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

John There already is a Topic 'Meccano Factory Drawings', so I look forward to this Topic re-opening as it has been a little quiet since I wrote the last Post on 24 February 2016! Kind regards Bruce (150) 20160621/948/0318

Just want to add my thanks and appreciation to those of you who have so passionate about these drawings. As Jan has so eloquently pointed out several times, these factory drawings are so important to understanding what & when happened to the models over their service life. Nowhere else is this to be found and since its source is original, the information gleaned from them is accurate. It is just hard to imagine that Mike Richardson was so short sighted in selling off those, without having them professionally scanned for archive use. I know the money issue was huge, but still......Best regards, Terry

Greetings one and all Further to all the interesting responses to my original Post on this unique model, I thought I would let collectors know, especially those who would like to add an example to their collection that Tennants in Leyburn, North Yorkshire are conducting an auction on 6 December 2016. Lot 535 is for not one but TWO Royal Air Mail Service Cars, although their condition is rated as 'poor'. See the following image of these two models.

As I announced already on the 'New arrivals' page I have become the happy owner at last of this Air Mail Van, three years after my desperate lamentation in comment #9 above! My patience is rewarded: this weekend I found a very good example of this van on the DTCA swap meet. I bought it from Bob Burnett at a very friendly 'DTCA member price', well below GBP 100. I had never had one in my hands and now this one looked so good that I could not resist buying it, although I had no buying intention at all for this weekend. This example is far from free of fatigue, but it is very acceptable compared with many others, and everything else is in really nice condition: the tyres, the wheels, the transfers fully complete and hardly any paint loss on an otherwise rather smooth casting surface. I like the blue hubs, which match the rest of the body so nicely. As John explained this is the second variant, showing the smooth blue painted hubs. it's no use trying to add anything to the abundant information supplied above, and I will certainly derive a lot of information posted here for use in my own catalogue comment. Just some new photos below, showing some more angles and details. Kind regards, Jan

Digging for some more information about this model I came across this picture of the sole surviving large factory drawing of job no. 7317, dated 26 April 1935. It is hard to read, but more than nothing. The axle width change of 19 April 1945 is included. The drawing was auctioned by Christie's South Kensington in September 1996. Kind regards, Jan

Hello Jan In response to your Post #17 above, I actually included this drawing in my Post #10, although your image is 'cleaner' whereas with mine, I darkened it slightly, endeavouring to bring out the white areas on the original that indicated the changes to the drawing that took place which I thought would be of some interest to the collector. Recently I learned how the draughtsmen 'wrote back to front' to indicate any writing on the 'other side' of the drawing, which is very evident in this drawing of the 34a. The original I have of another model on waxed/tracing paper shows that the draughtsman printed the details the correct way around on the back of the tracing paper, and then went over the ghost image of the lettering on the correct side! Fascinating stuff. I will post part of that original drawing on the appropriate Topic one of these days. Kind regards Bruce (150) 20171607/1143/1240

Bruce, I agree, I overlooked. In an incidental case of 'imageblindness' I was searching my own files, because I knew I had one. And, yes, using the other side of the drawing paper happens more than once. Like corrections and some other 'invisible' traces on the drawing's surface and in the fabric itself this is only visible with drawing in hands and will not be unveiled by a photocopy or scan! Kind regards, Jan

