Underground Posters

Map of Underground, 1919, printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd.

It is acknowledged that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so by any standards the world’s most flattered mapmaker must be Harry Beck who devised the famous diagrammatic London Underground Tube Map. By the early 1930s, the London Underground network had expanded so considerably that it was difficult to squeeze all the new lines and stations into a geographical map. Passengers complained that the existing map was crowded, confusing and hard to read. It was decided that the network was too big to be represented geographically and the Underground commissioned one of its draughtsmen Harry Beck (1903-1974) to devise a more efficient method.

Old poster size Underground Maps always attract collector’s interest as they chronicle in their own way the history of London. Tomorrow South Kensington's Christie’s auction house is offering the chance to acquire iconic London Underground posters direct from the archives of London Transport Museum (LTM). The auction on October 4 will feature over 300 original advertising posters dating from 1913 to 1955.

Reginald Percy Gossop's Underground Map Of London, 1926, printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd.

F. H. Stingemore's Underground Map Of London, 1928, printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd.

F. H. Stingemore's Underground Map Of London, 1933, printed by Waterlow & Sons Limited.

Central Area Map Of the Underground, 1934, printed by Waterlow & Sons Limited.

Harry Beck's Uunderground Map, 1938, printed by Waterlow & Sons Limited.

Present day: the tube map we use today, as first designed by Harry Beck in 1931

London Transport has contributed a great deal to modern British Design largely through the influence of Frank Pick. The obsession with clear design and image was continued through to Harry Beck’s famous schematic map, commissioning its own “machine typeface” to make its posters, signage and publications clearer, building instantly recognisable branded station buildings and station fittings and using engaging and innovative advertising in the 30’s. Today London Underground’s trademark roundel is the second most recognised brand worldwide. 

Harry Beck and his Map

The Directors in the 20s and 30s saw good design as good for business. By the example it set under Frank Pick the Underground was gradually able to change the public’s attitude to railway stations which had been seen as shabby and inhospitable places. Sir Nicholas Pevsner wrote that Pick saw in every detail a “visual propaganda” and he used this not only to improve the Underground but the environment as a whole. Charles Holden brought the Underground station to the forefront of modern architecture: This achievement is unequalled by any other transport company before or since.

Posters With A Purpose: The London Transport Museum Sale

4 October 2012

London, Christies South Kensington

Alfred Leete (1882-1933)

THE LURE OF THE UNDERGROUND

lithograph in colours, 1927, printed by The Dangerfield Printing Co., Ltd., London, condition A-; backed on linen

See about Charles Holden’s influence and his design for the Underground’s iconic headquarters here;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/give-my-regards-to-55-broadway.html

For the history of Harry Beck’s iconic Underground Map see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/mapping-world.html

See also; Great British Design Quest;

http://daithaic.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/great-british-design-quest.html