London Transport Museum (LTM) held an exhibition in 1997 focusing on decorative maps (some used in posters) commissioned by London Transport (LT). Work by C.W. Bacon was to be included. Bacon also designed book covers, certainly in the 1950s. Bacon was called up to the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1942, and released to the Ministry of Information (MOI) the same year, after about 6 months spent painting bicycles in RAF. He remained working for the MOI until 1944, although probably on a freelance basis. Notes from Bacon’s ‘day book’ note that he did the following work for the MOI:
- May 1939, design for National Service poster, for which he was paid £31 10s.
- August 1939, design for Air Raid Precautions (ARP) poster ‘Wardens Wanted’, for which he was paid £36 15s
- October 1939, design for poster ‘Empire Strength’, along with other artists, for which he/they were paid £52 10s
- March 1941, design for poster map of Great Britain and Ireland, nor used as too many of the symbols depicted actual places, for which he was paid £57 15s
- Undated freelance design for gas quiz, mask or rattles.
Information collated from: Berro, M., ‘C.W. Bacon‘, accessed 28 August 2003; Notes from C.W. Bacon’s day book, contained within an e-mail from Jeremy Bacon, the son of C.W.Bacon, October 23 2003.
Featured Image Source (2015): Telegraph
