more recognisable roundel that is still used today. The roundel is more 'flexible' in terms of utility. Nevertheless some will see the old CIE logo in here!
This doubel page shows the advert frames that were fitted to the interior of lift cars and this image shows the interior of one of the original style Otis Elevators that were such a feature of the tube network before the widespread introduction and reconstruction of escalators in stations. There are many adverts here ranging from theatre and movie psoters to producst adverts and, indeed, one of London Transport's own exhortations! Reckitt's became part of Reckitt & Colman and is now still around as a name allied to Benckiser. Theatres and cinemas include the Coliseum, The Tivoli, The Lyric, The Alhambra and the Stoll Theatres. At the top right can be seen what was a colourful poster for Mazda Electric Lamps.
Double Crowns, a size of poster based on paper sheet dimensions and a nomeclature still used on LU's estate, could be found on platforms and corridors and this example of 'backed' sheets can be seen to be covering a tiled pattern. This set has a wider range of products adverts including some names still around such as the old fashioned Euthymol tooth paste and Guinness - this is one of Gilroy's fanous posters for the Dublin brewers. There are a couple of Eno Fruit Salts posters and Wisden's sports equipment is also shown. The intersting one is an early appearance of Mr Therm that had been crafted for the London Gas Light & Coke Company by Eric Fraser only a couple of years earlier.
London Passenger Transport Board - a few facts about the Commercial Advertising Service : booklet, c1933 : Lift frames and Double Crowns
A delightful item of ephemera in so many ways. The London Passenger Transport Board, the LPTB and better known as London Transport, was a public corporation formed on 1 July 1933 to oversee public transport in London. It comprised at its core, the undertakings of the old London Underground Group that ran the majority of the tube network, the bus services of the London General (both Central area and Country area), the LUT, MET & SMET tramways and the nacient trolleybuses of the LUT. In addition they absorbed the Metropolitan Railway, the municipal tramway undertakings and numerous 'private' bus companies as their operating area included not just built up London but a large ring around the capital.
Selling advertising on vehicles, stations and sites had always been lucrative business for publci transport operators and the Underground Group in particular knew the value of this. In common with much else in the new LPTB the Underground's existing organisation was at the core of the management of Commercial Advertising as it centralised the organisation and selling of poster sites and opportunities. Several areas of the Board's services still had pre-existing advertising contracts to run out such as W H Smith & Son Ltd on the Met and Frank Mason & Co Ltd on the majority of the ex-municipal tramways including the vast London County Council fleet.
To publicise these services London Transport issued this wonderfully produced booklet - the high quality of production showing the high value of the product to prospective clients. The Underground Group of course was held in very high regard in the world of commercial advertising and publicity due to the work over Frank Pick over the previous two decades.
To continue in the 'house style' of the Group, it is printed at one of the foremost printing houses of the day, the Curwen Press in Plaistow, east London, and features Curwen Sans typeface not LT's own Johnston. The logo - that is of interest in that it is one new feature of the Board that didn't last long - the LPTB symbol. This was designed by C W Bacon but wasn't much loved and was soon supplanted by the more recognisable roundel that is still used today. The roundel is more 'flexible' in terms of utility. Nevertheless some will see the old CIE logo in here!
This doubel page shows the advert frames that were fitted to the interior of lift cars and this image shows the interior of one of the original style Otis Elevators that were such a feature of the tube network before the widespread introduction and reconstruction of escalators in stations. There are many adverts here ranging from theatre and movie psoters to producst adverts and, indeed, one of London Transport's own exhortations! Reckitt's became part of Reckitt & Colman and is now still around as a name allied to Benckiser. Theatres and cinemas include the Coliseum, The Tivoli, The Lyric, The Alhambra and the Stoll Theatres. At the top right can be seen what was a colourful poster for Mazda Electric Lamps.
Double Crowns, a size of poster based on paper sheet dimensions and a nomeclature still used on LU's estate, could be found on platforms and corridors and this example of 'backed' sheets can be seen to be covering a tiled pattern. This set has a wider range of products adverts including some names still around such as the old fashioned Euthymol tooth paste and Guinness - this is one of Gilroy's fanous posters for the Dublin brewers. There are a couple of Eno Fruit Salts posters and Wisden's sports equipment is also shown. The intersting one is an early appearance of Mr Therm that had been crafted for the London Gas Light & Coke Company by Eric Fraser only a couple of years earlier.