bus posters Archives - Page 2 of 5

Missing

designers

I rather wish I had, actually. Quite a few people have contacted the blog over the last year or two about him, and they all remember an extraordinary and extrovert character.

The picture was drawn by James Holland, a friend of Royston’s, in 1954, and was very kindly passed on by the artist’s daughter, Jane.

I would have liked to honour the picture by digging out a few new Royston Cooper designs for you, but frustratingly, I can’t find any. But they must exist, because not only did Jane Holland remember a campaign he designed for Ribena, but Artist Partners have also put a brief professional biography on their website. From which you can see that he did simply tons of commercial work which must be out there somewhere, even if most of it probably wasn’t signed. I think a trip through Designers In Britain may be called for one of these days.

Until I get round to that, however, you can have one of his fine art prints.

You can actually have this if you want, because it’s on eBay as a Buy It Now for just £44.99. I quite like it, but wall space is at a bit of a premium round here so I think we’ll pass.

While I am on the subject of unobtainable delights which have been lost by history, it’s probably worth mentioning the John Burningham exhibition at the London Transport Museum. He designed a new poster in honour of it, which is mostly ordinary type, but his bit is lovely.

We visited the show at the weekend. It’s small but perfectly formed, and contains as well as the better known LT posters, a good handful of designs for coach posters which I’ve never seen before. One in particular, of cats in a boat, is wonderful, but I can’t find a picture of it anywhere. The closest I can come is this, on the right, part of a lot from last year’s Morphets sale.

And if anyone can explain to me why this lot went for just £10, and not to us, I’d like to hear it. Mind you it was Lot 908, I think my brain had probably gone into overload by then.

It’s probably worth reminding you that not only is his autobiography wonderful, but John Burningham is at the LT Museum tonight, in conversation with Robert Elms. I, sadly, will not be there, as I have a prior engagement with a children’s party at a soft play centre. Let joy be unbounded.

Travel, send, deliver

designers, eBay

Please accept my apologies in advance, but Quad Royal is going to be a bit flakey for the next few weeks. Not only is it the summer holidays, but we are apparently moving house next month too. A normal service will resume in September, I hope.

None of which is the reason for the short state of today’s post, that’s all eBay’s fault. The summer holidays have got to them before they have me, and there really isn’t very much out there for the picking. But I did want to point out this.

It’s a bit expensive at £150 (or possibly quite a lot expensive if I’m honest) but it’s by Karo, and it’s rather good. Now I know very little about him, and haven’t been able to find out much more, but what I can say is that pretty much every single bit of his work that I come across, I like. He seems to have done quite a few bits for the GPO during the 1950s and 1960s, including a few very wonderful Properly Packed Parcels Please posters. Unfortunately the BPMA’s catalogue is down right now, so you’ll have to put up with our slightly more homely photographs of the couple we have.

They’re both from 1968 and one day when we have enough walls that top one will be framed and up on them. This one already is.

I know I’ve posted that before, but it still amuses me far more than it should, as well as being a lovely thing to look at too.

Karo also did quite a few coach posters as well as the one which is up for sale – a good dozen at least must have come up in the last Morphet’s Malcolm Guest sale. This went for £140.

But in amongst all of that, I can find out almost nothing about him and his life. So if anybody does know something, please do get in touch.

And finally, given the recent discussion of vans, this.

At just 99p right now with only a day and a half to go, it’s a bit of a bargain. But it’s also a reminder that the modern design wasn’t the only game in town back in the 1950s, and the Ladybird Books school of illustration was probably as equally ubiquitous.

Artwork

designers

Well my trip was a definite success, you’ll be pleased to hear. The mission was a trip to a solicitors’ office in the Home Counties in order to sift through some of the last remaning pieces from Daphne Padden’s estate. And it was worth the journey up the A303, as I have come back with a whole carrier bag full of goodies. From which there definitely is a very interesting story to tell, when I get the time to sift through it all properly. In the meantime, some original artwork for your Friday delight.

The Torbay Express apparently still runs, but I bet it doesn’t have a menu as nice as this these days.

This greetings telegram is wonderful in its detail.

And also came with its own matching envelope.

As far as I can tell, this was never used. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but there is a small and good book about Greetings Telegrams by Ruth Artmonsky, which has a full list of all the commissioned designs, and there is nothing by Daphne Padden there. I wonder why this was done in such detail then?

Finally, a small early sketch…

That fisherman is clearly a close cousin of this pair, with their black cat and pipes.

All of which is simply a taster, as there will be plenty more gems to come from the bag next week too.

On the buses (and bus stops too)

London Transport, posters

One of the real joys of writing this blog is getting a response on a subject from People Who Really Know. So after my post about long thin posters, it was very good to hear from Michael Wickham who gave me a lot more information about where these kind of posters were displayed. Along with illustrations, and permission to share it with everyone here. I don’t really need to say much more, do I?

