They're dropping apostrophes at the new London Transport Museum. When the building in Covent Garden closed for redevelopment 18 months ago it was called London's Transport Museum. This wasn't exactly a catchy title, but it conveniently sidestepped the fact that London Transport isn't called London Transport any more. When the Museum finally reopens in the autumn its 's is to be dropped, and presumably the big gold sign on the front of the building will have to change too. As a prelude to this rebirth the new museum shop opened at the weekend. That's the London Transport Museum shop, you understand, not the London's Transport Museum shop. Do pay attention.
The new shop is no longer inside the Museum but nextdoor, inside a renovated cafe. It's a shiny glass-fronted store on two floors, much lighter and brighter than before, with a spacious atrium. The front of the store is given over to "stuff for kids" (crayons and Underground Ernie, anyone?), behind which there's a rather more tourist-targeted section. It's simple, they've just thought of a normal product (like a wallet, a bag or a set of cocktail glasses) and then slapped a London Transport roundel on it. This is why TfL's lawyers fight so hard to maintain their client's brand identity - so that the company can flog roundelled aprons, roundelled mouse mats and roundelled teapots at inflated prices. If you want a Tramlink-green mug, or some Victoria Coach Station flip flops, or a pair of Mind The Gap boxer shorts, you know where to come.
Londoners in anoraks may feel slightly more at home upstairs around the shop's mezzanine. This is where the more specialist transport-related ephemera is located, with shelves of books about old branch lines, stacks of Routemaster DVDs and piles of four-wheeled diecast models. There's also a large moquette-covered seating area, although this was roped off at the weekend and its ultimate purpose wasn't clear. And then there's London Transport's famous collection of historic posters. These are stored within a long row of drawers along one wall, each labelled with the name of an old station and coloured accordingly. It makes for a strikingly effective display which is intriguing to scrutinise. Ongar and Quainton Road are long closed, aren't they, and ooh look that's on the DLR isn't it, and doesn't Barbican look nice in yellow? But hang on a second, someone's not done their research properly. Here's a snapshot of a small section of the wall, featuring five different apostrophied station names. Four may be correct, but the other is just plain embarrassing, isn't it? Hopefully some of the profit the new shop makes on selling pink PVC shoulder bags can go on replacing this offending thin strip of plastic, quickly, before anyone else notice's.
They're dropping apostrophes at the new London Transport Museum. When the building in Covent Garden closed for redevelopment 18 months ago it was called London's Transport Museum. This wasn't exactly a catchy title, but it conveniently sidestepped the fact that London Transport isn't called London Transport any more. When the Museum finally reopens in the autumn its 's is to be dropped, and presumably the big gold sign on the front of the building will have to change too. As a prelude to this rebirth the new museum shop opened at the weekend. That's the London Transport Museum shop, you understand, not the London's Transport Museum shop. Do pay attention.
Londoners in anoraks may feel slightly more at home upstairs around the shop's mezzanine. This is where the more specialist transport-related ephemera is located, with shelves of books about old branch lines, stacks of Routemaster DVDs and piles of four-wheeled diecast models. There's also a large moquette-covered seating area, although this was roped off at the weekend and its ultimate purpose wasn't clear. And then there's London Transport's famous collection of historic posters. These are stored within a long row of drawers along one wall, each labelled with the name of an old station and coloured accordingly. It makes for a strikingly effective display which is intriguing to scrutinise. Ongar and Quainton Road are long closed, aren't they, and ooh look that's on the DLR isn't it, and doesn't Barbican look nice in yellow? But hang on a second, someone's not done their research properly. Here's a snapshot of a small section of the wall, featuring five different apostrophied station names. Four may be correct, but the other is just plain embarrassing, isn't it? Hopefully some of the profit the new shop makes on selling pink PVC shoulder bags can go on replacing this offending thin strip of plastic, quickly, before anyone else notice's.
They're dropping apostrophes at the new 
