Art Deco: the golden age of poster design at The London Transport Museum

A colourful new exhibition opens today at The London Transport Museum in Covent Garden displaying over 100 posters from the 1920s and 1930s interspersed with physical items, products and other printed ephemera.

The exhibition starts with a short overview about 'Art Deco' and a selection of what's to come. It shows how simple lines and clear sans serif typefaces were implemented to advertise leisure, travel and industry... 

I particularly like that many of the posters are signed by the artist and also bear the name of the company that printed them. 

We see how commercial artists of the 1920s and 30s created engaging visuals that would tempt people to use the London Transport, whether to access West End shops or theatres, dance venues, London Zoo or the parks. It's wonderful to see the range of different artistic styles. Some posters are cubist, others illustrative many are geometrical as per the Season Tickets 'lightning bolt' above.

A couple of posters make a point of how the tube is better than the unmentioned buses and trams because you won't get wet when it rains and it's cooler in the summer. This simple design style was also implemented on UK travel guides and maps.

The poster titled 'Hearing the riches of London' used as the main promo image for this exhibition is a strange choice. It features a coquettish lady wearing hair grips in the style of the London Underground roundel. 

This poster is interesting because it's the original illustration rather than a printed poster, as is evident by the scamped-in logo on the hair grips as 'UxxxD' indicating where the printer should place a pre-made printed logo. It's also likely that the lines indicated either side of the outlined logo at the bottom indicate where explanatory text can be inserted, and I suspect that another word would have later been added on the arched section where dancers and party people are depicted in two-tone red. Perhaps she's going to listen and dance to some syncopated jazz at the Hammersmith Palais?  Hence the use of the word 'Hearing' in the poster.

Another poster that intrigues me is the one shown above right, intended to show how convenient it is to get from the Underground to the theatre although the message is not immediately evident. It looks rather creepy, but I love it – a top hatted man us rising from below to meet a green-coated lady to see a stage production, although it appears to indicate that lift takes you directly from station platform to the stalls.

As well as the posters here are some good exhibits on show. Here just a few of them that particularly relate to dressing up, going out and dancing: 

Other posters show how easy it was to make rail connections for days out further afield such as Southend, the South Coast and Henley. Incidentally, in most cases, the captions accompanying most of the posters simply describe what we are looking at. I'd have like to have learned more about the artists who designed them. 

The lower level is accessed via a spiral staircase. At the bottom there's a big blank burgundy wall but no info to explain this next section, or any indication which way to turn. Next the the stairs is the most confusing poster in the whole exhibition which, after a while, I managed to decipher was also about getting speedily to the theatre (what's it doing down here?). 

I noticed that there was an even lower level, so I continued down the spiral stairs to find that it merely leads to a door that takes you back to the main museum. Hmm. Signage needed. 

So I re-climbed the stairs and discovered the introductory information panel for this floor is installed a few metres to the left, which you might not notice if you happen to turn right and go clockwise round this floor as there is also no directional.  

But hey, it turns out that the lower level is very interesting as it shows a varied collection of other examples of how the 'Art Deco'* style has been implemented elsewhere, including the Clarks shoes leaflet shown above, 1960's designs and posters featuring 1980's RetroDeco/PoMo architecture. 

The ads for motoring events at Olympia are graphically pleasing and include one that, again, is an original illustration, a preliminary design achieved probably in gouache that also includes an indicated UxxxD logo. The artist's pencil marks are clearly visible across the whole piece, as is his hand-written mark at bottom left, "lettering only roughed in" – I love this – it takes me back to my first jobs working at design and advertising studios when artworks of this kind were commonplace in a world of lick and stick, Rotring pens and Cow Gum.

This lower floor leads to the exit doors and raises another question about the spiral staircase. It occurs to me that wheelchair users or people with mobility issues might have a problem moving between floors within the exhibition. I'm assuming this second level can be accessed by exiting exhibition at the main door and using the lift/escalator to access the the lower floor, and re-entering via this door (which I assume will be staffed, as surely they want people to see the exhibition in the order it has been designed) but it would mean that they would then see the most recent deco-inspired exhibits first:

Which brings me onto my final observation. It concerns the image shown above right of a video that explains the whole show and the beginnings of this design style, yet it's installed on the lower floor next to a panel headed 'Legacy' which starts off by telling us that Art Deco* died (eh?).

