By Underground to a Modern Woman: The Role of Female Artists and Passengers in Transport Posters

BY ALLISON LESCH

In 1908, the Group, later known simply as , launched a pivotal poster campaign to promote the British capital’s newly created public transit system. Via these advertisements, London Transport sought to attract ridership and heighten the popularity of London’s buses, trams, and trains. The new-fangled underground railways, commonly referred to as the Underground or Tube, received particular attention. The posters’ artwork quickly rose above advertising standards to become triumphs of modern design, establishing eye-catching, graphic poster art as a key component of the Underground into present day. The campaign demonstrated modernist tendencies not only in the posters designs, but also in their socio-political content. Among these progressive ideas, the support of the women’s rights movement – concurrently rising in early 20th century England – emerged as a key contribution. Transit posters upheld feminist ideals both through their support of female artists and their encouragement of female ridership. London Transport promoted twentieth century modernism not only by instilling modern aesthetics but also by celebrating modern womanhood.

Before entering into an analysis of the poster campaign’s feminist-influenced artwork, a background history of the public transport system and its design aesthetic must first be established. Opening in January of 1863, the London Underground was the world’s very first

Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 1

underground railway, complimenting the existing system of buses and trams aboveground.12

Underground expansions and improvements were continuously implemented over the next century. Notably, the Underground grew from only six stations during the Victorian period to become the current spectacle of six deep-level and three subsurface lines joining the city’s two hundred and seventy stations.3 The maps in figures one, two, and three demonstrate this progression from the system’s 1863 founding to its mid-century stage and to the ultimate 2014 rendition. As the maps demonstrate, the Underground’s expansion directly corresponds with

London’s growth as a city. Burgeoning populations through the World War II period continually pushed the city’s border further and further. In 1947, the Green Belt initiative by

Parliament ultimately capped lateral extensions to preserve London’s current boundary.4

London Transport responded to its city’s growing needs by continually adding and extending lines – sending railways farther into the suburbs, while also increasing intercity connections.

In its earliest years, public transportation within London consisted of multiple independent companies; however, as the system began to expand, the need for a united overseeing organization was quickly realized. Originally, individual businesses, such as

London General and Metropolitan Electric, provided region-bound, oft-competing bus, tram, and rail lines throughout the city. Eventually, primarily out of economic necessity, these disparate initiatives began to merge during the early 1900s. In 1906, the Underground Electric

Railways of London (shortened to UERL or Underground Group) was founded as an attempt to

1 Peter Stephens, John Freeborn, and Oliver Green, , 8-12. 2 Preceding the Underground, London’s buses and trams gradually progressed from early nineteenth century horse-drawn conveyances to electrically-mechanized and ultimately motor-driven vehicles in the twentieth. 3Green, Oliver, The Tube: Station to Station on the London Underground, (Oxford: Shire Publications, 2012), 5. 4 Stephens, Freeborn, and Green, London Transport Museum, 3. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 2

organize the primary compilations.5 Yet, although the group made some organizational progress, public transportation still remained divided along key corporate lines: the emphasis on monetary profit rather than rider needs resulted in unproductive competition and inadequate service. The Underground Group recognized the need for a single united front that would permanently solve any cross-company conflicts by placing control in government.

Eventually, on July 1, 1933, Parliament passed the London Passenger Transport Bill, which definitively unified all transport operators and established the London Transport Board as the government-supported overseer of public transit systems citywide.6

Upon its founding, as London’s population neared nine-and-a-half million, the Board identified its mission “to take such steps as it considers necessary for avoiding wasteful competitive services and for extending and improving London’s passenger transport facilities so as to meet the growing needs of its vast population.” 7 In short, the Board recognized the need for modernization throughout the system. Among these improvements, a dedication to aesthetically minded design arose as a key element. Previous initiatives during the Victorian period had paid little attention to maintaining a consistent, mindful aesthetic, largely due to the system’s plethora of un-amalgamated companies. However, upon the Underground Group’s merging, attention to design finally became a reasonable possibility, and an identifiable house- style gradually developed from the first decade of the twentieth century onwards. The London

