Something was in the water when these ‘classical’ British railway posters were produced.
William H Barribal had obviously never been to the Yorkshire coast, surely he was getting confused with classical Venice
Was Alfred Lambert getting confused between Tyneside and Florence ?
Alfred Lambert (1902-1970), studied art at the Allan-Frazer Art College in Arbroathy, must visit there and find out what influenced him to such folly.
I think that its a combination of Art Deco influences and a copying of some of the themes being successfully used by French poster artists of the time.
It would be interesting to go back in time to see the reaction of the visitors from the cotton and woo towns of Northern England who were the target for these grand advertisements. Was it a case of being awestruck by a couple of piers and nicely manicured parks or was it more a case of ‘ I want my money back ‘ ? I guess we’ll never know.
When does a sign or advert offer too much and deliver too little ? I might come back to this topic.
In the meantime because of the endless scope of the British seaside poster, I could linger longer on the topic but I won’t, I think its high time to look at some French offerings and imagine the kind of holiday I might have had this year.
Not cotton and wool gowns at Tynemouth. Coal miners, railway engineering workers, steel workers and ship builders. And Tynemouth and Whitley Bay were like heaven!