catalogue text.indd - Sanders of Oxford

They also reflect the development of railway companies and their design and advertising standards. It is hardly surprising
that the “Golden Age” of British railway posters coincided with the quarter-century following the amalgamation
in 1923 of almost all of the numerous small independent companies into what came to be known as the “Big
Four”railways: the Great Western (GWR); the London, Midland, and Scottish (LMS); the London and North East
(LNER); and the Southern (SR). The end of the Great War saw Britain with a public eager to travel - and possessing a
well-developed taste for the poster as a medium of advertising. In the latter case the war itself provided continuity for
initiatives that began in peacetime, for the recruiting and saving and funding campaigns needed to vanquish the Hun
were waged largely on the hoardings.
Nor is it surprising that the main visual thrust of the railway poster campaigns during these years was directed towards
the anticipated delights of journey’s end, and copies of posters were routinely offered to - and eagerly purchased by
the public, some of whom might indeed have to settle more often for an idyllic image of Britain’s coasts or mountains
in their rooms than for the real thing. 1
Condition: Excellent. Framed. Strong bright colour, one light mark to title space. Professionally laid to archival linen.
[30103]
£2,500