Devonshire's East Devon magazine September October 2018

Railway Posters
The marketing message:
I think
the Yanks
may have
called this
marketing
message
highfalutin!
Oops - that's cocked it up a little!
(if you'll pardon the vernacular).
Is not the word 'east' perceived
as being a little chilly? "Eastern
Block" for instance - we all know
it's cold over there. It's hard to find
any evidence of when East Devon
first came into being, although
East Devon District Council was
formed in 1974, but the 'East
Devon' name may have had earlier
origins. Many posters show Seaton,
Sidmouth, Exmouth as being
in South Devon, I suspect South
Devon was an abbreviated 'South
Coast of Devon' (see poster below).
Yes, your eyes don't deceive you,
Seaton, Sidmouth and Exmouth
are in South Devon - not an 'East
Devon' in sight.
Cor blimey, looks posh! the 'Riviera'
term hinting at the rather chic French
Riviera, playground to the rich, why not
the same in Torquay.
We very much take for
granted our annual holiday
allowance these days, it's easy to
forget that statutory paid leave
entitlement for the working
classes didn't exist before 1938.
The Industrial Revolution relied
on heavy mechanisation and
masses of workers deployed in
factories. Before the Industrial
Revolution, much of the work
across our country was on the
land. Land workers did enjoy
seasonal breaks that were
a natural cause of weather
conditions at different times of
the year, but nothing was set
in stone.
In the years before the Holidays
with Pay Act there was of course
Wakes Week, particularly
relating to the mill towns of
Lancashire. Images of people
crowding into a charabanc
are fairly commonplace. The
Artistry in Marketing
In the early years of our seaside tourist industry, train travel
was in its golden age and the selling of train destinations
to the public was an extremely important business
charabanc was akin to a flat deck
lorry with wooden bench seats
affixed, fairly primitive and often
open to the elements.
Trade unions in the 1930s
lobbied the government and in
1936 the International Labour
Organisation adopted a two week
paid annual holiday, although in
the United Kingdom this failed
to be ratified.
In 1936 the French (who else!),
called a general strike and the
French Government relented,
agreeing to bring in two weeks
of paid leave.
Teignmouth
IS Devon,
well the
poster
certainly
paints
a pretty
picture.
In the UK however, common
sense prevailed and the
Holidays with Pay Act 1938
was introduced, unfortunately
the entitlement was for just one
week of paid leave and it did not
cover all workers, only applying
to workers where their minimum
wage rates had been set by trade
boards. You also have to bear
in mind that World War II was
looming in 1939.
The Holidays with Pay Act
certainly heralded a boom in
the seaside tourism industry,
but this didn't really come in to
play until well after the end of
the war, not forgetting of course
that following the war, rationing
continued until 1954.
The infrastructure was in place
however; lots of workers with cash
to spend looking for maximum
enjoyment; an extensive network
of trains across the country. The
62
A fairly simple,
early GWR poster.
Stylistically Art
Deco?
A departure from the
seaside theme here,
and why not, the Dart
Countryside, History, Walks, the Arts, Events & all things Devon is at: truly DEVONSHIRE glorious. magazine.co.uk
estuary is beautiful.
There's no denying the obvious
honesty in this marketing message -
An early monochrome poster
(Southern Railway) - underneath
LOVELY DEVON it says
'Twixt Exe & Lyme', so it's
referring to what we now know
as East Devon (see top left).