Why oh why oh why is this movie not near the main entrance explaining what we are about to see? Instead, on entering the space, looking to the left and right (repeating the pair of images from above)...

... we see lots of things crammed in, more jumbled than any other area of the whole exhibition, as if they kept adding things as afterthoughts. 

But where could they squeeze in the video screen here? As you can see, the overview/welcome text is squeezed into the corner looking like a late addition. The text lacks basic information about the 'Art Deco' era, the hows and whys, and I was surprised to find that key points, such as where the term derives from, is buried within captions under other items on the left hand side. But not everyone reads all the captions like I do!

So, in conclusion, as an 'Art Deco' fan, there are lots and lots of lovely things to see and admire, but even though I knew what I was looking at I was often confused. As a graphic designer/typographer who has worked on many print and events projects, particularly on signage and wayfinding, the key thing should always be to design for the customer/visitor who is new to the environment or subject, making the information clear, obvious and easy to understand.

Unfortunately there is no way to see this exhibition than as part of a visit to the museum. Prices here. However, your ticket lasts a year and you can visit as many times as you want to at no extra charge. 

I know lots of people who would love to see these posters but will not visit due to the price, perhaps having no interest in the rest of the museum or they've seen it all before. I really think it's about time that the LT Museum considered installing a stand-alone small exhibition/event space adjacent to the shop, similarly accessible to all without accessing the museum.

Finally – It's November and it's very cold inside the museum , after all, it's a huge shed. Basically, whatever you are wearing outside, you will need to be wearing it in the museum. 

*I prefer to use initial caps for art deco. and I usually write in quotes as per 'Art Deco' because it's a retrospective woolly term. There doesn't appear to be a set style guide

Lots to see at ING Discerning Eye 2025 art exhibition at The Mall Galleries – FREE! Closes 1pm Sunday 23rd Nov

One week / c750 artworks – Free admission, no booking required
Discerning Eye at The Mall Galleries – Enter via the first door nearest Admiralty Arch
Thu/Fri/Sat 10am–5pm  / Last day: Sunday 23rd 10am–1pm

I visited yesterday afternoon – here are some of my favourites:

The Birthday Party, John Walsom / High Heel at Fuseli [Room 17], James Gosling

Sgurr Finnisg-Aig, Inverness-shire, Sarah Crossfield / At Home, Walking the Dog, at Night, Adebola Bolarinwa

Someone I knew, Jo Harley / 3 Minutes (and 25 Years_, Jill Colchester

Protest 2, Andrew Newton / Robin, Lucy Stopford

Pizza, Robbie Wraith / Woolworths, Mandy Payne

White Goat, Lois Sykes / Pose - Expose, Patrick Baker

Twigs 3, Alex Price / Home from Sainsbury's, Simon Conolly

Being Serious, Paul Brown / Portal, Ruth Geldard

Discerning Eye – I'll enter something next year – hell, I managed to get into the RA Summer Show this year, so why not give this one a go? However, I have you ever seen a more ironic logo – there's nothing discerning about this typography car crash!

It's World Toilet Day – Carnaby Street in inconvenienced

Today is World Toilet Day, an unofficial United Nations day designed to raise awareness for the need for publicly accessible toilet facilities. Surely this matter needs attention every day?!

Last Sunday, I was in central London and headed for what I knew to be some excellently maintained facilities at the Gt Marlborough Street end of Carnaby Street. Below is a screenshot of the latest available google streetview (July 2024) followed by two pics I took in Jan 2024:

As I approached on Sunday I noticed a huge black box surrounding the entrances:

Oh dear – these lavatories are no longer available. We are inconvenienced. I'm not sure when they closed but I'm pretty sure they were available in the summer. 

I did a quick circumnavigation of it looking for a Westminster Council sign that would explain what was happening and/or where the nearest available loos might be, but couldn't find anything. I might have  missed it because I had something important to attend to. 

These loos were featured in a post I wrote last year during a period when I had become interested in why so many of our public conveniences are now unavailable to us. I travelled all over the metropolis taking photos of my own and hunted for archive evidence, saving my findings into folders labelled Open/Closed/Converted/Gone – it's an ongoing project and, at a convenient time when I am not otherwise engaged, I will download some of my other photos here. 