Transport Bill, in addition, provided government support and public funding to allow the

5 David Lawrence, A Logo for London: The London Transport Bar and Circle, (London: Laurence King, 2013), 21. 6 John Reed and Oliver Green, The London Transport Golden Jubilee Book, 1933-1983, (London: Daily Telegraph, 1983), 8-11. 7Ibid., 11 Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 3

London Transport Board to fully realize its design efforts.8 Attention to aesthetics permeated all aspects of public transportation, from station architecture to font selection. Above any other aspect, the poster campaign perhaps represents the most substantial contribution. From its beginning in 1908, the campaign relied upon skilled graphic artists to create posters that upheld a modern aesthetic through their use of color, form, and text.

Leading into a discussion of the posters themselves, , the man responsible for their commission, must first be introduced. As an individual, Pick remains central to the encouragement of aesthetic awareness among Underground workers, artists, and passengers.

He thoroughly integrated modern design into all aspects of the system during his over thirty year career. Pick began his service at the Underground in 1906 as part of the Underground

Group’s new management, along with contracting agent Walter Gott and general manager

Albert Stanley. As his primary task, Pick sought to promote transit usage among civilians. This goal remained central throughout his tenure; his success largely stemmed from organized publicity campaigns and the increased aesthetic appearance across the transit system. After proving his capabilities, Pick was soon promoted in 1908 to become head of the Underground

Group’s newly formed Traffic, Development, and Advertising Department – giving him responsibility for all future publicity. Pick’s importance within the organization was further substantiated in 1928, when he became Managing Director of the entire Underground Group, and then again in 1933, when he became Chief Executive of the newly inaugurated London

8 Stephens, Freeborn, Green, London Transport Museum, 16-17. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 4

Passenger Transport Board. Pick diligently maintained this position until his retirement in 1940, although he remained a substantial influence long after.9

Arising from his pivotal positions at the Underground, Pick soon became notable presence in British design circles; although trained as an accountant, Pick’s demonstrated a passion for artistic creation. In 1915, he cofounded the Design and Industries Association, along with architect and others, as an artist association that sought to promote high quality design throughout England; Pick eventually became president of the organization in

1930.10 This role contributed to his 1934 appointment as Chairman of the government-founded

Council for Art and Industry.11 In addition, Pick frequently shared his design experience and philosophy at art schools, such as the Reiman School and the Central School of Arts and

Crafts.12 This wide array of activities demonstrates Pick’s devotion to instilling aesthetic design in the Underground, and in Britain overall. Indeed, he believed that aesthetics should permeate all aspects of human existence: “Design,” he said, “is not a mode that enters in here and there and may be omitted elsewhere. Design must enter everywhere.”13 In promoting all- encompassing design, Pick specifically encouraged a modernist aesthetic, which emphasized avant-garde approaches to line, color, and form; efficiency and austerity underlay all aspects of his artistic vision.

9 Teri Edelstein, ed., Art for All: British Posters for Transport, (New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 2010), 6-7. 10 The Design and Industries Association was modeled upon Deutscher Werkbund, which translates to German Association of Craftsmen: a prominent Munich-based design group founded in 1907. During this time period, design schools became increasingly prominent on the continent, and gradually gained standing in Great Britain. Reaching their peak in the 1920s, these schools and associations, particularly the Bauhaus, spread modern design across Europe. Lawrence, A Logo for London: The London Transport Bar and Circle, 36. 11 Lawrence, A Logo for London: The London Transport Bar and Circle, 30. 12 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 113-114. 13 Lawrence, A Logo for London: The London Transport Bar and Circle, 9. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 5

Pick’s interest in modern design corresponded with rising trends across Europe.

