Stuart Advertising Agency

Although little mention of Stuart's Advertising Agency can be found in books on pre-war advertising, Stuarts was, during the 1920s and 30s, one of the leading London advertising agencies. Located at Kingsway House, Kingsway W.C.2, the firm was founded in 1922 by H. Stuart Menzies. It had accounts with Elizabeth Arden, Keiller's marmalade, Shell-Mex, Speedwriting, Crosse & Blackwell, Harper's Bazaar, Imperial Airways, Indian Trans-Continental Airways, Lewis Berger Paints, Toblerone and Qantas Airways. Menzies retired in 1938-9 and moved first to Tahiti and later to Canada with his wife Elizabeth. Marcus Brumwell joined the firm in the early 20s and became Managing Director when Menzies retired. Two other influential figures in the organisation in the late 1930s were D Lewis and the typographer/copywriter Robert Harling . While Menzies was an exceptional copywriter, Brumwell played a key role in liaising with leading contemporary artists of the time: Edward Bawden, Ben Nicholson, Edward McKnight Kauffer and Barbara Hepworth.

Stuart Advertising Agency is featured in the book Bright Ties Bold Ideas - Marcus Brumwell, Pioneer of C20 Advertising, Champion of the Artists by Joe Brumwell published in 2010 and Entertaining a la carte by Mainstone Press, 2007.