London Passenger Transport Board - a few facts about the Commercial Advertising Service : booklet, c1933 : Foreword 2 and "The Area"

            A delightful item of ephemera in so many ways. The London Passenger Transport Board, the LPTB and better known as London Transport, was a public corporation formed on 1 July 1933 to oversee public transport in London. It comprised at its core, the undertakings of the old London Underground Group that ran the majority of the tube network, the bus services of the London General (both Central area and Country area), the LUT, MET & SMET tramways and the nacient trolleybuses of the LUT. In addition they absorbed the Metropolitan Railway, the municipal tramway undertakings and numerous 'private' bus companies as their operating area included not just built up London but a large ring around the capital.

Selling advertising on vehicles, stations and sites had always been lucrative business for publci transport operators and the Underground Group in particular knew the value of this. In common with much else in the new LPTB the Underground's existing organisation was at the core of the management of Commercial Advertising as it centralised the organisation and selling of poster sites and opportunities. Several areas of the Board's services still had pre-existing advertising contracts to run out such as W H Smith & Son Ltd on the Met and Frank Mason & Co Ltd on the majority of the ex-municipal tramways including the vast London County Council fleet.

To publicise these services London Transport issued this wonderfully produced booklet - the high quality of production showing the high value of the product to prospective clients. The Underground Group of course was held in very high regard in the world of commercial advertising and publicity due to the work over Frank Pick over the previous two decades. 

To continue in the 'house style' of the Group, it is printed at one of the foremost printing houses of the day, the Curwen Press in Plaistow, east London, and features Curwen Sans typeface not LT's own Johnston. The logo - that is of interest in that it is one new feature of the Board that didn't last long - the LPTB symbol.  This was designed by C W Bacon but wasn't much loved and was soon supplanted by the more recognisable roundel that is still used today. The roundel is more 'flexible' in terms of utility. Nevertheless some will see the old CIE logo in here!
The second spread of the foreword includes the map of the Board's area of operations showing the London Passenger Transport Traffic Area, within which the Board had absolute monopoly of stage carriage services with only small exceptions, as well as the outer area where various classes of road operation were allowed. The Board ran the 'tube' services, red Central Area buses, trams and trolleybuses, as well as green Country Area buses and Green Line coach operations.

Taken on: March 5, 2021

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Mike Ashworth Collection

LPTB

London Passenger Transport Board

Commercial Advertising

Curwen Press

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booklet

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1933

advertising rates

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vintage logo

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C W Bacon

ephemera

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Map of the LPTB

London Passenger Transport Area

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London Transport boundary 1933

London Underground

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London Transport trolleybuses

London Transport trams

London Transport Country Area bus services

London Transport Green Line coach services

Curwen Sans « less

Sets appears in: • A Few Facts about the Commercial Advertising Service of the London Passenger Transport Board, 1933 • Typography and typefaces more » • London Transport advertising • London Transport • A Curwen Press miscellany « less

Groups appears in: • Typography and Lettering • Public Transportation more » • Lost London • That Old Timey Feeling • Public Transport Around the World • Vintage Typography • London Maps • Font of All Wisdom - Unique lettering in design [VINTAGE] • * L O N D O N - T R A N S P O R T * • Text and Typography • European Buses , Trolleybuses and Tramways • Vintage Infographics • This Is Essex • London Books & Their Illustrations • Old London • Classic Transport • PLANET EARTH TRANSPORTATION • PLANET EARTH BACK IN THE DAY • Bus Memorabilia • Vintage Railway Publicity, pre-1980 • PLANET EARTH VINTAGE ADVERTISING « less

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