Knights Of The Road

My friends Richard and Mary continue to lend me jigsaws. This time, it was two in the one box. Labelled "Knights of the Road" the pictures showed AA and RAC patrolmen of the early 1960s. "Breakdown and recovery" services have change a lot in the past half century. I am currently with LV, but I was with Green Flag, and have been with both RAC and AA in the past. Other companies are available - I do shop around for the best deals these days. 

But back in the day, there were just the two. The RAC [Royal Automobile Club] began in 1897, the AA [Automobile Association] in 1905. The AA was originally called the Motorists' Mutual Association.
Originally the officers were called 'sentries'. They wore quasi military uniforms - helmets, leather boots, and gauntlets - and rode motorcycles. Throughout the country there were 'sentry boxes' - little roadside shelters where the patrolmen could take refuge from the elements, enjoy a thermos of tea, and check their maps. Each box had a telephone and a fire extinguisher. 
By the 1920s, members were given keys to the boxes, and could use them to phone for help if their car broke down [or ring home to say they were delayed!]. Remember nobody had a mobile phone then, and not all private houses would have had a landline telephone. In 1934, one third of all cars on British roads were owned by members of the AA.

As well as a key to the boxes, members had a classy metal badge to fix to the front of the car. If a patrolman saw you were a member, he would salute as you drove past. If he did not salute, that was [allegedly] a coded message "there's a police car round the corner watching for speeding drivers"
I am just about old enough to remember the AA patrolmen on motorbikes with their brown leather boots. By the mid 1960s they replaced the bikes with minivans. People used to joke back then that the affluent were in the RAC, and the ordinary folk in the AA. We were, of course in the AA. I can only recall using an AA Callbox once- in 1974, I was with Dad in a heavy thunderstorm. Its a complicated story - but we pulled into a lay-by on the A47 on the edge of Norwich, and telephoned Mum to say we were OK and would be home soon. The AA key was then returned to the glovebox!

Doing these two jigsaws brought back good memories of long car journeys as a child, going on holiday to exotic locations like Scarborough and Bournemouth. The AA would send you [free] a wonderful route map from home to your destination - loads of sheets stapled together, with a map, and typewritten directions [imagine your satnav pictures and script printed out on paper] I was allowed to sit in the front seat and navigate whilst Mum was in the back with my younger brother. No seat belts back then! 
AA & RAC patrolmen [always men] were incredibly deferential, and always helpful. True "Knights of the Road". The jigsaw is well titled.