Another thing we seem to have abandoned, post Covid, is the practise of wearing a mask on public transport. Though some still do, I have to say.
Yet airborne germs are not the easiest way to pass on disease, it is by touch, of the handrails, the floor, the seats, the bells you ring to get off, the straps that you hold when the bus is full and you have to stand.
And trains are no better, because you can add the ticket machines, the gates, and the rails to help you down the stairs.
Do you honestly wash your hands when you get to the end of your journey, or, at the very least, before having something to eat?
Our bus is described as "The K-Type LGOC bus". They were made by Associated Equipment Company, the LGOC refers to the London General Omnibus Company, the operator, not the maker. Though we know that a few were sold to other parts of England as well, so they were not only used in London.
The K-type started to be produced in 1914, but this was halted by the First World War. After that, in 1919, they began to enter service, but only in limited areas, and on test runs, so it seems likely that this was because they were using the completed pre-War vehicles whilst they started to build a new batch. Therefore it was the following year that they were really rolled out into proper usage.
Their main benefit was that because the driver sat alongside the engine, twelve more passengers could be carried.
Between 1919 and 1932, approximately a thousand were made, but now but a handful survive, one of which is at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, and, I am delighted to say, it is still able to drive to events.
This card is a new set to me, but I looked it up in our original British Trade index part two and there it was. The header tells us that JESK was a trademark, a corruption of the name J.S. King & Co., who were based in East London.
The set is described as :
- BUSES AND TRAMS. Sm. 68 x 38. Nd. (25) See D.242 ... JES-1
And they also tell of a curious issue "Facts and Figures", 76 x 33 on paper, just wording, in red.
Returning to our set, the D.242 can be found at the back of the book and it is a list of all the other duplicate issuers of the same cards. In our case these are actually not so many, only ;
- Fizzy Fruit Picture Bars - Set FJZ-1 (issued 1959)
- Hitchmans Dairies - Set HIT-5 (issued 1966)
Now there is a spot of intrigue, also mentioned, about the Hitchman`s Dairies issue, for it says that "No.11 in this printing has the advertisement "Priory Tea" removed from the tram" - and that suggests that Priory Tea must have also used the set, or maybe just the card. I can also state that in the Jesk format the "Priory Tea" advert is still there on card eleven. Perhaps it was just Hitchman`s getting snippy about a rival, because, like Priory, they sold tea. And if you are wondering what it was replaced by, it was an advert for "White Horse Whisky. It was only the banner, too, the bus is still heading for Shepherds Bush..
By the time of our updated British Trade Index the main set is described as :
- BUSES AND TRAMS. 1959. 68 x 38. Nd. (25) See HX-109 ... JES-040
"Facts and Figures" is also updated, to give an issue date of 1961.