Night Mail
Artist: Pat Keely, 1939
© Royal Mail Group Ltd courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive
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Above and below are choice bits from the first poster exhibit via the Royal Mail Archive: Designs on Delivery: GPO (General Post Office) Posters from 1930–1960. (Fyi, each image link includes bio information about the respective artist plus additional links.) The physical show took place in the fall of 2009 at London College of Communication, Elephant and Castle. However, the online exhibit remains alive and well here.
Quickest Way by Air Mail
Artist: Edward McKnight Kauffer, 1935
© Royal Mail Group Ltd courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive
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The exhibit focuses “…on a period when designers such as Edward McKnight Kauffer (1890-1954), Tom Eckersley (1914-1995), Leonard Beaumont (1891-1986) and F.K. Henrion (1914-1990) were working and the General Post Office was at the cutting edge of poster design and mass communication. The posters are arranged by theme to illustrate the organisation’s aims. Through the medium of basic text, images and colour the posters show how the posters translated, often complex, messages to the public in order to educate them. Technological developments in the postal service which comment on social changes, such as the introduction of airmail, can also be traced through the posters.” –The Archives Hub
Royal Mail A.D. 1935
Artist: John Armstrong, 1935
© Royal Mail Group Ltd courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive
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The GPO was established in 1657 as a monopoly service, combining the functions of state postal and telecommunications carrier and spawning similar services across the British Empire. From 1660-1969 it was a State Department but in 1969 it became a statutory corporation named The Post Office. In 1981 the corporation was divided by function due to the expansion of services beyond paper-based needs: into the Post Office for postal needs; and British Telecom for other communicative needs. –The Archives Hub
Post During Lunch Hour
Edward McKnight Kauffer, 1937
© Royal Mail Group Ltd courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive
A Postal Guide to the Maze of London
Artists: Jan Lewitt and George Him, 1950
© Royal Mail Group Ltd courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive
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From early on the service was innovative for example, being the first known creator of stamps (Penny Post) in 1840. With the growth of communications The General Post Office became about more than paper deliveries within Great Britain but it was also this expansion which would see the Department split up. Design was a factor from the first, stamps required designing and the change of system required advertising. The power of advertising was used to promote the General Post Office as a service and necessity. As poster design began to expand in the early twentieth century the General Post Office increasingly used this medium and its rising stars. –The Archives Hub
The Post Office Handles 23,000,000 Letters a Day
Artist: G.R. Morris, 1947
© Royal Mail Group Ltd courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive
Post Early
Artist: Hans Unger, 1956
Post Your Letters Before Noon
Artists: Jan Lewitt and George Him, 1941
Outposts of Empire: Central Australia
Artist: John Vickery, 1938
© Royal Mail Group Ltd courtesy of the British Postal Museum & Archive
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Editor’s note:
This post was originally published in October of 2009; it has been updated accordingly. As AQ-V has been fortunate to receive a huge leap in visitors this past year, I have decided to pull favorite bits here and there from the archives to present to hopefully new eyes.
Thank you always for your readership!
–Amy
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
SO good!