34a Royal Air Mail Service Car (1935-40)

Under the /forum]Forums > /forums/other-topics]Other Topics > /forums/general-information-and-posts]General Information and Posts - Auctions, Shows, Sales, Meetings topic, I posted a number of images of some of my auction wins from the recent John Kinchen Collection auction conducted by Piers Motley Auctions in Exmouth, Devon. Richard and Terry both complimented the 34a Royal Air Mail Service Car in those winnings, so I thought I would include some additional images of that model. More will be forthcoming as soon as the little fellow arrives, and quite frankly, it reminds me of Christmas many years ago, when it could not come quick enough! The 34 Royal Air Mail Service Car, or as Meccano originally referred to it as the Royal Mail Air Service Car in the advertisement for Dinky Toys on page ix of the October 1935 issue of Meccano Magazine was painted blue overall with either dark blue or black hubs, shod with white tyres. On both doors was a transfer 'Royal Air Mail Service' and the crown in reddish brown with an unknown symbol below. Just what that symbol was I have no idea, so I am throwing the question out to the wider audience. The following month, Meccano changed its Dinky Toys advertisement in the Meccano Magazine to Royal Air Mail Service Car. By October 1937, the sales number for the Royal Air Mail Service Car had been changed from 34 to 34a. The model made its last appearance in the Dinky Toys advertisement in the September 1938 Meccano Magazine. Bruce (150) 20160616/944/0352

Bruce----What an interesting vehicle this was! I remember seeing some photos of the actual prototype andmit really appeared to be more of a small truck or van made into a 'car'. As I remember, I don't think it actually saw service, but made numerous appearances to promote Air Mail delivery, etc.For such an old model, made in an era rife with metal fatigue, yours shows some cracks, but appears intact. I am sure you are most anxious to receive it!Best regards, Terry

Bruce, a most remarkable model of a most remarkable car. As it appeared on Liverpool aerodrome in those days, it must have been an inspiration for the Meccano planners to introduce a miniature. The model seems too low compared with the real vehicle. That is a post-horn below the crown. That nasty fatigue ... Nevertheless, a good, desirable catch, kind regards, Jan

On Wed, 06/15/2016 - 19:21 dinkyfan wrote: Bruce----What an interesting vehicle this was! I remember seeing some photos of the actual prototype andmit really appeared to be more of a small truck or van made into a 'car'. As I remember, I don't think it actually saw service, but made numerous appearances to promote Air Mail delivery, etc. For such an old model, made in an era rife with metal fatigue, yours shows some cracks, but appears intact. I am sure you are most anxious to receive it! Best regards, Terry Thank you Terry The closest I have ever come to the real thing was Jans wonderful photographs he brought to light two years ago. One has to wonder what the real purpose of the car was when standard post office vehicles could have easily done the same job. Then when one thinks back, air mail in those days meant a higher postage fee, so the car might have been specially made (by Morris) as a publicity means of generating interest in customers using this new fangled air mail service. When I saw this model in the auction, I did place it on my watch list, expecting there would be a stampede as the 34a does not come up for auction very frequently. I was therefore very astonished with the lack of interest, which I put down to those in the room who have inspected it and found scads of chewing gum and glue holding it together! Then I saw a couple of Internet bidders appear and assuming they were elsewhere in the country or overseas, I took that as the cue to put a bid in and you could have knocked me over with a feather when not long afterwards, the little fellow was mine! From being astonished at the lack of interest in this model, I was equally astonishing, and naturally delighted with its final price. As I have said previously, now for the nervous and anxious wait! On Thu, 06/16/2016 - 00:42 janwerner wrote: Bruce, a most remarkable model of a most remarkable car. As it appeared on Liverpool aerodrome in those days, it must have been an inspiration for the Meccano planners to introduce a miniature. The model seems too low compared with the real vehicle. That nasty fatigue ... Nevertheless, a good, desirable catch, kind regards, Jan Thank you Jan for your always kind and appreciated comments. I went back and had a look at all those that have passed through Vectis, most of whom did not have the same bright paint and transfer image, and although every one of them has suffered to a great degree with metal fatigue this one is comparable to many I have seen. Talk Model Toys has colour photographs of most likely the only example without metal fatigue, its only detrimental aspect being its loss of paint work. Thank you too for that close-up photograph of what appears on the doors below the crown a horn! I presume this is a throw-back to centuries past when important mail was despatched around the countryside by light-built horse-drawn coaches painted a bright maroon with black upper with the driver or his passenger blowing a horn to clear the Kings Highway ahead. The advent of the railway sounded the death-knell for these distinctive coaches. Only their colours continued with the post boxes and the colour of the delivery motor vans. Kind regards Bruce (150) 20160617/945/0122