Modernism arose during the late nineteenth century as philosophical response to industrialization and urbanization – calling for new modes of thought across all disciplines

(social, economic, and political) that better reflected the modern era. In terms of an aesthetics response, European art progressed through a series of avant-garde “ism” movements including

Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, and many more. Quickly shifting over the course of a few decades, these movements built off one another’s achievements, with each seeking to remain on the forefront of artistic innovation. The movements collectively demonstrated an aesthetic response to the modern era. Key aspects included flat colors, heightened linearity, and abstract forms.

Through these applications, artists reflected upon modern concerns (e.g. fast-paced lifestyle, individual alienation, mechanization). Within England, the Vorticism movement emerged during as a British response to these continental aesthetics. Paintings by Vorticist artists David Bomberg and Helen Saunders demonstrate their adoption of Cubist geometric form and Futurist line action. Through the use of bold color-blocking, figurative abstraction, and active composition, the artists demonstrate an early twentieth century perception of encroaching modernity. Such works directly influenced Pick and his Underground graphic designers.14 This design sense manifests within London Transport’s branding, architecture, and posters.

During his years working for the Underground, Pick undertook numerous design- oriented projects to promote civilian appreciation for and ridership on London’s public transit.

One of his first initiatives upon joining the Underground Group was to create a clearly branded

14 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 5-6. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 6

identity for the Underground. In this pursuit, Pick commissioned calligrapher Edward in 1915 to design a new font for system wide use, stating “each letter must be a strong and unmistakable symbol with a high degree of individuality; it must have the greatest possible carrying power…not to be mistaken in a hurry for a trader’s advertisement.”15 Johnston responded with a distinctive sans serif typeface, formally based on circles and squares; the font’s modern yet simple design allowed it to be easily adapted across the Underground on station signs, directory announcements, and advertising posters.16 Following Johnston’s lettering success, Pick commissioned him once again in 1917 to design an accompanying logo. A diagrammatic layout of the logo by Johnston reveals his precise attention to formal detail – with notes identifying exact proportions and a particular red, blue, and white palette. The resulting bar-and-circle design, along with the typeface, were fully integrated across the Underground system by 1920 and remain in use today.17 Their continued, barely altered presence into the current era reveals not only Johnston’s timeless design sense, but also Pick’s foresight in establishing an identifiable branding early on.

Beyond use in publications, Johnston’s typeface and logo were also utilized within station architecture; Pick believed that their consistent appearance would both simplify transit use and aesthetically connect the system for passengers. Extending the use of the typeface and logo imagery even further, Pick the desired the stations themselves to structurally relate through architecture. To this end, he commissioned architects to both redesign facades for existing stations and create new ones for expanding Underground lines – all linked together by

15 Lawrence, A Logo for London: The London Transport Bar and Circle, 30. 16 Stephens, Freeborn, Green, London Transport Museum, 16-17. 17 Lawrence, A Logo for London: The London Transport Bar and Circle, 30-31. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 7

modernist design components. Charles Holden represents one of the most prolific architects under Pick’s guidance. As a fellow member of the Design and Industries Association, he shared

Pick’s desire to instill modern aesthetics within Britain. Beginning his work for the

Underground in the early 1920s, Holden’s most notable designs were on the Morden (now part of Northern) and lines.18 Stations such as Sudbury Town and Chiswick Park reveal

Holden’s modernist approach. Both stations feature highly formal arrangements deriving from basic shapes; structural materials of concrete, red-brick, and glass tonally enforce the buildings’ linearity. Furthermore, with prominently labeled titles and centrally focused bar-and-circle insignias, Johnston’s typeface and logo receive prime placement – proclaiming their function as transit centers. The stations’ combination of modern design and practical function supports

Pick’s aesthetic intentions for the entire Underground system.

