Signs of Christmas on the Tube

It's only the 5th December and the Xmas parties are already in full force. Last night when I was coming home from a party myself, I spotted a rather tired reveller (I love that word, even though it has nothing to do with the chocolate treats).


She's wearing a rocking pair of Christmas snowmen Deeley Bopppers, while gently nodding off to her iPod tunes. However, she was only dozing and didn't need any of the "Wake me up at XXXXX" stickers or other tricks needed to get you off at the correct London Underground stop.

The Wake Me Up at XXXX station stickers actually make brilliant Secret Santa presents or Xmas stocking fillers.


They're only four quid (including postage) and I've put bagged them for Secret Santa gifts in the past. However, I've not actually seen anyone wearing one yet!

Expect to see other signs of Christmas on the Tube over the coming days and if you have any thoughts or images of what Xmas on the London Underground means to you, I'd love to hear or see them.

Kipper's Birthday Party at London Transport Museum

If you have kids and are in London this weekend, you might want to take them to the London Transport Museum, so you can find out what Kipper's favourite form of transport is. I hope it's the London Underground, as cute dogs seem to be at home on the Tube, like the lovely Yorkshire Terriers I saw a couple of days ago.


For the uninitiated Kipper is a cheeky little puppy (drawn by Mick Inkpen) and he'll be celebrating his birthday over the weekend.

"Find out if he prefers to travel by Tube, train or by a big red London bus; enjoy special games and activities; and join story time with children's entertainer, Liz Fost.

All children will be given their very own Kipper goodie bag with a copy of "Kipper’s Birthday", a Kipper poster, Kipper ears and colouring sheets."

Tickets for Kipper's Birthday Party must be booked in advance on 020 7565 7298 and an adult goes free with each paying child! His party tickets are £10.00 per child. Also up to two adults per pre-booked children's Kipper Birthday Party ticket can receive a 50% discount on entry to the Museum galleries. For full details visit the London Transport Museum website.

Tube Stations to be Sponsored

Next stop Pledgeware Road, Oxoford Circus and all stations to Elephant and Castlemaine XXXX. That's something we may well be hearing in the very near future. TfL announced today that they are lifting their ban on Tube station sponsorship.


Campaign magazine report that Transport for London are looking for an agency to come up with ideas to help them "optimise advertising revenue".

TfL's group marketing director, Nigel Marson, told Campaign that: "One could imagine that a business like Selfridges or Harrods would put a value of hundreds of thousands of pounds on the sponsorship of their nearest station.

"It would not take many of those deals to reach a figure in the millions."

Marson said other options included sponsorship for road safety initiatives, and the sale of real-time travel information to sat-nav companies. He continued "The trick is valuing the opportunities properly. We are spending taxpayers' money in order to reap more money to plough back into investment, so we must get best value."

Well I think that any agency pitching should look to the Far East as they are already doing some pretty innovative sponsorship of their subway systems.

IKEA (who have sponsored London Underground maps) took things much further in Japan and actually kitted out whole carriages with their furniture


Wonderbra have sponsored the yellow safety line on the Singapore subway.


The line's a few inches further back, implying that if you wear a Wonderbra your enhanced boobs will mean you need to give the train an even wider berth.

You can go too far with safety advertising though. Abdullaah sent me an errr... interesting... ad for a firm of undertakers with a tongue in cheek (I hope) request to stand a little closer to the read the ad.


That's not coffin chasing, that's coffin predicting and it's pretty obvious that TfL wouldn't sanction that.

However, I wonder if this new announcement means they'll be a little less pious and prudish about the advertising they deem acceptable? Nip/Tuck had to cover up their models a bit and make them less sexy before they were allowed to advertise their new series. There was also a bit of a kerfuffle about a work of art which showed some nudity.

But as I implied with the case of Nip/Tuck perhaps if the price is right, these optimised advertising revenue spots may be OK. As usual comments welcome and if you can think of some stations that are ripe for Tube sponsorship and what they might be called, I'd love to hear them.