Hello Terry, The Royal Airmail service car is a Morris chassis, the body was made by Duple Bodies and Motors Ltd. There is a picture of the real car in Meccano Magazine June 1937 at Croydon airfield. First models 34 had blue Tootsy style hubs. Later models smooth hubs, painted blue and later black. Indeed most models have fatigue and it is not easy to find a fatigue free model. I have one model in my collection without any trace of fatigue. Price at introduction was 6d and still was in February 1940. Despite pricelist of September 1940 still had many models listed, the Airmail car was not. Still hunting some more models to fill a tradebox A 2087 for six models. John.

Morning all The story of the Royal Air Mail Service Car produced by the Post Office is quite unique for both the real vehicle as well as the Dinky Toys model. The Air Mail Post Office Van had its roots in June 1930 when a special fleet of Royal Mail vans were introduced specifically to handle and advertise the new Air Mail service. Special letter boxes were provided in various locations around the UK with both these boxes and the new vans being painted blue. Eight Morris Minor vans were introduced for collection duties and two larger 105 cubic feet capacity vans for the conveyance of mails. (One of the latter 105 cubic feet vans had its body removed and the following is what happened to it.) Five years later, in 1935, a blue streamline car was built for the British Post Office to promote the use of air mail. (According to John's Post above the company who built the body was Duple Bodies and Coach Ltd.) Why it took five years to consider building a special vehicle to promote the air mail service is strange, unless the use of the air mail service with its additional postal charges was not as successful as first thought or interest was starting to wane. This vehicle with its streamlined body, was designed by Maurice Lambert, and mounted on a standard 15cwt Morris chassis. This streamlined van is shown below in the many 1935 publicity photographs that were mainly taken at Croydon Airport together with a 2015 photograph taken from close to where the originals were photographed 80 years previously. (It was quite remarkable to see this building preserved in almost its original state with its current owner carrying out extensive renovations while I was there. Although the rear of the building that once faced the tarmac was not open to the public, I am indebted to the friendly employee who allowed me access to wander around there unescorted last year unlike a security officer who did not permit photography of the interior booking hall.) In April 1935 Meccano decided to manufacture a Dinky Toys model of this streamlined vehicle, and perhaps they were unaware that only one van was produced by the Post Office or if they did, it made no difference as the publicity generated by the real vehicle could assist in sales of their toy model. The model was launched in October 1935 as evidenced by the Dinky Toys full page advertisement in that month's Meccano Magazine with the description being 34 Royal Mail Air Service Car, a title that was quickly corrected for the November issue to 34 Royal Air Mail Service Car. As mentioned in my first Post, the sales number was changed to 34a by October 1937. In August 1938, instructions were issued most likely from the Postmaster General's office for all Minor vans to be withdrawn from airmail service; they were repainted red and entered normal service by the end of the year. At the end of 1938, the streamlined van was put on display at the Glasgow Empire Exhibition. After this it was returned to London, the special body removed and replaced with a standard 105 cu ft body and the vehicle returned to normal post office duties. Its original shell was then scrapped unfortunately. Incidentally, if you are searching for a blue mailbox, it has been reported that one can still be found in Windsor, where this reminder of the airmail glory days is preserved as all others were either repainted or destroyed. As for the 34a model, John45 is perhaps the same proud owner who published pictures of his model in Talk Model Toys on 28 February 2014 as they both appear to be the same. In looking through Vectis previous auctions, a total of 24 34a Royal Air Mail Service Car models were sold since January 2006, and of these there was one model of a similar condition as Johns that sold in March 2007, so I wonder if John obtained that one for his Trade Box?? An image of that model is shown below with acknowledgement to Vectis Auctions. Kind regards Bruce (150) 20160617/946/1241