In addition to their architecturally modern exteriors, Underground station interiors received equal care and attention. Pick viewed every aspect of station design as integral to the system’s overall reception. Notable details included color-coded tiling, clearly illuminated signage, and even specifically selected trashcans – all designed to promote the affinity between passengers and transit.19 Printed text and images assumed a particularly important role in this pursuit, whether in advisory signs or in commercial advertisements. Two photos of station interiors from c. 1900 and 1908 demonstrate the shift in printed layouts before and after Pick. In the Victorian era station, commercial advertisements chaotically fill the walls, and no labeling of the station’s name is evident. In sharp contrast, the 1908 image reveals a much more streamlined presentation of uniform posters, centered around the dominant ball-and-circle

18 Stephens, Freeborn, and Green, London Transport Museum, 16-17. 19 Ibid. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 8

station sign. This shift not only simplified passengers’ navigation of the station, but also better presented advertisers’ objectives.20 In turn, the Underground employed printed visuals to its own advantage. Recognizing the extensive possibilities of print-based self-promotion, Pick initiated his most widely recognized contribution to the Underground: the poster campaign.

On becoming manager of the Traffic, Development, and Advertising Department in

1908, Pick initiated the poster campaign as one of the newly formed department’s first objectives. He described the project as “the Board’s undertaking is a declaration of faith that its task is worthwhile and that its labours shall eventually contribute their appointed share to the transformation of our urban civilization intro some fine flower of accomplishment.”21 The resulting posters thus served as a declaration of the Underground’s role in transforming modern London and encouraged individuals to take pride in their transit system. From this central philosophy, Pick identified key goals for the campaign to achieve. First, the posters served to familiarize civilians with the system’s offerings and encourage travel.22 This emphasis was especially important early on as the Underground continually underwent mergers and extensions – not to mention the sheer novelty of this new manner of public transportation. In many ways, the posters served as a form of visual education to ensure passengers of the

Underground’s safety and ease. For example, an early poster by John Hassal, widely recognized as the campaign’s first disseminated poster, presents an elderly couple who have “no need to ask a p’liceman” whilst traveling the Tube; the poster not only ensures their ability to travel

20 Green, Frank Pick's London: Art, Design and the Modern City, 30-31. 21 Reed and Green, The London Transport Golden Jubilee Book, 1933-1983, 20. 22 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 11. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 9

anywhere, but also in the cheapest, quickest way possible .23 If an elderly couple can effortlessly navigate the system, then surely anyone can and should utilize the Underground.

Pick’s second and most important goal for the campaign was to create a positive relationship between Londoners and their transit system. Pick referred to this desired relationship as a bond of goodwill. A statement from a 1931 edition of How to Succeed in

Advertising supports this ideology: “The real power of advertising is not to sell goods, but to form habits of thinking. This is rarely understood…it is more important to build goodwill than to sell a great quantity of goods.”24 This instilling of goodwill encourages individuals to form respect for and support of the presented product, in this case the London Underground. For

Pick, this bond would lead Londoners to accept not only the system’s marvelous opportunities, but also any inevitable problems that might arise (e.g. line construction, delayed service, rush- hour crowds). Some posters specifically addressed passenger etiquette while aboard the Tube, including Lunt Roberts’s 1927 Behave Yourself. Advising that “a fair average conduct helps the service,” the poster combines humorous poetics with comical illustration to outline polite transit practices: having exact fare, waiting for passengers to deboard, standing on the elevator’s right side, etc.25 By commissioning posters such as Roberts’s, Pick presented the Underground as a civil service worthy of respect and a benefit to the lives of all Londoners. By promoting ridership and engendering goodwill, the poster campaign successfully encouraged Londoners to become enthusiastic Underground passengers. As in the Johnston calligraphic commissions and Holden station architecture, Pick employed modern design sensibilities in the poster

23 Green, Frank Pick's London: Art, Design and the Modern City, 34. 24 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 11. 25 Andrew Martin, Underground, Overground: A Passenger's History of the Tube, (London: Profile, 2012), 214. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 10

campaign to gain riders’ attention and educate them about the Underground. Critics since the late 1800s described poster displays as “the poor man’s picture gallery” and “the art gallery of the city.”26,27 Writing an overview of the London Transport posters specifically, scholar

