Illuminated Ads

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Bus advertising is also a much overlooked topic. I took this from an old magazine about 50 years ago and it occurred to me, looking at the illustration, how these illuminated ads jumped on the scene with great promise. But then, what happened to them? Were they too expensive, too complicated? Does anybody who was involved with these panels know why they didn’t catch on?

David Rhodes

13/08/13 - 08:44

Yes, David - a neglected topic. I've often assumed that it was the damage caused by the bus washing machines that led to their demise. However, in Leeds they were in use throughout most of the 1960s, so they must have been fairly durable. I also wonder whether the cost to the advertising agent was too much in relation to a "normal" ad. I well remember seeing my first on Leeds route 1 in Cookridge Street (presumably on one of the first Roe/PD3s). I pointed it out to a bemused girl whom I fancied at the time, only to get a total look of blank disinterest - ho hum! Twas ever thus!

Paul Haywood

14/08/13 - 06:33

In 1960 Trent Motor Traction Co exhibited one of their new Leyland Atlanteans with 78 seat bodywork at that years Commercial Motor Show, on the Chas H. Roe stand.

This vehicle had fluorescent illumination in both interior saloons and the offside advertisement panel, the equipment being made by Philips. There own advert can be seen in the panel.
The report stated that "Fluorescent lighting, and front entrances, are the features of the double-deckers at the show. Fluorescent illumination, while not entirely new, now appears on enough vehicles to suggest that it will soon become the accepted standard." (Some of us were so lucky to have been around when such cutting edge technology was being developed and introduced to our industry).
Readers may be interested to know that one of the highlights of the 1960 Show was the appearance of a rear engined Daimler Fleetline which could take an orthodox body, (with up to 78 seats), with conventional layout but of 13ft 4in overall height. This was of course 7000 HP which so sadly ended its service life in the Blue Bus Services - Willington Derbyshire, fire on 5th January 1976. Pictures of 7000 HP can be seen at www.stephenhowarth.co.uk/blue-bus-pictures.php

Stephen Howarth

14/08/13 - 06:33

I remember Yorkshire Woollen on the batch of PD3s with Metro Cammel bodies having these adverts. One of the advertisements was for Advance Towel Masters" which was in house as the product was owned by the BET group. Some others invited you to come home to a real fire. I think they went into decline as they were a massive drain on the batteries particularly when stood on layovers. On a modern note for the past two Christmases Lothian Buses have had twinkling fairy lights advertising The Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre on a couple of double deckers.

Philip Carlton

15/08/13 - 06:48

Another picture of an Illuminated panel, this time as it should be seen 'In the Dark'. Central Heating starts at £53 - if only !!
North Western Road Car Co Ltd RDB 891 - New in 1961 Fleet No 891 Dennis Loline III with Alexander H39/32F bodywork. It was transferred to SELNEC in 1/72 and kept the same fleet number.

Stephen Howarth

15/08/13 - 06:50

Newcastle Corporation also dabbled with these illuminated adverts. They first appeared in 1962 on Weymann-bodied batch 227-238 JVK, but in a shallow form positioned high up under the upstairs windows. The first Atlantean batches for trolleybus replacement in 1963 also had them 1-12 and 13-25 (1-25 JVK). 1-12 had Alexander bodies, the first in the fleet with wrap-round windscreens, and the panels were full height between the windows, all twelve advertising Crawfords Whisky initially. The Weymann bodywork on 13-25 was identical to that on 237-238.
The last Atlanteans so fitted were some of the Alexander KBB 239-266D batch of 1966 (possibly only 253-266), oddly following on from two batches of Alexander Atlanteans (26-45 and 66-85) in 1964 and 1965 that were not fitted with them…
That’s approximately 50 out of the 250 or so Atlanteans operated by the Corporation to 1969. They survived in use into the PTE era, but some were painted over late in the vehicles’ lives.
232 - www.flickr.com/photos/1
3 - www.flickr.com/photos/2
20 - www.flickr.com/photos/3
253 - www.flickr.com/photos/4