"Waste not thy time in windy argument but let the matter drop." Attributed to William Shakespeare

I had written last year that whenever I use these Carnaby Street toilets I am often the only person down there. As you can see from the pics below, it was/is clean and bright below ground with salmon pink panels and basins and painted tiles depicting fashions from Carnaby Street. 

It's well-lit, both from the entrance as via ceiling lights. The attendant's room, visible through a shoulder height window is opposite the cubicles. Oh, and they are free to use. Those coin-operated pay gates are these days as good as redundant being as most people now use card readers, so perhaps that's one of the main reasons for renovation here. Whatever they do, I hope at least the tiles will be retained. I particularly like the panel at the far end wall depicting 1960's girl in a Mondrian inspired dress: 

I have read recently that some of these facilities are to be modernised. But it seems to me that councils across London have not grasped that it's not the facilities themselves that are at fault, but the fact that they are below ground and people are reluctant, for whatever reason, to venture down the stairs. Mindsets need to be adjusted. A bit of promo wouldn't go amiss – how about getting Crisis or Shelter involved to offer attendants jobs? 

Any ideas?

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J. Troake, Straw Chip & Leghorn Presser – is this London's oldest ghostsign?

Ah Spitalfields... it's ever-changing and there's always more to discover...  

Heading towards the market from Shoreditch High Street last Sunday, I turned into Commercial Street and pondered whether this pillared gateway used to offer access to Nichols and Clarke's sidings and their warehouse buildings in Blossom Street. Very much likely I think. 

On the other side of the road, the view was epic, looking like a painting of a castle on a hill above a rocky landscape and lush pine trees: 

I turned left into Elder Street. A cat in a Fleur-de-Lis Street window stared at me but barely moved. People stopped to coo coo at it. I wondered what the cat thought of them but I was more intrigued by a visibly distressed vintage Bentley plugged into a charger outside a Georgian house. Doi-oi-oing! 

Moving along this street early C18th street, built in the 1720s, I stopped to consider how this street has become so expensive to live here since Dan Cruikshank and his friends saved it back in the 1970s. It went from dilapidation and degradation through regeneration and gentrification to become properties that most of us can't afford to rent a cupboard in. I doubt that was Dan's intention.

On the plus side, the people who snapped up these properties spent a lot of time and effort reinstating many lost features such as door knockers and window shutters that would have been in place when these were the homes and working premises of Huguenot silk weavers. Indeed this next snippet from the 1841 Kelly's street directory shows that most businesses at that time were still associated with silk:

The next excerpt from 1882 shows how the street evolved to be rather more utilitarian. Elder Street and other neighbouring streets were no longer the homes of silk merchants, but of basic trades:

The numbering shown in the clippings does not tally with what we see today, and this is made evident at No.19 Elder St, where, if you look closely, you'll see that it used to be No.20. This was when the street was numbered up one side and down the other, rather than odds facing evens which later became more common. On either side of the door below '20' there are hand-painted signs for J. Troake, Straw Chip & Leghorn Presser, and some other words I have yet to decipher.

I love the way that only the word Presser is in italics, possibly to highlight a trade rather than a product. Also, theres that lovely use of the Georgian f where a double-s occurs, as in Prefser. It looks like the signs have been repainted at some time, and not just retouched. 

On the left street-facing side of the door there is another name in upper case italics which looks like 'L....ES" (see below, left). This is likely the name of another man/business using this address at the same time as John Troake. 

John Troake would likely have been the one of the first inhabitants of this street, selling a fine quality smooth straw used for making hats and offering a pressing service for leghorn style wide-brimmed hats which were popularised by wealthy Georgian ladies who wore them at an angle balanced on the the top of their overly-large wigs, often enhanced by other accessories and concoctions.

I wonder if this is the oldest London ghostsign..? Other similar examples of hand-painted Georgian signage come to mind, such as the lists of lawyers in Middle Temple and Gray's Inn, and those amusing polite notices, but they show names or instructions, not trades. 

Crossing the road to take a wide view of the house, I noticed that there is another faded sign aabove the fanlight, here cropped and enhanced:

I can make out what could be ELT at the top and Stanstead or Wanstead on the curve.  This could be another business within the building at that time. Let's leave it there for now. 

