Food for Thought

Series

Series Name: Cinegazette

Issue

Issue No.

Date Released

1949

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

NoS Summary - A profile of the London Transport canteen service and its provisions.
NoS synopsis: Foodstuff used by London Transport are followed from the fishing catch, the harvest and the market garden to the plate. We see Covent Garden market and the Central Stores at Marylebone. This is a massive operation involving food delivery, paperwork, butchering and packing. Bacon is sliced and fruit and vegetables weighed and packed. There is also a training centre at Baker Street , where employees learn both theory and practical lessons, from floor cleaning to pastry making. All of these skills benefit canteens such as the one at Acton, a Putney tea hut and the mobile canteens. Engineers on site are even served from hot pot vans, when they need a break. Employees are served with food at athletics meets, fairs and canteens all over London, such as the one at Old Kent Road and White City. At Baker Street they have a new steam heating system and a new canteen design. Soon the Croydon Production Centre will also be redesigned to produce some of the cooked foods for these canteens.
London Transport is a ‘family’ looked after the ‘housewife’ which is the canteen service. A good meal ‘helps to keep the wheels of London Transport turning’.

Keywords

Buildings and structures; Food and cooking; Transport; Industry and manufacture

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases
Viewing Copy - London Transport Museum Used for synopsis
British Transport Films website
National Film Archive Catalogue

Credits:

Producer: Academy Picture Corporation
Commentator: Brian Johnston
Sponsor: London Transport Executive

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name: London’s Transport Museum
Email: simon.murphy@ltmuseum.co.uk
Web: http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk
Phone: 020 7379 6344
Fax: 020 7565 7254
Address: 39 Wellington Street
Covent Garden
London WC2E 7BB
Series held: View all series held by London’s Transport Museum

Name: British Film Institute (BFI)
Email: For BFI National Archive enquiries:
nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk
For commercial/footage reuse enquiries:
footage.films@bfi.org.uk
Web: http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web
Phone: 020 7255 1444
Fax: 020 7580 7503
Address: 21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN
Notes: The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
Series held: View all series held by British Film Institute (BFI)

Record Stats