Photos Of London’s Tube In 1950s And 1960s

A businessman sips tea from a cup and saucer in 1968, a far cry from the cardboard cups strewn through carriages today. (Leonard Burt/Stringer)

Last week saw the London Underground break the record for its busiest day ever, ferrying almost five million passengers across the network, and travellers took to social media to vent their frustration at the cramped conditions. These pictures from the 1950s and 60s show the tube as it was in the days before packed commuter crushes. It wasn’t all rosy though – strikes still plagued rail users, and plenty of people would have been unhappy about that fact that smoking was permitted. (Yahoo News).

Please click the photos for larger images:

Students in Beefeater costumes wait for a tube at Tower Hill in 1968. (Ronald Spencer/Associated Newspapers/REX Shutterstock)

Honest passengers drop their coins into a collecting tin during a booking clerk strike in 1965. (Tony Gibson/Associated Newspapers/REX Shutterstock)

West Ham manager Ron Greenwood holds the FA Cup, won by his team the previous Saturday, as he waits for a train on the London Underground in 1964. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A man reads a copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960, unaware of his amused neighbour peeking over his shoulder. (Fox Photos/Stringer)

A businessman sips tea from a cup and saucer in 1968, a far cry from the cardboard cups strewn through carriages today. (Leonard Burt/Stringer)