Interborough Rapid Transit Posters
One hundred years ago today... The Interborough Rapid Transit company was printing posters attempting to distinguish itself from its competitor, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit company.
(See NY 1920’s September 7 post about the BRT strike on labor day.
The posters published in September 1920 (exact day unknown) included ads made to look like newspaper front pages. Its purpose was to encourage ridership after the first BRT line into Manhattan opened in 1917:
Other posters released in the year 1920:
One can only imagine how it felt to have read these posters in the crowded subway in NYC, years after the end of World War I.
References/Further reading:
Kirby, Jen. “See Vintage Manspreading Ads and More From the '40s and '50s Subway Courtesy Campaign.” Intelligencer, 10 Mar. 2015.
"The Twenties in New York City Subway Posters. (n.d.). America in Class.
WRITTEN BY MICAH M. RIMANDO, SEPTEMBER 25, 2020.
TAGS: Brooklyn Rapid Transit, BRT Strike, Interborough Rapid Transit, IRT, Subway Advertisements