Card of the Day - 2021-11-17

These have self adhesive backs and were designed to go in a “Pictorial Card Album of Veteran Cars – with Road Sense Quiz Questions and Answers”.

Unlike the Phillips “In The Public Eye” the solution was on the bottom of the same card, upside down.

Now I included this card because lots of you were interested in it when I featured it in our tribute to the London to Brighton Run.

R.O.S.P.A. also have another link to cartophily as their London “Safety First” Council arose from a public meeting in Caxton Hall which took place in 1916 , mainly to address the fact that dimming the street lighting to prevent enemy raiders during WW1 was having an alarming effect on road traffic accidents. The strange thing about this is that it seems to have been forgotten for the Second World War, and in the first few months of the blackout system the number of road deaths almost doubled overnight, over half of those being pedestrian versus motor car.

Oddly in our original British Trade Index part II, issued in 1969, these cards were listed not as R.O.S.P.A. but as the full name so they follow “Roxy” which was a magazine issued by Fleetway Publications. This says it “includes cards inscribed “ROSPA 52 Grosvenor Gardens, S.W.1”. Cards issued 1953-60. Special albums issued. See Brooke Bond Set BRM-8 and Horniman Set HOF-12” . I have no idea why it cites BRM-8, which is British Wildlife or HOF-12 which is Horniman`s Pets – do you?

It also tells of the other sets, Modern Cars (24) Modern British Motor Cycles (22), New Traffic Signs (25) and these two sets of Veteran Cars first and second series, each of 24 cards, which were given the codes of RQO-4.1 and 4.2. The amount of diligence which go into our books can be seen by the fact that it was recorded that the first series measures 67 x 36 and the second 66 x 35

By 1997 another set had appeared and was duly listed in the British Trade Index IV, this was “Famous Crossings”, it measured 167 x 54, four cards were known, and it was inscribed “C.31”. This was given the code of RQO-6 but it is very hard to find in the book, because it is on page 283, between The Royal Primrose Soap and The Royal Tunbridge Wells, and only the words ROYAL SOCIETY appear in bold text.

Another strange thing about this is that in between Rossi`s Ices and Rotary Photo Co. on page 277 appears R.O.S.P.A. in bold text, but it only directs the reader to “see RQO in II” without mentioning the newly discovered set on page 283.

Anyway, by the time of our most recent British Trade Index, issued in 2006, R.O.S.P.A. has gone and the only reference appears on page 379, listed under Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. The top text has also changed a bit, to include the address in Grosvenor Gardens, and to say that they were

Issued 1953-60. Includes cards inscibed “ROSPA”. Special Albums issued. The Society also gave out bookmarks, size 130-190 in length. The following are known `A` for Adult, `C` for Children, including those named as “Famous Crossings”, `H` for Health, and `HC` for the remainder. All are numbered”.

The only change to the main body of work is that it had been noticed that “Famous Crossings” carried numbers C.27 – C.31 inclusive.