The 'Bus Condctor is one of
Alfed Concanen's livliest compositions. Above and below the central illustration are printed:
/The Bus Conductor/ Words by/ A.F. Byron./ Music by Leopold Jordan./ [rule] Ent. Sta. Hall.[Entered Stationer's Hall] Price 4/-/ London: J.B. Cramer & Co. 201 Regent St. W./ [rule] Stannard & Son/
The illustration is signed in the bottom right hand corner: /Alfred Concanen del/
The scene depicts a typically crowded London scene.The London omnibus is being hauled by [two?] horses along a street lined with Regency style tall terraced houses, on the left. The destination boards tell us that the bus is travelling along the route fromVictoria Station to Holborn. The bus is the stage carriage number 20,308. Advertisements are attached to the bus: on the top within a red panel- "Cramer's pianoforte's"; on the right of the bus - "Nag's Head"[a pub?]; on thebase - "Holloway [possibly healthy] 2d." We see passengers seated on the open top of the bus. On the lower deck, passengers are seated inside the bus on its right hand side: a gentleman in a top hat and starched collare; a lady wearing a red hat and scarf; another gentleman with amonocole in his left eye. At the centre of the picture, the conductor, clothed in a black jacket, a white waistcoat, and yellow trousers, is standing on the rear step of the bus, and holding on to the rear rail with his left hand; his right hand is waving away three ladies on the pavement who are attempting to board the bus. They are surrounded by boys wanting selling objects to the people on the pavement and to the bus passengers. One boy, mon the right is attempting to sell a toy horse, and he has toy clowns sticking out of his left pocket. Another boy has fallen off the rear step, in attempting to sell a form of illustrated card strip, which flutters out in front of him. There are also four newspaper boys waving newspapers, asking the passengers to buy these. The titles of these newspapers are [left to right]: The
Daily Telegraph (adrift in the air);
The Daily News;
The Standard;
The Daily Telegraph;
Th[e Morning Chro]nicle;
The Sportsm[an].
The Morning Chronicle had effectively ceased publication on 19 March 1862.
The Sportsman commenced publication on 12 August 1865. It seems likely that this music sheet can be dated to the mid 1860s.
The reproduction is from a facsimile copy of an origial chromolithograph.
