Charing Cross Road with the Hippodrome and Leicester Square station

This bustling black‑and‑white street scene captures Charing Cross Road in the late interwar years, framed on the right by the grand façade of Leicester Square Underground Station (Piccadilly & Hampstead lines). Beyond, the ornate dome and vertical marquee of the London Hippodrome tower over passing saloons and delivery vans, advertising the hit musical Out of the Bottle starring Clifford Mollison and Arthur Riscoe. Pedestrians in bowler hats and cloche‑style coats weave between early 1930s motorcars as the West End hums with pre‑war energy.

Historical Context
West End Entertainment: Opened in 1900 (as the Empire Theatre) and rebuilt as the Hippodrome in 1900–01, this venue was a centre for variety shows, musicals and circus acts. By 1938, it had become one of London’s premier entertainment addresses, drawing evening crowds from across the city.

Leicester Square Station: Designed by Leslie Green and opened in 1906 as part of the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway, the station’s ox‑blood tiling and arched windows are emblematic of early Underground architecture, linking theatre‑goers directly to the West End’s glamour.

Pre‑War London: On the eve of WWII, London’s streets were alive with the promise of cinema premieres, late‑night shows and bustling cafés. Charing Cross Road itself was already famed for its secondhand bookshops and publishing houses, just out of shot to the left.

Share Your Own Vintage Finds!
Have sepia‑toned postcards, family snapshots of London’s theatres or snapshots of life in the West End? Upload your photographs to OldPik.com and help us build a richer archive of Britain’s interwar cultural heritage—one image at a time.

SEO Tags
vintage photo, 1938 Charing Cross Road, Leicester Square station, London Hippodrome, interwar West End, antique UK postcard, Out of the Bottle musical, Clifford Mollison Riscoe, Leslie Green station, OldPik uploads