Hats Off
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T THOUGHT the ultimate in sales-promotion gimmicks had I been achieved by the breakfast-cereal firms. But I was wrong. A Vancouver concern, Industrial Marine Power, Ltd., is giving away an Ascot topper to every potential buyer of a David Brown marine engine, of which they are distributors in Western Canada.
Why the topper? The Ascot racecourse and the David Brown company were established at approximately the same time—the middle of the last century. And that, surely, is a good a reason as any for going "high hat."
Colour Records
INGENUITY might not be the road to success, but it certainly
is one of the stepping stones. That is why I was intrigued the other day when Mr. P. M. Bristow, of the Duramin Engineering Co., Ltd.. told me why they kept a colour-photographic record of the light alloy bodies they produce.
He showed me some of the latest batch, including a fine blue artic for the Metal Box Company, and a Lucozade yellowliveried van. Also very impressive was a colour photograph of an ivory and red lorry. Ivory, my knowledgeable photographic friends tell me, is a hard colour to reproduce.
Apart from impressing the customers, the Duramin collection could, in, say, 30 years' time, prove an unusual cross-section of today's commercial vehicle fleets. It is certainly a step forward on the usual black-and-white film records that bodybuilders maintain.
B12
The Social Whirl
AS an industry, road transport is a sociable, friendly bunch of people—far more so than many industries. Pretty well throughout the year the R.H.A. and T.R.T.A. hold their headquarters and area dinner-dances, so ubiquitous souls such as I are able to keep in regular contact with all our friends, as well as make many new ones.
But there are not very many passenger functions, which is a great pity. The London Coastal Coaches annual ball, held last week, provided a very enjoyable but comparatively rare opportunity (outside of conferences and the annual lunches
Ld dinners each p.s.v. organization holds) to indulge in this easant hobby of greeting the old friends and welcoming the w.
'ravellers' Tales
"ALKING of lunches, and so on reminds me of a brief snippet I overheard at last week's National Conference of
ncl Transport Clearing Houses annual lunch. Mr. H. F. arks (looking fit and bronzed, and just back from a Medirranean cruise) came up to Mr. T. Jackson (looking just like ,yone else who has to winter in this peculiar climate, and io is shortly off on a Mediterranean cruise on the same ship Mr. Marks), and said: "When we're alone I'll give you me tips on how to make yourself more comfortable, and sat to look out for or avoid."
Those sort of tips are like gold dust. If I could have hovered erhead a little later, it would have made interesting reading.
the Air
INE of our staff has just had a first-hand example of the / advantages of radio-controlling a transport operation. tiling by appointment on a South London tipper company iich has recently gone over to two-way short wave radiontrol, he was somewhat disconcerted to find that the man was due to meet was engaged on a job some miles away. Within a matter of seconds, however, the two were apologizing each other over the radio system, and arranging an immeale alternative means of doing the job on hand.