Please stand on the right of the escalator

British Second World War poster depicts an escalator giving access to/from an Underground (Tube) Station. A line of passengers stands on the right, while one man standing on the left has an 'L' sign on his back. This one of a series of posters by Cyril Kenneth Bird (1887-1965) that focus on public manners and social customs. Bird, who was a Punch cartoonist, took on the 'Fougasse' pseudonym in the First World War, after the French term for a small land mine 'which might or might not hit the mark'. His approach to the propaganda poster was based on overcoming three obstacles. He wrote:

'Firstly, a general aversion to reading any notice of any sort; secondly, a general disinclination to believe that any notice, even if it was read, can possibly be addressed to oneself; thirdly, a general unwillingness even so to remember the message long enough to do anything about it.' In overcoming these obstacles, Fougasse used a simple approach: humour, simple stylisation and the uncomplicated communication of messages.

This item has been digitised with funding provided by Commonwealth Government.