Cosens & Co and Southampton Steam Packet Co. Enquiry Office, Southampton
Caption:
Although this postcard is printed in black and white, the public-facing walls of shipping agent companies would have been highly colourful, displaying the now iconic steamship era posters, pasted side by side and one over top of the other. Intended to catch the eye of the discerning traveller, these posters were frequently designed by top artists of the day and represented the best of commercial lithographic printing. And festooning a building intentionally sited close to the docks, they couldn't help but lure customers in through the door, quietly blank and unassuming.