My husband was knighted for his services to motoring two years ago in 1933.
Sir Stenson Cooke, the first Secretary of the AA, and his wife Lady May tell of the conception and birth of the Automobile Association one hundred years ago and of its many innovative ideas, taken for granted today.
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THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW IT ALL CAME ABOUT |
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It all began with the police.
Could you become a common criminal,
just for driving too fast?
You could!
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Perjury! If the AA scout were
convicted,
it would mean
the end of the AA.
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The idea was Village Signs,
so motorists could see
where they were.
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Khaki uniforms led
naturally to the idea of AA
Sentry Boxes."
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“Goodbye, my dear.”
So off dear Stenson went to Paris
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A car wangled through French Customs
in four minutes.
It was a topping scoop,
hanged if it wasn’t.
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Summoned to a Government Minister’s
meeting, Stenson was wearing a brown
suit with a bowler hat, oh dear! |
Another row was brewing with the
Motor Union.
There was only one thing for it.
Amalgamation!
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Membership had grown to 83,000,
but this was July 1914… |
In 1920 a new idea was brought back
from California.
Roadside Filling Stations
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It had all meant, and still does mean,
quite something to be Secretary to the
Automobile Association
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