Nickolaus Pevsner went so far as to say that “no exhibition of modern painting, no lecturing, no school teaching, can have had anything like so wide an effect on the educatable masses.”28 These citations emphasize not only public appreciation of posters, but also their merit as artworks; in many ways, poster art served to introduce the general masses to modernist aesthetics. For example, Alan Rogers’s 1930 Speed Underground incorporates all basic components of modernism. The abstracted figure straddles a linearly-reduced train car within a limited palette composition derived from rectangles and circles; the zooming arrow and simple declaration of

“speed” recall a Futurist emphasis on movement. As a whole, the image promotes the

Underground’s ability to reach destinations quickly in an increasingly fast-paced world. These avant-garde aesthetics assured that the posters would remain eye-catching to passersby, while advancing the pivotal role of public transit in forming a modern city.

Beyond aesthetics, when attracting passengers to the Underground, Pick realized the need for posters to attract all possible audiences: men, women, and children. Women’s presence within the poster campaign deserves particular discussion – for women were not only sought after as customers, but also as designers and artists. It is useful to consider briefly the sociopolitical factors surrounding women in the first decades of the 1900’s before analyzing Pick’s use of female artists and their designs. The inauguration of the Underground and subsequent poster

26 David Bownes and Oliver Green, eds., London Transport Posters: A Century of Art and Design, (Aldershot: Lund Humphries, 2008), 136. 27 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 4. 28 Martin, Underground, Overground: A Passenger's History of the Tube, 136. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 11

campaign coincided with Britain’s suffrage movement, which reached its peak during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Although suffrage had roots in the mid-nineteenth century, suffragettes did not make governmental headway until the 1918 Representation of the

People Act, which granted voting rights to women over the age of thirty who owned property.

A 1928 amendment to this same act eventually granted electoral equality to all women.29

Although London Transport never voiced a direct pro-feminist statement, numerous practices demonstrate their support of the movement.30 Looking at the poster campaign specifically, multiple artists, both male and female, incorporated the suffrage tricolor of green, white, and purple in multiple designs.31 While this choice of palette is a subtle reference, passersby would have immediately connected the colors with the widely publicized suffragist movement.

As the suffrage movement gained greater influence, a new model of modern femininity developed: the New Woman. Christened by British suffragette Sarah Grand in 1894, the New

Woman wholly embodied feminist aspirations at the turn-of-the-century.32 Though the term’s usage began to wane during the 1920’s, its aftereffects lasted well into the mid-century era.

Author Winifred H. Cooley’s 1904 The New Womanhood presents an ideal description of this new identity:

The finest achievement of the new woman has been personal liberty…the new woman, in the sense of the best woman, the flower of all the womanhood of past ages, has come to stay — if civilization is to endure. The sufferings of the past

29 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 106-107. 30 Particularly during World War I and II, London Transport experienced a surge of female employees to assume previously male-restricted jobs as men left to join the forces; positions included engineering, cleaning, and conducting. In accordance with hiring trends across Great Britain, increased female employment supported the feminist movement’s goal of bettering socio-political equality between women and men. Reed and Green, The London Transport Golden Jubilee Book, 1933-1983, 72-73. 31 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 124. 32 Martha H. Patterson, Beyond the Gibson Girl: Reimagining the American New Woman, 1895- 1915, (Urbana: U of Illinois, 2005), 2. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 12

have but strengthened her, maternity has deepened her, education is broadening her — and she now knows that she must perfect herself if she would perfect the race, and leave her imprint upon immortality, through her offspring or her works.33 Cooley’s celebratory vision emphasizes the ability of modern women to pursue a dual existence within public and private spheres; they might choose career, motherhood, or both. The affirmation of “personal liberty” approves any of these options. This recognition of female dichotomy between public and private life is clearly manifest in London Transport’s hiring of female designers and appeal to female passengers; the remainder of this paper will be devoted to exploring this dichotomy as expressed by the work of female artists under the poster campaign.

Within The New Womanhood passage, Cooley alludes to the increasing number of women who sought higher education as a result of feminist advancements. From the early 1900s onwards, women’s study of design experienced particular growth. Annual reports from the

Royal College of Art in London reveal this trend via enrollment numbers and student questionnaires. The accompanying graph surveys the total number of students enrolled in specific degree fields from 1923 to 1950; design clearly dominates for most of the period.

