London County Council Tramways

London County Council Tramways was an extensive network of public street tramways that operated throughout London, England from 1899 to 1933 when they were taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board. In 1922 the powers that be introduced a poster campaign designed not only to encourage passengers to use the tramcars but to also visit places and events some of which were not necessarily reached by the 'competing' London Underground. The posters were initially limited to black & white lithographs and the artists were chosen from London County Council art schools. The resulting images largely from students at the Central School of Arts & Crafts provided the trams with a huge range of attractive poster designs. Within a year, the commissions were requested in colour seriously enhancing the look of the carriages and billboards and hoardings. Today the original posters are highly collectable but as many of the designs were by students details of the artists are largely unknown. Sadly the posters lasted a mere decade and until recently were largely forgotten. Several can be seen at or copies purchased from the London Transport Museum.