Transport Yourself to the Past
The London Transport Museum is looking forward to a bright future as the doors open today after its two-year £22m redevelopment - but it is these posters of the past which will surely be its most intriguing attraction.
Among the Routemasters and Victorian horse buses housed in the refurbished Covent Garden centre, a collection of 5,000 posters and 700 artworks helps piece together the history of transport in the capital, from the early 19th century through wartime to the present day.
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In a section on wartime propaganda, a UFO-type spaceship beams down a London Underground logo bearing the slogan "London's transport at London's service".
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Created by Misha Black and John Barker in 1947, the onlooker feels a powerful force making sure life runs as normal in the war-torn city.
In another display, this time looking to the future of travel, a giant airship bound for Sydney hovers above a distinctly New York-style city full of skyscrapers as Montague B Black depicts his vision of public transport in 2026.
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Meanwhile, a sign above a Tube entrance advertises trips from London to Glasgow in just "two and three quarter hours - by Underground".
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Frank Pick was the man responsible for the golden age of posters after he was put in charge of publicity in 1908. He wanted to move away from text-heavy information announcements to develop a sense of identity for a city that wanted to be seen as going places.
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Aside from the art, there are more than 370,000 other items that have been collected since 1820, when Transport for London started out as the London General Omnibus Company.
There is also an interactive feature promising to tell us what our London will be like in 2055, but for now it's more fun to wallow in the past - and travel round London without having to sprint for a bus or squeeze onto the Tube.
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View the posters at ltmuseum.co.uk, where you can buy a selection online.
