Categories: uncategorized
Date: 09 December 2005 15:36:03
You may have read / seen today is the end of an era (this account from Guardian). Today saw the last Routemaster go out of service. For those not overly into buses that would be the last of the "proper" London buses (of the type used in the film Summer Holiday) has been retired.
It will be interesting to see if, even though in reality the Routemaster can no longer be described as what London buses are like, the shared cultural image will be so strong that it will remain our picture of a London bus - I suspect it will.
I guess it's the same logic as why when somebody talks of a "Beetle" we think of "Herbie" rather than one of the modern redesigned "Barbie" ones and when somebody talks of church, (certainly within the UK) we think of a C of E building with pews and pulpit, rather than what we may experience as the reality. It really is amazing the power of symbols and idealised versions of them, (sorry am beginning to sound like the rather strange texts I've been ploughing through, except they don't normally start talking about toy cars for dolls - doh! I really need rest).