Poster; Winter's discontent made glorious, unknown, 1909

This poster was commissioned by the Underground Electric Railway Company in 1909. Its principal aim was to encourage off-peak travel. The early underground carriage, known as gate-stock due to the manually operated gate at the end, heads away from the rural setting and winter weather towards the warmth and bustle of the City. Through each window, passengers can be seen attending the theatre, dining and shopping in the West End. Copywriters borrowed liberally from the literature of the past for these early pictorial posters. Here the opening lines of Shakespeare's Richard III have been adapted to create the fitting slogan: 'Winter's Discontent made Glorious'.