Questionnaire data collected from 1900 onwards finds fifty-two percent of all students pursued design, with the remaining forty-eight percent studying various fine arts. Furthermore, within the design degree, an emphatic sixty-five percent of students were female, while only thirty-five percent were male. This Royal College of Art data reflects trends across British art schools towards increasing numbers of female design students. For many artistically-inclined women, the design industry represented an opportunity for both social and financial independence due

33 Winnifred H.Cooley, The New Womanhood, (New : Broadway ., 1904), 31. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 13

to its wide array of applications – including textile production, book publishing, and commercial art.34 By pursuing such fields, women hoped to achieve self-supporting careers that correlated with their personal talents and modern lifestyle.

The burgeoning number of female designers in part explains their substantial hiring within the Underground’s poster campaign. However, additional factors must also be taken into account. Primarily, Frank Pick’s exploration of modern design across Europe would have included awareness of its emphasis on gender equality. For example, the influential Bauhaus school’s 1919 manifesto declared its acceptance of “any person of good repute, without regard to age or sex.”35 The Bauhaus school did not entirely heed its own avant-garde intentions to ignore members’ gender, with women often being delegated to stereotypically feminine subjects such as weaving. However, the manifesto statement still made an influential impact and reflected growing respect of female artists. For example, Sydney Jones’s 1924 The Studio states that “a new school of designers has arisen, and it comprises men and women who, qualified by ability and vision, devote their talents to the definite requirements of advertisers. Quite safely it may be said that they are producing some of the outstanding artwork of our time.”36 The marked recognition of women as equally capable of remarkable design, in comparison to men, demonstrates rising support of gender equality in the art and advertising industries. London

Transport demonstrated their accordance with such modern trends via the poster campaign.

34 Jill Seddon and Suzette Worden, Women Designing: Redefining Design in Britain between the Wars, (Brighton: U of Brighton 1994), 10-14. 35 Alice Rawsthorn, "Female Pioneers of the Bauhaus," The New York Times, 25 Mar. 2013, accessed 20 Nov. 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/arts/25iht-design25.html. 36 Green, Frank Pick's London: Art, Design and the Modern City, 64. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 14

Although Pick never specifically voiced a feminist hiring policy, London Transport commissioned a substantially high number of female designers in comparison to other companies of the era.37 Within the poster campaign’s first five years (1908 to 1913), eight out of forty-six identified artists were female; Ella Coates’s Kew Gardens by Tram from 1910 represents the first known poster designed by a woman. By 1919, thirteen female artists can be identified, and numbers continued to increase significantly during the 1920s and 1930s with over twenty- five new designers joining the campaign by 1925. In all, at least one hundred and sixty-four women created posters into the twenty-first century. This number, however, is likely much higher as over one thousand five hundred posters in the London Transport collection archives remain anonymous and a good portion may assumedly be attributed to women.38 The number of commissioned posters differed from artist to artist – some with only one or two, and others with well over twenty designs.39 In terms of subject matter, most female designers focused on portraying female figures under the guise that the artists could better relate to women passengers on the basis of a shared feminine experience.40 While this practice suggests stereotypical bias on the part of London Transport, the resulting posters fully embraced modern womanhood.

When envisioning the ideal New Women, the middle-class woman presented an ideal

Underground customer. While middle-class women could choose to obtain careers, their

