by BEVERLY COLE
From being almost exclusively a Scottish game for more than four hundred years, golf was adopted by the English in the nineteenth century. The English liked the traditional seaside tradition associated with the game—the coastal turf, the natural sand bunkers, the seas and the sky made for a wonderful outing. As the game spread there was an increasing demand by the expanding middle class for playing facilities. The railway companies saw possibilities of profit in this. Trains could transport golfers from the grime of the city to the coastal resorts and, although at first a bag of golf clubs aroused curiosity, it soon became a familiar sight. Inland suburban golf soon followed, especially in the south of England.
The North British Railway claimed that golf was “the best recreation for earnest, hard-working, high thinking men and women of all classes of society,” and did their best to encourage potential passengers to participate in the sport. This would, naturally, involve buying a railway ticket to travel to their chosen golf course.
The NBR attempted to lure passengers on to its trains by issuing The Golfers’ Guide to Courses on The North British Railway. Courses near to stations were listed, along with the number of holes and visitor fees per day and per week. Sometimes the nearest local hotel was listed along with the house agent. The house agent was the person to see if one needed to rent a house for a week’s indulgence in the royal and ancient game.
The Guide also contained a list of “Etiquette of Golf,” “Don’ts” and a paragraph on “How to preserve Golf Clubs.”
At the same time, the London and South Western Railway Company was advertising winter golf in the south and west, emphasizing the clement weather and picturesque surroundings. It boasted that the south and west found the greatest favor amongst those that played the game, and that sunset was half an hour later in Cornwall than in London.
Poster art was another means, and perhaps the most distinctive, by which to entice golfers to travel out with their clubs in tow. While contemplating railway golfing advertising there is one particular figure who cannot be omitted—The Caledonian Golfing Girl. The Caledonian Railway advertising department specialized in promoting long distance residential travel. Their slogan was “The True Line.” Passengers on the Caledonian traveled in “True Convenience,” “True Comfort,” “True Economy,” and “True to Time.” The golfing girl emerged as an instant favorite playing the game on the “True Line” and accompanied by a list of golf courses served by the Caledonian Railway.
Glancing through the holiday guides for the Caledonian one could be misled into thinking that golf was played predominantly by women. However, despite the fact that women could hit drives longer than eighty yards, ladies’ golf links were designed with shorter holes than men’s links because, according to Lord Moncrieff in 1902 “the posture and gesture required for a full swing are not particularly graceful when the player is clad in female dress.”The story of British railways in general is reflected in the development of the railway poster. This commercial art form illustrates the major changes that have occurred in British society over the years, and captures the spirit and character of British life. They are social documents of British culture, illustrating the changing styles of art, patterns of holiday making, urban and rural landscapes, architecture and fashion. They also reflect the development of railways companies and their design and advertising standards.
Some of the finest poster artists of the day were employed to portray the delights and temptations that lay just a rain ride away. The best set new standards for advertising art. The Great Northern Railway produced some of the posters that combined image and text most successfully. The pictorial railway poster soon developed into a familiar feature on stations as railway companies’ enticed passenger with a variety of colorful and evocative images. This period has been referred to as the “Golden Age” of the railway poster. Artists such as Cassandre, Edward McKnight Kauffer, Fred Taylor and Tom Purvis produced posters during this time, making railway advertising posters some of the best contemporary commercial art. During this period it became recognized that the work of a graphic or commercial artist was a legitimate artistic endeavor and that there was an increasing need to teach commercial design alongside fine art in art schools. Indeed, the railway poster “St. Andrews” by Harry Gawthorn, fetched over £21,000 at auction in 2003.
Beverley Cole is a railway researcher and writer specializing in poster and railway art history. Ms. Cole was Curator of Pictorial Collections at the National Railway Museum 1986 until 2004, and was responsible for the development, care and conservation of the posters, paintings, prints and drawings in the Museum’s unique collection.
A FINE VARIAGATED DISPLAY OF POSTER ART FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 20TH CENTURY. CRUDEN BAY IS THE ONLY ONE OF THE FOUR RESORTS THAT DIDN'T PROSPER, BUT IT WAS NOT ANY FAULT OF THE POSTERS. THE RAILWAYS WERE NOT ONLY “SELLING” GOLF, BUT A PARTICULAR VACATION LIFE-STYLE — SOMEWHAT FORMAL IN THE WAY OF DRESS, BUT WITH A BODY LANGUAGE THAT EXPRESSES A RELAXED AIR.