Buying a newspaper at a Victorian Station in 1896

Even if I didn’t know that this picture was taken on November 23 1896, there would be plenty of clues to its date for any one of the news stories would take you not only to the year but to the month and the day.

And with that you could pretty much get a flavour of what Londoners were reading as they waited for the trains on Victoria Underground Station.

All of which would be fascinating but for me it is the news kiosk itself that draws me in.

The sales philosophy is that simple one of “pile it high and sell it cheap” and here there is all that you might want for a journey, from post cards and books to newspapers and even a framed picture.

The sheer quantity of material is a perfect reminder of the growth of the popular press, the speed with which the news could be brought to the reader and the variety of papers on offer.

And then there are those postcards which in their way were the mobile phone of the age.  With frequent collections and deliveries you could be confident that a card posted locally in the morning would arrive in the afternoon, allowing you to arrange meetings for the same day or announce your arrival for that evening.

But for those tired of the kiosk there was much else to occupy the waiting passenger from the advert “TO TRAVEL CHEAPLY IN AND AROUND LONDON" on the "DISTRICT RAILWAY", to Brown Stout and the Studio.

My own favourite is the one for the Riding School at Earls Court which superficially seems at odds on a modern underground railway station, but people still both wanted and needed to learn to ride.

As the opening page of Mr Savigear’s book* proclaimed this was a school for all “Military classes” [from] “Officers and army candidates” and “where every Militia Officer and every candidate for Woolwich or Sandhurst would find it a great advantage to his career” to attend.  Nor was this all for there were “separate classes for ladies”. 

Of course there is no way of knowing whether any of the five customers at the kiosk that day were interested in riding, all seem far more intent on what was offer on the stall.

But they do present a cross section of the travelling public reflected in the top hats, bowler and flat cap.  And not to be outdone standing with his back to us is the man with the Inverness coat which I think was the type worn by Sherlock Holmes.  Of all our travellers he is the one most likely to be on a long journey given that bag at his feet.

I remember we had something similar, made of soft leater, it was perfect for transporting a few clothes, a book and the odd personal items.

Father bought ours from a second hand shop in Peckham in the early 1950s.  Now the romantic in me would love to speculate on the chances of a match but that is just so much silliness that I shall leave the thought there on the screen.

Now there is plenty more of detail in the picture which is there to explore.

I shall just point out that the image came from the London Transport Museum.  It is a wonderful place which I regularly visit and which has been enjoyed by all our children.  And for any who wants to find out more the link is, http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections.

Location; London

Picture; Victoria Underground Railway Station, November 23 1896, image nu 3478/1, and view of the Museum, courtesy of the London Transport Museum


*Savigear’s Guide to Horsemanship and Horse Training, ed by Lieut.Col. J. Graham, Farmer & Sons, Kensington, 1899

And just to show what our five might have missed by not following the advert to the riding school at Earls Court, here is the opening page of that Guide to Horsemanship and Horse Training and a reminder of the stark contrast between the challenge of "dismounting and mounting at a gallop" and a draughty platform on Victoria Station in 1896.

Of course there is always the mseum with its buses and trams,  posters and photographs along with my favourite an entire carriage of an Underground train.

"London Transport Museum's collection originated in the 1920s, when the London General Omnibus Company decided to preserve two Victorian horse buses and an early motorbus for future generations. The Museum of British Transport opened in an old bus garage in Clapham, south London, during the 1960s, before moving to Syon Park in west London in 1973 as the London Transport Collection.

In 1980, the public displays moved again, this time to occupy the Flower Market building in Covent Garden as the London Transport Museum. In 2002, London Transport became Transport for London and, to reflect this, the Museum changed its name to London's Transport Museum.".  http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections.