Motor enthusiasts are magpies! I’ll bet there’s not one of us who hasn’t got a collection of favoured items hoarded away.  For some people – myself included - its books. For others its programmes or photographs. I know one enthusiast who collects postcards of cars. And there are many who like to collect manufacturer’e brochures. But there is one item that –because of its fragility, few have managed to collect.

 

The items I’m refering to are the transfers that once adorned the dashboards of most cars with the details of the local dealer who had supplied the car. I guess the hey-day of these transfers ranged from the 1920s right up to the end of the 1950s. Every dealer had his own personalised transfer carrying his business details and usually they would be affixed to the often metal dash of a new car.

 

They were cheap to produce, often very attractive and simple to use. A soak in a saucer of water and the transfer would slide easily into position. A gentle dabbing with a soft cloth to absorb any excess mositure and, hey presto, the job was done. Simplicity itself!

 

But over the years any unused transfers are likely to have become dried out and cracked so their chances of surviving – and don’t forget they could now be as many as one hundred years old – are pretty small. That’s why I’m delighted to have a small collection of transfers ranging from a cycle stores in Killarney to a wonderful transfer for the Walden Motor Company that is nothing short of pure art of it’s time. Interesting to note, the Cycle Stores – William Hearne of Killarney features a St. Christopher design. This was a popular and familiar symbol at the time that seems to have now all but disappeared.

 

Three of the transfers I have are for Ford dealers – the aforementioned Walden Motor Company from Parnell Street in Dublin, Dermot Kelly Ltd., in Kilcock and John O’Gorman & Sons of Crookstown, Ballytore, County Kildare. These Ford transfers may just have been produced by the dealer themselves but its also probable that Henry Ford & Son would have made available designs for their dealers if they wished to use them. Sadly, my Dermot Kelly example has dried up and cracked over the years and is now pretty delicate. The other example I have is a very simple transfer for John O’Hara, who was a supplier of ‘David Brown Tractors and Implements’ based in Freshford, County Kilkenny.

 

Of my small collection the Walden Motor Company transfer is by far the outstanding design. The Walden Motor Company was next door to my parents hardware business in Parnell Street and I would love to know the origins of this design that features winged wheels – are they spoked? – and a lovely banner to carry their name.

 

If you have any examples of motor dealer transfers then I’d love to hear from you, ideally with a photograph. It would be very interesting to see what transfers have survived the passage of time. If there are enough examples we could return to the subject at a future time.