Eleanor Herrings unique study of street furniture in postwar Britain considers how objects which are now familiar parts of our urban environment were designed to populate public spaces. Herring explores the design of lampposts post boxes parking meters and signage in the context of a government backed by various bodies keen to propagate good modern design in a Britain whose towns and cities had been laid waste by bombing and the privations of war.She also considers the innate conservatism of local communities and councils wary of a standardised street design imposed from above. She traces how the design of street furniture became the site of a fierce struggle which exposed deepseated anxieties about class taste and power.