Bus or Underground? - Discover advertising posters from the first half of the 20th century

The Underground Electric Railways of London (UERL), formed in 1902, completed the takeover of the vast London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) in 1912 and most of the Underground train lines. In 1933 London Transport was formed and took control of all tram, bus, Metropolitan train and Underground operations.   

The poster selection below covers publicity for buses, trams and trolleybuses in London in the early part of the 20th century, and the apparent conflict between posters promoting the bus and Underground networks. It is intriguing to note some conflicting publicity between two modes of transport both operated by the same company.

These first two posters highlight roadworks and their disruption to road transport but never to the Underground. ‘Avoid Delay’ was produced in 1910 and aimed at major competitor LGOC, as depicted by the ‘General’ bus. In ‘The Roads are Never Up’, the message is the same but aimed at a partner company.  One hundred and eleven years on, roadworks cause the same problems!

The mood and message of each poster is highlighted through the use of colour.

In the years leading up to the First World War, horse buses were withdrawn from London’s streets.  These two 1914 posters, by Walter Spradbery, draw attention to the benefits of the new motorbuses. The Underground Group was keen to publicise their benefits, including a range of rural excursions. These two posters appeal to the public’s natural desire for fresh air, sunshine and fun. The London General route 64 bus is arriving in the depths of rural Hertfordshire on a bright summer’s day, which will lead to a wonderful day out. The second poster promises a relaxed journey home in the evening; time to reflect on happy memories of a day spent in the Surrey countryside. Colour again is used to evoke feelings.

The next two posters will be familiar to many and clearly promote one arm of the Underground Group in preference to the other. Herrick’s use of contrasts in colour vividly promotes the messages in the texts and also reflects artistic thinking at this time.

In 1927, Alfred Leete was commissioned to produce a poster design to promote the Underground. This would become one of the UERL’s most famous posters. The message is powerful and is emphasised through the use of the favoured ‘vortex’ design of the time. We see London General buses being abandoned in favour of the Underground, despite both companies being owned and operated by the Underground Group! Though perhaps the message was also one of an increasingly joined up public transport network.

London County Council (LCC) introduced electric trams in the early 1900s and continued to do so until London Transport took over in 1933. In the 1930s London Transport instigated a programme replacing trams with trolleybuses. 

These four posters were commissioned to promote the tram network. The 1910 Ella Coates poster is the first poster on London’s transport known to be designed by a woman artist. The other three posters are by students at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, also owned by LCC. Essentially, an ‘in-house’ poster designing team! Three of the posters give reasons for using trams for recreational purposes. The fourth, by Monica Rawlins, promotes the tramway for London’s workforce, transposing peak time to ‘High Tide’ as part of the river theme of the poster. Style and use of colour make an interesting contrast to the previous selected posters.

The rapid replacement of trams with trolleybuses in the 1930s led initial London Transport publicity to focus on the benefits of trolleybuses and how they would beneficially subsume some tram routes.  Both posters here make use of photos and serve as prime examples of the font designed for UERL in 1916, by Edward Johnston, and adopted by London Transport from 1933. Both posters are informative and highlight engineering design, contrasting starkly with the rest of the posters in my selection.

You can browse more posters and find out more about the history of London’s transport from 1900-1945 in our collection online.