Tony Fox

15/08/13 - 06:51

As you say David, illuminated adverts do seem to be a much neglected area in the bus world. (Wonder how long it will be before someone reinvents them?). Thank you for sharing the illustration of West Yorkshire's DX62 (TWY604), an LD6B. This bus was one of my favourite LDs because of its illuminated advert panel, which it carried up to withdrawal as far as I am aware. The advert I always associated with the bus was one for Stevens & Goodall, a Harrogate furniture store sadly, like the bus, long gone. Another Harrogate-based Lodekka to carry an illuminated advert was FS6B DX121 (2017YG), which proclaimed "Menswear by Denton's". The word 'Menswear' was in two colours to emphasise that "Men swear by Denton's", and the lower halves of the upper deck seats were cleverly depicted on the advert panel, each 'seat' complete with a seated pair of trousers, socks and shoes. Fabulous stuff for the 'sixties! Interestingly, the illustration of DX62 depicts it wearing only one cream band rather than two - the upper one being omitted. Whether this was a West Yorkshire modification of the livery because of the deep advert panel I don't know, but when I first came across the bus on moving to Harrogate in 1966, it carried the upper deck cream band as per usual. The first time I remember seeing an illuminated advert on a bus was as a youngster living in Bingley. Walking back home one winter's evening with my Grandma I spotted a Hebble AEC Regent V parked on the waste ground that was Hebble's terminus, and there it was shining out like a beacon for all to see. Happy days!

Brendan Smith

15/08/13 - 12:00

Illuminated ads were very much part of the 1960s scene in many parts of the country. Initially a money spinner for the operators, so much so that London Transport was willing to pay for some modification in the framing of some Routemasters to accommodate them, by the time of the Wilson government's economic downturn in the late 1960s, most advertisers were reducing their budgets and the bus operators took a big hit with many vehicles operating for long periods with blank panels or with paper ads on the panels and the lights switched off.
Since the introduction many years ago of LCD and LED advertising panels, I've often wondered why this form of mobile advertising hadn't re-appeared. Now it seems it has. 80 examples of the Boris Bus are to be fitted with illuminated ads and should by now be starting to hit the streets.

Phil Blinkhorn

15/08/13 - 13:58

Brendan Smith's comment on the Illuminated Ads says
"I wonder how long it will be before someone reinvents them?"
Well they have.
Way back in 2008 ARRIVA (sorry to use that word on this site) reinvented the wheel and introduced LED panels on the near side of buses in Darlington.
The panels which are 12mm thick were to feature on the side of 4 buses, initially to give information to passengers on bus timetables and any changes that are to be made to the schedule.
It was hoped that eventually the panels could be used to carry advertising.
The new panels are known as “generation two”
The panels, made by Litelogic, show streaming images and video, and cost about £10,000 each.
Since their introduction I have rarely seen them used.
Above is a picture of ARRIVA managers, (with a bus that should never grace these pages) at the launch.

Stephen Howarth

15/08/13 - 17:38

Lancashire United also dabbled with these panels.
At Least 3 of the the last batch of rear loading Guys (120-135) had them.
At Swinton Depot you had a note on your 'signed for' route' cards to the effect that if driving 132 (which had one for the Piccadilly Club, Manchester) or 135 (Spar Grocers) and you were on a route terminating under the railway arches at Manchester (Yes, Salford - Really !) you had been made aware NOT to leave this illuminated sign on. During winter nights, 10 minutes layover with saloon lights (even at only half saloon) plus this panel, would & DID flatten the battery to the extent that a start was not possible. A third member of the batch was 129, (which carried a Volvo of Newton-le-Willows ad) but this was not at Swinton during my time there.

Mike Norris

16/08/13 - 06:32

I also recall some of Hebble's Regent V's having illuminated adverts. They were Metro-Cammell bodied 311/312 (NCP 474/475), short lightweight Northern Counties bodied 277-280 (PCP 403-406), and long Northern Counties bodied 314 (RCP 237).
The adverts were only fitted to their offsides - I don't know if this was the arrangement elsewhere. Hebble's only ever seemed to display 'It's Best By Bus' in black on a yellow background.
They were quite a novelty at the time. I remember as a child being able to watch them from my bed at night - even through the closed curtains - as they whined their way up Bradford Road high above the back of our house at Stump Cross.
They all appeared to retain the equipment to the end of their working lives, but their illumination did not last for long. Later I think they just had paper adverts stuck over the top - usually for Littlewood's Pools. Whilst 314 operated for Yorkshire Woollen its panel was plain white, yet oddly when it later passed to Halifax J.O.C. and was painted green, orange and cream the 'It's Best By Bus' reappeared and I think remained until its withdrawal.

John Stringer

02/10/13 - 07:07

I have always been under the impression that illuminated adverts were discontinued because of their habit of flattening the bus batteries, especially when standing at termini.

Don McKeown

03/10/13 - 08:38

I was rather surprised to come across a photograph on eBay of one of North Western's lowbridge PD2/1s (259) also fitted with an illuminated advert. It must have been one of the oldest buses so fitted and also raises the question of whether it had fluorescent lighting in the saloons as well. For a while the photograph can be seen by searching eBay for item 370896835882.

David Beilby

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