Old London Buses
- 20 Nov, 2010
- Edwardian, Found Photos, Victorian
- No comments
I recently picked up an old photo album containing 28 photos taken by the same photographer during the late Victorian or early Edwardian period. The photographs are on very thin glossy paper, some have faded, but all take you on a voyage of discovery, as you delve deeper into the images and learn of the life style of people living one hundred years before us. How we used to live! Here are some photographs of buses in London around the early 1900s.
The main point of interest is the horse drawn bus to the left of the photo (below). You can see the driver, in his white coat, sitting on the top deck along with his passengers. Bus drivers at that time were exposed to the elements, and expected to steer and control the horses in whatever the weather conditions. Imagine being up their in the wind and rain! The advent to motorised buses offered the driver little more protection, (see the bus coming into view in the right of the photo), he did have his own cab away from the distractions of passengers, but still the wind and rain would make his job more difficult, the cab was merely a place to sit and drive with a roof – no doors, no windshield!
The above photograph was taken in “Regent Circus” which today is “Oxford Circus”. During the late 1890s the buildings fronting this main London shopping area were felt to be out of date. By the beginning of the Edwardian era they did were not deemed grand enough for such an important London location, they were too small, their structural soundness was questionable and their 99 year lease was coming to an end, giving the “Crown Estate” (the owners) the opportunity to rebuild in a design more fitting to Edwardian style of adventure, aspiration and importance. The rebuilding took place between 1895 – 1927 (the war slowed progress).
Today the buildings in this area of London are owned by the Crown Estate and so the revenue generated from the lease of these shops is for the benefit of the UK tax payer via the Exchequer.
More details of the Photo
The horse drawn bus advertising Lipton’s Tea is open top and it’s seats were called “garden seats”, perhaps hinting to their lack of comfort! There’s an open staircase at the rear and its drawn by two horses. The driver sits at the top with the passengers.
The bus just coming into view on the right is a type-B London General Omnibus Company bus, this driver is also exposed to the weather, no enclosed cabs then! It’s advertising Birds Custard.
The building at back has a “Perrier” sign at the very top, below that the 3 central windows each have “TEETH” written on them, as does the central window on the next row down, below that is Harvards (this isn’t too clear) Instruments Ltd.
On the horse drawn omnibus the advertising is:
Holloway’s Pills & Ointment
Pears Soap
A Liverpool Street banner running along the open staircase
A diamond sign “This Space is TO LET . . . ”
Along the Side is Lipton’s Tea with the tag line “Largest Sale in the World”
On the car in the centre of the photo you can see the starter handle.