37 The railways were particularly noted for their non-supportive agenda towards hiring women as poster designers. In comparison to male artists, railroad companies rarely commissioned female work and, even when doing so, requested designs were highly conventional. Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 110-112. 38 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 107-109. 39 Ruth Artmonsky, Designing Women: Women Working in Advertising and Publicity from the 1920s to the 1960s, (London: Artmonsky Arts, 2012), 115-117. 40 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 115. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 15

monetary security ensured that they could equally pursue pleasure in addition to work, whether with a husband and children or independently. For the Underground, this flexibility made women the ideal individuals to attract for off-peak travel. Women not only often planned leisure excursions for their families, but also increasingly ventured independently into the city as their freedoms and social circles expanded.41 Both types of travel meshed with Pick’s main goals for the poster campaign: to increase ridership and promote goodwill. By supporting modern trends towards female independence, the Underground encouraged female ridership to new destinations and gained loyal, enthusiastic female customers. In posters designed by female artists, illustrated figures reflect the New Woman identity, seamlessly crossing between the public (with scenes of urban independence) and the private (with domestic and family scenes).

Prior to twentieth century feminist movements, cities were traditionally considered masculine realms whose fast-paced, gritty environment threatened female serenity and propriety. However, as women increasingly assumed urban-based careers, they also asserted their right to share an independent, city lifestyle. Responding to this shift, London Transport marketed itself as not only transporting working women to their jobs, but also as supporting daytime activities for independent women. Since the rise of the women’s movement, new locations, such as tea rooms and department stores, emerged where respectable, unaccompanied women could acceptably visit during the day. Public transit offered women an affordable way to reach their destinations; women’s magazines (e.g. Queen, Lady) even promoted the Underground as a viable, respected travel method. Shopping was particularly

41 Bownes and Green, eds., London Transport Posters: A Century of Art and Design, 132-134. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 16

emphasized as a leisure activity.42 Dora Batty’s For Shopping presents a flapperesque woman with bobbed hair, fashionable cloche, and boldly patterned dress carrying her crisply wrapped packages through the streets of London. This poster is one of Batty’s “From Country to the

Heart of Town” series, which advertises the ability to travel from suburbs to city center in a mere thirty minutes via the Underground; the Tube’s convenience and speed allows suburban women to take independent urban daytrips and still return home in a timely manner. Other poster-makers, including Rosemary Ellis and Mary Koop emphasize the ease of transit service during peak shopping times. Ellis’s design even offers a map to commercial centers near

Underground lines where specific items can best be purchased. By proposing shopping destinations and advice to women, London Transport encouraged women to undertake independent daytime travel.

In addition to work and errands, women frequented the city to enjoy London’s nightlife as well. A 1937 poster series by Mary Adshead reveals such evening enjoyments: dining, theatre, concerts, and festivities. Each minimalist poster features an art deco, still life rendering of the chosen subject with an accompanying quotation that ensures pleasure, companionship, and entertainment. For example, Town Tonight presents a scattered ladies dressing table. A magnifying glass focuses on the evening’s theatrical performance; the gloves, hat, fan, and other accessories lie awaiting their owner’s departure. The open box of chocolates suggests pleasant engagements from a previous evening. The declaration of “always an open way, always something new in town tonight” promises a nightly array of novel entertainment.

The subdued Underground logo in the lower center reminds viewers of transit’s role in these

42 Ibid., 133-134 Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 17

adventures. As long as London promises evenings out, public transit will provide women with safe, sophisticated transportation to any city event.

Beyond urban centers, multiple Underground posters promoted outdoor outings for women to gardens and countryside. These posters interestingly shift between portraying wholly lone figures and those with children – suggesting that women of all lifestyles could enjoy nature’s bounty. For instance, Alma Faulkner’s Go Find the Spring and Dorothy Paton’s

Lambourne End present similar settings but altogether different figural arrangements. The first depicts a joyful young woman who whimsically spins in a flowering meadow with bouquet in hand; the encouragement to “find spring” not only suggests the Underground’s ability for outbound transport, but also inspires female viewers to make independent seasonal discoveries.

Dora Batty’s Autumn Gold suggests a similar outing for a different season. In contrast,

Lambourne End adds and shifts the active focus to children; the mother tranquilly observes while perched on the fencepost rather than picking flowers herself. Notably, no father figure is present in the picture plane. It may thus be assumed that the woman independently organized the day’s outing without need of male direction or accompaniment. In turn, the poster’s inclusion of route number, directions, and fare assures female viewers that they too could undertake similar journeys with their own children.

