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Taverners’ Founders’ Day find
Mounted in a tiny black frame, this delightful ‘happy snap’ photograph of Mr E M Lewer’s lean-to garage was spotted on an attractively displayed stand of motorcycling/motoring ephemera at the 2021 VMCC Taverners’ Section Founders’ Day rally. You won’t be surprised to discover yours truly had to make a purchase or two!
The garage is squashed between tea rooms and a tobacconist shop. Perhaps tea room diners were served cakes and sandwiches in the house’s front room by Mr Lewin’s enterprising wife, mother or sister? To the other side of the garage, a pavement sandwich board promotes ‘Wild Woodbine Cigarettes’ manufactured by W D and H O Wills of Bristol and London. In the days long before Government advice was printed on cigarette packets, Woodies where among the cheapest and a favourite of errant schoolchildren as they were sold in packs of five, thus within the pocket money budget of many underage wannabe smokers.
It is likely this scene was photographed in a village or back street (secondary trading area) of a small town as the ‘lad’ bent over the De-Luxe Model (front wheel brake gives away its De Luxe status) BSA Round Tank is standing well into the road while, one assumes, suited Mr Lewer props up the door frame. The garage sells BP petrol in two gallon cans, with the stand to the left of the garage door proclaiming ‘Use the British Petrol’ and ‘Buy Here.’ Detail is fascinating,