Thanks, Bruce, for this wonderful, well-documented account. An example worth to be followed. If I only had this model in my collection I would certainly use this report as an important source for my catalogue description! We want more, we want more ... Kind regards, Jan

Hello Bruce, Many thanks for your excellent information on the real car. This is what we need as serious collectors. I have documented all my activity from the beginning and can see from my files that I bought the Air mail car already 1 March 1986. It came from Pete McAskie, a antique toy dealer in Mews antique centre London. For a while this was a nice place to find Dinky's as Mike Roum, Patrick Trench, Colin Badiel and David Austin had a stall. On our way to Glouchester and other swapmeets we always visited London and Mike Richardson at Eton Wick. Even in 1986 it was rare and not cheap. Just like Jan I make a very basic annual every year in Dutch language and so I can read again all my trips and special moments. Quite a lot after 35 years collecting pre war items. This is also a great help writing my articles for the Journal. I made some contributions on TMT but my model is not in the topic 34a. However you can see a badly damaged 34a with Tootsy style hubs. John.

Bruce---Much thanks for the in-depth followup information on this most interesting little model. The story behind it, as well as the variety of photos, adds so much to such a little known vehicle, that apparently had a quite short life. As happened sometimes, the Dinky rendition actually looks better than the real thing; the Dinky is much lower and not so stodgy looking to me. A wonderful acquistion and so glad to it went to a good home.....congratulations once again! Best regards, Terry

John and Jan Many thanks for your very encouraging words. It is always refreshing to see someones positive comments on a Post that has probably taken some time to prepare. In the same vein, I never forget the backroom boys who make this entire website work. One thing that would most likely put the icing on the cake would be a copy of one of the drawings prepared by the draughtsman/draftsmen at Meccano of this little vehicle. Well, here it is, one of the Meccano drawings of the Royal Air Mail Service Van in all its glory, although I must apologize for the condition/quality of this little piece of history. I knew I had seen this drawing but could not recall exactly where. Then a check through Christies Auction catalogues finally provided the answer. The Lot containing the drawing for the Air Mail Van and the Refuelling Unit for Aeroplanes was auctioned on 27 September 1996 together with 71 other drawings as well as factory prototypes, colour trials and working ideas. Unfortunately no photographs of these unique Dinky Toys specimens apart from 14 of the 72 factory drawings were included in the catalogue. How I wish I were present! The following was the preamble to the auction: The uncle of the owner of these drawings, prototypes and Dinky Toys worked in the Binns Road Factory from 1968 to the closure in 1979. He was initially a Draughtsman and then a Checker. He was especially interested in, and developing the Space and Star Trek range. This collection, like others, was saved when the factory closed and items not thought at the time to be important were thrown out. The catalogue then included some details on the drawings themselves. So, apart from the Richardsons, thankfully others were also very keen in preserving some of the Meccano historical ephemera when the factory was about to disappear. The drawing for the Air Mail Van as it was known at that time was Job No. 7317, and was dated 26 April 1935 barely 6 months before the model went on sale through their agents as advertised in the Meccano Magazine in October 1935 with the last date on the drawing being 19 April 1945. The ultimate date is interesting which indicates that some thought had been given to including the model after the war in Europe had ended. As we know, nothing eventuated, and the model was cast into history. In copying this drawing, I have tweaked the image somewhat in order to show the numerous changes that were made to it. These can be seen by the areas of white background. But I wonder where the drawing is these days, not to mention all those other mouth-watering pieces of Meccano history? Finally, I wonder what the role of a checker was in the draughting office? I presume a checker examined the drawings and gave his approval for the drawings to be then used in the tooling room. Kind regards Bruce (150) 20160620/947/1320

