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One of many trade adverts issued by London Transport's Commercial Advertising Department; selling advertising space on the Board's vehicles and premises was an important ancilliary revenue stream and LT put the same level of thought and quality into the graphic design of such publicity as they did their public posters. This December 1934 is selling transparent window adverts in the then doomed tramway fleet - the plan being to replace them all by trolleybuses by c.1940. The intervention of war saw the trams, in South London, survive until 1952.

The advert panels shown are for the well known Hayward's Military Pickle and consisted of transfers, either varnish or water fixed, than went on windows. The advert itself is not set in LT's own Johnston typeface but in Koch's design of Kable/Cable issued by Klingspor. Johnston does appear on the London Transport Tramway's version of the roundel. Post-formation in 1933 LT worked with Edward Johnston to produce a series of roundels to show the operating 'mode' that, with the words of London and Transport in the white semi-circles are slightly, visually, cluttered.

London Transport has always relied heavily on income from commercial advertising revenues - monies made by selling advertising space on vehicles, stations and structures. In the 1930s the Commercial Advertising Department were themselves prolific advertisers in relevant trade journals (here in Art & Industry) and issued much publicity themselves. As in keeping with the company's strong ethos of 'fitness for purpose' even humble press adverts have a real sense of style about them as seen here.

Advertising escalator panel spaces this advert, both graphic and text, plays cleverly on 'steps' - steps on the escalator and the advertiser's next steps. It is thoughtfully set out, typographically, and the graphic captures escalators, passengers looking and a "step'. It is by "Eckersley-Lombers", the pre-war partnership of designers and artists Tom Eckersley and Eric Lombers who also produced many posters and panel/car posters for LT as well.

The last line is very fine : The LT roundel symbol and "You can't get away from it"!

A full page advert for the Commercial Advertising Department of London Transport exhorting advertisers to include side panel adverts on London's buses as prt of any campaign. The fleet, of both red Central area and green Country area buses at this time numbered many thousands and the sale of such advertising spaces on vehicles, stations and other sites brought in valuable and much needed revenue.

The vehicle shown is bonnet number STL 446 (AYV 604) a 1934 AEC Regent that was delivered with a petrol engine that would be replaced in 1939 with a diesel engine. From delivery until 1948 it spent its operational life at Chalk Farm garage as the plates show here "CF" even if the route destinations have been blanked out! The bus was rebodied in 1948 but only survived until withdrawal in 1952.

The advert is not set in LT's own Johnston typeface but is, I'm sure, in Kable/Cable along with a correct version of the LT roundel.

A fateful advert looking back as September 1939 saw the end of many things as war engulfed the world and one of those things was London Transport as it had developed in the six years since it was formed in 1933. The predecessor companies, most notably the dominant Underground Group, had a world famous reputation for 'applied' arts and architecture and LT developed those through a massive investment programme that delivered much before faltering in the face of the changed circumstances of war. In post-war years LT, like much else, was a shadow of its former self and after nationalisation in 1948 struggled to be heard in a wider, national world. As such it never quite got back the pre-war 'spark' that had seen determined commissioners such as Frank Pick enable management that included the publicity manager Christian Barman and that had produced such an exemplary corporate identity that was delivered in so many forms across the whole organisation.

One area that Barman in particular helped flourish was the quality of LT's printed output that built on the posters that are still so well known. Along side the use of the Johnston typeface that had been in use since c1916 Barman seems to have been happy to use a range of graphic design, typography and typeface to deliver LT's messages and this advert is very typical of that. LT made, and still does make, much money form Commercial Advertising across the estate a sthis advert itself notes. The use of the plain black outline roundel is very much in line with the c1936 experiments of "Zero", aka Hans Schleger and the simplified device was much used in publicity. The language is also very much of its time as despite the fact we carried 10 million men and women a day it was "the man who knows"!

One of a series of post-war folder leaflets issued by London Transport Advertising and designed by Pieter Byl using graphic design and typographical elements to produce a varying range of treatments. LT has always made significant income from advertising on stations, vehicles and other sites and these promotional brochures give details of the various options available to advertisers along with basic costs. They would have been a simpler supplement to the expensively produced fulll advertising rates book produced!


This leaflet details the position and charges for inside lower deck bulkhead panels on LT's Central Buses, trolleybuses and Country Bus fleets. The photos show various crowds waiting for buses, the front cover looking as if it was a miserable wet day!

One of a series of post-war folder leaflets issued by London Transport Advertising and designed by Pieter Byl using graphic design and typographical elements to produce a varying range of treatments. LT has always made significant income from advertising on stations, vehicles and other sites and these promotional brochures give details of the various options available to advertisers along with basic costs. They would have been a simpler supplement to the expensively produced fulll advertising rates book produced!