Posters were/still are produced for the timetable panels on bus stops. These are very close to A4 size (or double that or treble that, vertically) and have been produced since the late 1920s. Until quite recently, they were produced with two punch holes in the top cormers and hung on screws inside the frame. Nowadays, they are laminated. The 1974 Harry Stevens you mentioned on 9/3 is one of these, as you suggested.

Of course, the vast majority of these posters were timetables, in tabular form without any artistic element whatsoever. However, LT filled unused spaces in the frames with other material, eg exhortations not to drop litter, to avoid rush hours, queue properly etc and, occasionally to advertise attractions which could be reached by bus. For some of these, an established artist would be employed. Here area couple from my collection, both by Clifford Wilkinson – London’s Country Houses from 1953 (triple A4 vertical)

and Windsor Castle from 1951 (double A4 vertical).

The timetables have survived in reasonable numbers because bus enthusiasts have collected them but the “artistic” posters are quite rare survivors.

Other posters have been produced for interior use inside buses (above the seats). There are two standard sizes of these: 25″ x 8″ used from the 1930s until the present and a larger size (25″ x 11″) used on more modern types of buses. Below are a 1944 issue of the first type, by Midge,

and a 1976 issue of the second, by Harry Stevens.

In addition, there were sundry-size posters for the buses in the 1950s-70s for specific panels, eg on the front bulkhead, above the front windows on the upper deck and on the staircase panel. Some examples of these:

A 1960 Galbraith – “Please help the Conductor” – 20″ x 9″

A 1959 Galbraith – “Avoid Rush Hour Travel” – 24″ x 5″

A 1934 Zinkeisen – “Aldershot Tattoo by private bus” – 12″ x 10″

The 12″ x 10″ size was also used on the Underground from the 1930s until the 1970s. The Underground ones had a non-see-through backing, usually dark grey, because these posters were affixed to the glass vestibules by the train doors.

There are two other common sizes on the Underground: the cards which go in the carriages above the windows and the portrait type used on the escalators. I don’t have any “artistic” ones of either of these as they are largely used for commercial advertising.

All of which is comprehensive, brilliant and very much appreciated. What’s more, he’s also very happy to answer any questions if you have any. So thank you very much, Michael Wickham.

Thick and Thin

posters

This has been hanging around on the bookshelves for a bit, waiting to find a home.

Which is quite a tricky problem as I can’t exactly roll it up as it’s on card. Fortunately I’m starting to quite like it where it is; it may be there for a while.

The design is by Royston Cooper and dates, according to Christies at least, from 1960. Until the long one turned up on eBay, I’d only ever known the image in its upright form.

But I think I prefer it reclining. Here’s the whole thing for your delectation, and to enable you to consider just how little a coach trip from Worcester to Slough in 1960 would be as much fun as the poster.

All of which made me think about long thin posters. Partly only so that I could post this, which is one of my favourite posters ever.

The entire 1950s encapsulated in a fifteen inch long piece of paper. Genius.

Mr Crownfolio remembers that the seller told him this was produced for the Sheffield buses, but other long thin posters turn up in a couple of places.

For example, the GPO produced strip posters for their vans. At 51″ long, they were almost like till rolls and I’ve only ever seen them on the BPMA site. Which makes this Austin Cooper, at a mere 6″ x 20″, a bit of a mystery.

It dates from 1944 so perhaps they were fixed to bicycles rather than vans. Or something.

London Transport were the other home of strangely shaped posters, like this 1974 Harry Stevens that I think may have been meant for display on a bus stop.

And this Eckersley from 1960 which the LT Museum site call a panel poster.

Which were meant for both buses and tubes, it seems.

Panel posters were produced for display in Underground car interiors, as well as on the inside and outside of buses and trams. Because they did not have to fit a standard frame or wall space, they are smaller than other poster formats and vary slightly in size.

And I imagine that because so many were pasted on, only a few survive. That’s a shame really, because in many ways they are very manageable posters, much easier to find space for than some of their bigger cousins. At least I hope that’s true, because we’ve bought another two from the seller of the Cooper, by Studio Seven and Lander this time. More on those when they arrive.

History coaching

other

Happy New Year. I’ve had flu, so Quad Royal will be easing itself gently into 2011 for the next week or two.

Today, I will be mostly reminding you about this.

A coach. Which is advertising The Golden Age of Coach Travel on BBC4 tonight (full details here if you want to know more).

I have no idea whether there will be posters or not, but I will be watching intently, just in case they show something of this ilk.

Or indeed this.

And yes, this does make me a bit nerdy, but what the heck. This may be the year to embrace my inner nerd.

Should these posters whet your appetite, a few have appeared on eBay too. For example this Daphne Padden.

Or a Harry Stevens.

And even a Royston Cooper.

They’re all on offer from the same seller, and all currently at reasonable prices, although with a week to go, this may change. Once again I suspect someone churning some Morphets’ purchases, but obviously this is just a theory rather than any hard facts.