?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
TONY CASTLE (1891-1971) LONDON'S TRAMWAYS / CHRISTMAS SHOPPING. 1926. 29 1/2x19 3/4 inches, 75x50 cm. Condition A. London Tramway posters could quite easily be confused with the posters published by the London Underground. And yet, even though they were published in the same city during the same era and all for public transportation, there are some significant differences. The London County Council (LCC), who ran the tramways, needed to compete with the "Underground Group [which] dominated London's transport scene, controlling most of London's buses, Underground railways and also three tramway companies" (Tramway p. 6). While Frank Pick, head of the Underground Publicity Department, had the resources to employ successful artist from around Britain and Europe, the LCC chose to commission works from artists studying at the Council's own Central School of Arts and Crafts. Much like Underground posters, the Tramway posters "also offer us a glimpse into how the Londoners of the 1920s spent their leisure time" (Tramway, forward). "From 1926 the Christmas poster was an annual event. Its main purpose was to encourage shoppers to 'shop early' and thus ease the demands on the tramway system. In this it was very successful" (Tramway p. 118). Tramway p. 118.