Greetings all! When I was preparing the new Topic on the Royal Air Mail Service Car in June last year I was intending to include the New Zealand stamp that depicted the solitary vehicle used for publicity purposes in the UK. However, with one thing and another, I neglected to do so. While looking through my New Zealand stamp album recently I came across the actual stamp so I decided to conduct a little research as to why New Zealand selected a solitary UK vehicle for their Express Delivery issue. It was then that I made a most unexpected discovery: The vehicle depicted on the stamp should have been a Chrysler Coupe examples of which were in use throughout the major centres in New Zealand in the 1930s. This is an extract from the New Zealand Post Office website: EXPRESS DELIVERYOn 1 January 1901 an express delivery and special messenger service was introduced by the Post and Telegraph Office. On payment of a special fee, the sender of an article could ensure that it would be delivered as soon as possible after receipt at the office of destination. A special stamp was produced in 1903 to better promote the service By 1938 the original stamp had been in use for 35 years and it was thought that the time had come to introduce a new one. As a Chrysler coupe was then in use in the larger centres for the delivery of Express correspondence, it was felt that this would be an appropriate subject to depict on the stamp, which was designed by James Berry and engraved by the Australian Commonwealth Note and Stamp Printer with a value of six pence, 6d. This stamp design was based on a photograph of a type of Chrysler coupe then in use in larger centres for delivery of express correspondence. This is the Express Delivery postage stamp: Although not locating a copy of the photograph mentioned above, I returned to the stamp, and on enlarging it, my conclusion was that it did not depict a 1934 Chrysler Airflow Coupe. Although the Chryslers in use by the New Zealand Post Office may have used a body manufactured by a domestic company, there were too many differences that eliminated this theory. This is a Chrysler Airflow Coupe that should have appeared on the stamp ignoring the spats over the rear wheels as these may have been removed by the Post Office. Enlarging the stamp there are many differences between the 1934 Chrysler Coupe and the vehicle depicted on the stamp. But this is what looks to be the vehicle, the special-built, Morris! As can be seen above, the drawing on the stamp is too squarish to be a Chrysler; it has a one-piece windscreen, the vehicle has single headlights whereas the Chrysler had twin vertical headlights, the door is rearward opening whereas the Chrysler had the conventional forward opening door and there is the semblance of a fin above the windscreen which is typical of the Morris which coursed along the roof and down the rear of the vehicle. Lastly, the bumper bar at the front is different with both vehicles. Notice the similarity between the stamp and this photograph. Although the NZ Post Office has stated This stamp design was based on a photograph of a type of Chrysler coupe then in use in larger centres for delivery of express correspondence in my opinion the Australian designer did not have access to a photograph supplied by the NZ Post Office of the Chrysler Coupe in use for Express Delivery, or if he did, ignored it, using instead for some reason the publicity photographs of the Morris Royal Air Mail Service car. If there was an error, intentional or accidental, obviously the NZ Post Office who would have approved the engraving anyway, either did not notice it or if it did, thought the vehicle was close enough to the Chrysler, so why would anyone notice it! Yep, someone did 79 years later! Perhaps one of these days, a photograph of the actual Chrysler in use by the New Zealand Post Office will eventually turn up, and can be added to this Topic. Perhaps our resident Dinky Guru Ron may turn up a photograph or two! In the meantime, the Dinky Toys 34a Royal Air Mail Service Car still graces the pages of countless philatelic collections throughout the world! Isn't that nice! Kind regards Bruce H. (150) 20170208/1151/1209

A nice find and interesting story, Bruce! With its lower, speedy looks the stamp image resembles the Dinky even better than the higher looking real one! I'll have to check my father's stamp collection on the loft to see if it's present there (although I judge the chance rather minor, the main focus being on other territories). I always love the graphic quality of these tiny little pieces of engraving work like this. Would it be possible for you to post the stamp once more, but in a higher resolution / enlarged size? Kind regards, Jan

Greetings Jan I quite agree with your assessment of the graphic qualities of postage stamps in the past. These little pieces of paper with adhesive were a real art form sadly missing in today's hustle and bustle. The engraving process on a series of plates with shadows created by increased lines, and the imposition of watermarks for secuity were little miniature works of art. The stamp does show the Royal Air Mail Service Car in a manner not often seen, and of course it is nice that our Dinky Toys 34a is probably the only Dinky Toys that is featured on a postage stamp! Even if it was featured accidentally! I hope the image below is satisfactory for your purposes. Kind regards Bruce H. (150) 20170408/1152/0059

Hello Bruce, There is at least one more Dinky Toys on a stam, the 62 Ford Zephyr. 500 367

Thanks Bruce, a little piece of art work indeed! Jacques, any idea if this stamp makes part of a series (of similar/related items or topics)? Kind regards, Jan