This leaflet details the wholeside and demiside positions available on London's trams. If LT had had its way, and if WW2 had not intervened, there would have been no London trams left in 1948 as pre-war the company had started the world's largest tram to trolleybus converstion scheme and indeed had completed probably some two-thirds of this before war conditions curtailed the scheme. By 1948 the process of removing trams, but replacing them with diesel buses rather than electric trolleybuses, was about to start up again. The vast majority of surviving routes were in south London.

One of a series of post-war folder leaflets issued by London Transport Advertising and designed by Pieter Byl using graphic design and typographical elements to produce a varying range of treatments. LT has always made significant income from advertising on stations, vehicles and other sites and these promotional brochures give details of the various options available to advertisers along with basic costs. They would have been a simpler supplement to the expensively produced fulll advertising rates book produced!


This leaflet details the wholeside and demiside positions available on London's trams. If LT had had its way, and if WW2 had not intervened, there would have been no London trams left in 1948 as pre-war the company had started the world's largest tram to trolleybus converstion scheme and indeed had completed probably some two-thirds of this before war conditions curtailed the scheme. By 1948 the process of removing trams, but replacing them with diesel buses rather than electric trolleybuses, was about to start up again. The vast majority of surviving routes were in south London.

One of a series of post-war folder leaflets issued by London Transport Advertising and designed by Pieter Byl using graphic design and typographical elements to produce a varying range of treatments. LT has always made significant income from advertising on stations, vehicles and other sites and these promotional brochures give details of the various options available to advertisers along with basic costs. They would have been a simpler supplement to the expensively produced fulll advertising rates book produced!

This leaflet details the position and charges for inside lower deck bulkhead panels on LT's Central Buses, trolleybuses and Country Bus fleets. The photos show various crowds waiting for buses, the front cover looking as if it was a miserable wet day!

Wholly in the then astonishing quality of London Transport's design and corporate identity thsi small card folder was issued in 1938, one of a large series, to advertise advertising. The income from commercial advertising on the LPTB's vehicles and buildings was considerable and the Board went to considerable lengths to 'drum up trade'. As a quality estate they obviously felt they had to step up to the mark.

This folder, very much at the forefront of British graphic design and use of typography is possibly by the design partnership of Tom Eckersley and George Lombers who worked together from 1934 until 1946. It appears to be one of a trio of such folders and the other two are by Eckersley-Lombers, however other similar ones are by either Zero (Hans Schleger) or Peter Byl.

Wholly in the then astonishing quality of London Transport's design and corporate identity thsi small card folder was issued in 1938, one of a large series, to advertise advertising. The income from commercial advertising on the LPTB's vehicles and buildings was considerable and the Board went to considerable lengths to 'drum up trade'. As a quality estate they obviously felt they had to step up to the mark.

This folder, very much at the forefront of British graphic design and use of typography is possibly by the design partnership of Tom Eckersley and George Lombers who worked together from 1934 until 1946. It appears to be one of a trio of such folders and the other two are by Eckersley-Lombers, however other similar ones are by either Zero (Hans Schleger) or Peter Byl.

Wholly in the then astonishing quality of London Transport's design and corporate identity thsi small card folder was issued in 1938, one of a large series, to advertise advertising. The income from commercial advertising on the LPTB's vehicles and buildings was considerable and the Board went to considerable lengths to 'drum up trade'. As a quality estate they obviously felt they had to step up to the mark.

This folder, very much at the forefront of British graphic design and use of typography, is by the design partnership of Tom Eckersley and George Lombers who worked together from 1934 until 1946 after which time they both went their separate ways, Lombers back north to Bradford to teach and Eckersley to become known as one of the best mid-20th century graphic designers. The brochure has a 'light bulb' moment to illustrate the visibility of Underground car advertising and the captive audience per day.

Wholly in the then astonishing quality of London Transport's design and corporate identity thsi small card folder was issued in 1938, one of a large series, to advertise advertising. The income from commercial advertising on the LPTB's vehicles and buildings was considerable and the Board went to considerable lengths to 'drum up trade'. As a quality estate they obviously felt they had to step up to the mark.

This folder, very much at the forefront of British graphic design and use of typography, is by the design partnership of Tom Eckersley and George Lombers who worked together from 1934 until 1946 after which time they both went their separate ways, Lombers back north to Bradford to teach and Eckersley to become known as one of the best mid-20th century graphic designers. The brochure has a 'light bulb' moment to illustrate the visibility of Underground car advertising and the captive audience per day.