Paris Métro Style Quiz Results

Thanks to all who entered the Paris Métro & London Underground Quiz. Mark Ovenden kindly wrote the questions and here are his answers:

1. Which is the only London Underground station to have an identical name as one on the Paris Métro?

A: TEMPLE (On Ligne 3, just south of Republique in Paris)

2. Where on the Paris Métro can the famous London Underground Johnston font regularly be seen?

A: Every large Métro station wall poster for the department store Gallerie LaFayette includes a box of text in the Johnston font - it's sometimes quite large and is really obvious to anyone who knows the London Transport font, looking quite incongurous in the Paris Métro (the posters are up the whole time as the store runs a constant campaign of them).



3. Which London underground station has the French word for "wood" in its name?

A: Theydon Bois - (Think of Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes, the big parks on either side of Paris)

4. Which Paris Métro station (just like "Bull and Bush" on the Northern Line) was only built at platform level and never opened to the public?

A: There are two in fact: one provisionally to be called "Haxo" was on the now closed short-lived 1950s shuttle between Porte des Lilas and Pres St Gervais - there is the slimmest chance this could one day be used if the talked about "Ligne 15" ever comes to fruition (a potential amalgamation of Lignes 7bis and 3bis).

5. What are the four stations on the Paris Métro and the London Underground (two in each city) with only four letters in their name.

A: OVAL & BANK of course in London and IENA & CITE in Paris

Thanks to you Mark realised there is another one - ROME in Paris!

6. Name the (now closed) Paris Métro station which had the same name as a London Tube station which started its life as Gillespie Road?

A: ARSENAL (was once on Ligne 5 between Bastille & Quai de la Rapee).


7. What's the only Paris Métro station named after a British monarch - also currently a terminal station of the DLR?

A: GEORGE V on Ligne 1 in Paris, and "King George V" at the end of the DLR

So the four lucky winners of either a Mind the Gap beer spillage mat or a Mind the Gap fridge magnet are.....


Paul Mison
Bazza
Janie Stanford
Alan Perks

Congrats and if the four of you could leave a comment on the blog ASAP with your preference of the beer mat or the magnet. Whoever gets in first will have first dibs as there are only two mats & two magnets on offer. I'll then get in touch with you for your address details & they'll be winging their way to you in the post.

Thanks also to Mark for a great quiz inspired by his new book Paris Métro Style.

Recycled Tube Seat Shoes

Please put seats on feet. Yes, I have got this the right way around. Thanks to Ian D I found that some bright sparks have got the London Underground and First Group to come up with another use for old Tube moquette or seat upholstery.


Thanks to Central Saint Martins College (who else) graduate Robert Taylor and film maker/ music promoter Caroline Read, you can buy a pair of Converse & Vivienne Westwood inspired Above+Below London™ shoes

"The collection exclusively incorporates ‘rare’, ‘vintage’ and ‘ultra rare’ iconic retro textiles from the 50’s, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90’s reclaimed from seats on London's Underground tube carriages and buses.....



They incorporate recycled tyre rubber in the soles, restored Tube and bus seat textiles in the uppers and re-used leather cheque book wallets in the trim. These shoes can comfortably withstand the harsh realities of daily life - while still catching the eye and making a statement!"

Personally, I'm not sure I'd shell out between £70 & £90 for a pair of them, but I'm a cheapskate. The idea's brilliant and they're actually better value for money than other recycled Tube seat products I've seen. The limited edition moquette dog coats in the London Transport Museum shop were a bit pricey!

I am almost tempted though as the enthusiastic copy rocks! "Everyone's taken a trip on London's Tube (or bus) not least .... the Queen and heads of State!

Every pair of Above+Belows connects to the essence of our historic metropolis via the District, Victoria, Northern, Central, Metropolitan, Piccadilly and Bakerloo Lines and London's buses. Fabrics from each line have been hand selected and restored to former, sometimes faded glory. Whichever one you decide on, it will be a Limited Edition. Remade for cool eco-urbanites, those with a taste for industrial chic, fanatics of nostalgic London memorabilia or stylish individualists with a twist."


I'm sure First Group overlooked the model with his feet on the seats above, in the interests of coolness!

Above+Below London™ also pledge to donate a tree for each pair they sell, to be planted inside the M25 by Trees for Cities. I'll be keeping an eye out for them on the Tube, as they'd be perfect candidates for the Tube Fashion Victim series.


However, I can't quite see them becoming as popular as Converses on the Tube yet.