On the other side of the street, practically opposite No 19 there is one of the commissioned set of Spitalfields coal hole covers echoing the blue plaque above that commemorates Mark Gertler.  

Around the corner, Denis Severs House, in Folgate Street has a fine example of Egyptian decoration and a gas lamp, both subjects that I cover on my walking tours.

Sad to see that the old Water Poet pub building isstill empty. I stopped to took photos over two years ago and I'm pretty sure those lamps and boxes were there, exactly in the same place as today. 

Outside and inside

The developers revamped this whole block and built pastiche Victorian terraces along Norton Folgate (today), yet this once vibrant pub has been standing empty for too long. This is a big shame. Empty spaces, yet more tall buildings going up in adjacent streets. Go figure. 

Further info on any of the above, will be most gratefully received.

Kensington Gardens – strange chestnuts and up close at the Albert Memorial

Saturday 8th November was a glorious day weather-wise – a perfect day for the Lordy Lady Mayor's Show, but this year I had something else to do – I had an appointment at the Albert Memorial for another up close look at the Parnassus Frieze, this time not just as the final stop at the end of the tours we volunteers lead for The Royal Parks, but a site specific visit to find out more about the details and the people on the monument. 

I approached from Kensington High Street and entered the gardens at this little gate opposite Victoria Road (shown here in 2022):

As I veered to the right, heading towards the South Flower Walk, I happened to notice some strange conker-looking things on the grass at my feet. These were more shrivelled than the horse chestnut's globe-like shiny battle fruits, and the casings around the them were not thick and prickly but thin and almost smooth, segmented into three parts and very easy to remove. They certainly were not sweet chestnuts either as the leaves weren't right. I suspected these trees were likely from Asia.

Just as I was about to walk away, two adults and a child came up to me and asked me if I knew what the tree was and the child asked if she could eat the nuts. Ooh no, I said, best not, don't risk it. I thought about doing a reverse picture search, but the battery on my phone was down to the red section and I was keen to save the tiny bit of juice I had left for the Albert Memorial. I gave them my card and, picking up a half-cased nut to take away as reference, I told them I'd write it up here if I found out any info.

So here we are. I did try doing the reverse image search thing later that day when I was fully-charged. I got nowhere fast. It kept telling me it was a horse chestnut. If I searched using a pic of the leaves I got something else entirely. I gave up and decided to return to the task another day.

Two days later, on Monday evening, I was at a London Historians event. I got chatting to a nice couple and asked if they'd had a good evening seeing at this was the first time they'd attended. Chit chat chitty chat and, blow me down, if I hadn't just introduced myself to Greg Packman, who is the Arboricultural Officer for The Royal Parks! How have I not met this man before?! He's a walking talking tree encyclopaedia! So, of course, I asked him about my nut case and before I could get to the end of my sentence he'd interrupted me with "Indian Chestnut" – it turns out there's an avenue of these Aesculus indica trees along the edge of the road. 

Greg leads tree identification walks, workshops and events in the parks as listed in this Facebook page – I'll definitely be joining in soon. 

Back to Saturday... waving goodbye to the people by the tree, I passed Esme Percy's dog fountain near the closed toilets just beyond the cafe/kiosk and headed down the flower walk towards the Albert Memorial. 

Incidentally, why can't these toilets be reopened, or the ones at Hyde Park Corner for that matter? I have collected a lots of pics of public loos in the past two years – another topic lurking in my To Do folder).

At the memorial Barbara led us around the monument pointing out the many references before we went inside the gates and up the steps to get a good look at the frieze and other details that adorn this OTT monument, a memorial that Albert had said he most definitely didn't want, because all his efforts had never been about himself but for the betterment of the masses. I wonder if the plans for the revamp and additional statuary planned for St James's Park to commemorate our late Queen will also be a bridge too far, as I very much doubt she would have agreed to a blingy wedding tiara replacing the understated Blue Bridge that currently crosses the lake. 

Boob job?

What a lovely few hours. I told everyone on the tour that we lead guided walks every month in Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and St James's Park, yet I've since learned that only the former is available this side of January. Such a shame. However, other events are available on TRP website here, or join me for one of my own tours.