When considering the role of women in planning family activities, mid-century surveys reveal that women often made daily financial decisions and selected travel destinations for the family. Advertisers, in turn, soon realized the benefit of directly appealing to female viewers as the main consumers for their families. A 1927 Commercial Art article by Ethel M. Wood expresses this philosophy: “the great majority of selling appeals must be addressed to women,

Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 18

so that it is worth while endeavoring to find out what does or does not appeal to them.”43

Initiatives undertaken by the London Transport poster campaign reflect Wood’s views and frequently address women as family decision makers. Early on, Frank Pick recognized the advertising power of instructional leaflets and guidebooks. These publications advised passengers on destinations and related transit routes throughout London. The guides were often provided free-of-charge, rotated on a seasonal or themed basis, and filled with graphic illustrations 44(Green, Frank Pick’s London 39. Kate Burrell’s Cheap Fares for Schools and Pleasure

Parties and Herry Perry’s Pleasure Outings represent two examples of booklets directed towards women and their children. Both designs emphasize mother-child relationships; adult female figures serve as loving guides for joyous youth. Within their pages, the booklets offer various child-friendly destinations complete with advised routes and cheap fares – simplifying mothers’ ability to independently entertain their children.

Examples of Underground-serviced, child-friendly destinations included museums, zoos, performances, and shops.45 Multiple posters by female artists pinpoint such destinations; although women are not always directly pictured, their presence as a viewer is assumed, allowing any woman to imagine her engagement beyond the picture plane. Dora Batty’s 1921 design encourages women to “travel with the children to the plays and pantomimes.” While the illustration promises an entertaining finish, the accompanying text reminds viewers of the

Underground’s safety, comfort, speed, and convenience en route with “stations everywhere throughout London.” Museums by Freda Beard achieves a similar goal by reminding viewers

43 Edelstein, Art for All: British Posters for Transport, 115-117. 44 Green, Frank Pick's London: Art, Design and the Modern City, 39. 45 Ibid., 115. Valley Humanities Review Spring 2015 19

that museums remain “bright, warm, and interesting” even on “dull and cold days” – making them ideal anytime destinations for families. While special outings were always desirable, other poster campaign images proposed that children join their mothers’ day-to-day errands.

Christine Jackson presents a picturesque snapshot of a fashionable mother and her package- toting children on a day out in town. Gazing at the bustling main street before them, the trio – assumedly just emerged from the Underground station – now wonder at the range of possibilities before them. The female figure’s darkly toned dress and confident stance emphasize her pictorial and symbolic dominance. Although accompanied by her children, she retains an assertive, independent identity that emblemizes her modern womanhood.

Whether addressing mothers or women alone, poster campaign designs emphasized the prospect of self-determination for women whilst traveling aboard the Underground. Female figures freely shift between daylight outings and nighttime entertainment; the multitude of possible presented destinations presented further underlines the viewer’s ability to choose between one or another. Depicted women seamlessly shift between public and private spheres – recalling the New Woman ideology. The fact that all of the posters presented here were designed by women underlines London Transport’s interest in portraying an accurate picture of modern femininity. This support of early twentieth century feminism reflects the

Underground’s overall modernist emphasis, in terms of both artistic and social issues. By adhering to contemporary ideals, London Transport sought to ensure the company’s contribution to the capital city’s continued growth and advancement. Visionary leader Frank

Pick expresses this philosophy in a 1926 statement: “it is certain that the future of London cannot be an accident like the past. If it is to hold together, to remain a workable, manageable

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unit, it must now be planned, be designed, be organized.”46 Pick pursued organized design in all the Underground’s operations – from branding to architecture, and particularly the poster campaign. Through these initiatives, London Transport instilled an awareness of and appreciation for modern advancements in its customers. Within this effort, women assumed a central role as both artists and passengers – looking to the Underground as a vehicle towards modernity.

46 Green, Frank Pick's London: Art, Design and the Modern City, 15.

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