Hi Bruce, in 2001 I wrote a 4 part article about the factory drawings of Meccano Binns Road. The direct cause was the auction of the Mike & Sue Richardson collection of such drawings in 2000, some of them used as illustrations (mostly details only) in both 'Dinky bibles'. I managed to 'save' dozens of very interesting factory lists and the drawings of the never made Streamlined Articulated Tanker Body, a favourite subject of mine. Besides an extensive description of what happened, my main message was that it was a shame, a 'sin', that the main body of all these drawings had been flogged, sold and scattered all over the world within one decade, whereas they should have been kept altogether as a unique body of industrial/cultural heritage, in a publicly accessible institution, available to everyone who intends to do fundamental research into these irreplaceable basic sources. I expressed the hope that the internet might 'repair' that drama. At this moment we still see a further scattering of this material, coming up for sale every now and then on auctions, fairs or eBay. But we can all be very happy that indeed the internet has become our main tool to re-unite these drawings and make them available - as we are trying to do now on our DTCA website. But, as your remark about the whereabouts of the Air Mail Van drawing underlines, many are still traceless, and only a limited number of poor photographic representations are known in the catalogues of all these auctions in the period 1995-2000. Let's continue our work on tracing them and make them available in digital form (which can be even more unveiling on high resolution than the physical drawings themselves). The article I mentioned was written in Dutch only and unfortunately Model Collector could not accept a full-size translation, as it was too long for their editorial format, and I was not prepared to drastically reduce its size with loss of essential information and illustrations. Kind regards, Jan WERNER, Jan, De Dinky Toys fabriekstekeningen van Meccano Binns Road: I Grafische bedrijfscommunicatie die nu geschiedenis vertelt. In: Auto in Miniatuur 2001:3. pp. 18-22. -First article in a series of four, discussing the Meccano Dinky Toys drawings of Meccano Liverpool, their function, history and present state. - Dinky Toys fabriekstekeningen van Meccano Binns Road: II Recente lotgevallen. In: Auto in Miniatuur 2001:4. pp. 28-33. - De Dinky Toys fabriekstekeningen van Meccano Binns Road: III Niet uitgebrachte modellen en administratieve lijsten. In: Auto in Miniatuur 2001:5. pp. 18-22. - De Dinky Toys fabriekstekeningen van Meccano Binns Road: IV De Bedford Articulated Petrol Tanker uit 1948 op herhaling. In: Auto in Miniatuur 2001:6. pp. 36-40.

Hello Jan, I totally agree with your comment on the Dinky drawings. We discussed it very often, also on TMT, but until today we have not achieved very much. I have almost 55 original drawings, mainly pre war airplanes and some cars. I bought these at the two Christies auctions, from friends and recently from Ebay. I have tried to trace drawings and come to a exchange in order to create a archive. Unfortunately this failed for several reasons. Mainly because collectors are afraid the value will drop. Both Christies auctions brought approx. Pounds 24.300,- so for a museum it was not a lot of money. Now impossible to bring them all together. I have made duplicates in the past and recently professional scans of the drawings, so the information will not get lost in case of! Maybe it is worth to give it a second chance to make a archive of drawings. We can start with just a list what collectors have, so we know what is around. It seems to me you are the right person as a contact with your museum archives background. Later we can ask collectors if they are prepared to donate duplicates or scans. The DTCA or Liverpool museum could be the place for the archive. For future studies the drawings are extreme important. But all this depends on the co-operation of collectors, otherwise it make no sense. Another point, now the DTCA archive is not accurate on some drawings as the duplicates Richardson provided were not complete. Several originals are in my collection and so I can see what is missing on the PDF. This discussion needs a own topic so maybe we can start this as 'Meccano Factory drawings'. John.