This week’s story is about something relatively common, “in its day” but very few people are aware of today. This is the 1931 “Registered Chauffeur State of West Virginia” badge. This small metal pin superseded a “driver’s license,” the physical card we have today.
This Chauffeur’s badge belonged to my great-great-grandfather L.W. Thompson. After he passed away in 1949 my Great Grandfather O.D. Thompson ended up with it. Then his son, my Grandfather, Bernard Thompson, kept it. During the early 20th century, bus drivers, taxi drivers, limousine drivers, and any other drivers that transported paying passengers were required to carry small state-issued metal badges known as “chauffeur licenses.”
As a child, it was always kept in Granddad’s firebox that sat on his antique roll-top desk in Tornado, WV that was jam-packed as a treasure trove of other pieces of local memorabilia. It was always a joy of mine to go visit my Nanny as a child and get to look through Granddad’s firebox and desk.
Holding a 94-year-old “driver’s license” from someone in Talcott, WV is pretty crazy, especially one that belonged to your great-grandfather. It wasn’t until recently that I uncovered what a “chauffeur badge” truly was. As a child, I always assumed it had something to do with a business specialty. Since L.W. was such a successful businessman it just stood to reason that it was just that.
After doing a thorough investigation, I discovered it was merely a “driver’s license.” All around the country and in our case, West Virginia started issuing them to drivers in the early 20th century as a means of identifying “licensed drivers.” More specifically, someone who drove people around at that time.
Not only was L.W. a successful contractor who built many homes around Summers County from the 1910s through the 1940s, but he also operated a construction company, sold “Bird” (a brand of shingles at the time), and had a hardware store and Kurfees Paint Store in Talcott. He built lots of custom oak furniture that included cupboards and cedar chests. He also built custom boats and had a boat shop at his home in Talcott. But apparently, he was hired to transport people or their property in his private vehicle for which he was then compensated.
They were commonly worn on your hat or coat in the days of “Model T’s” and “A’s”. This was later replaced by paper driver’s licenses in the 1950s and became an area of transportation history that was forgotten about. So up until that time if you were pulled over, your pin was to be worn so it was visible to the officer as opposed to them now having to ask for your license.
When we were cleaning out Granddad’s things at his second home in Tornado, WV this was the only thing I asked my mother for. Because I had such fond memories of looking at it with Granddad as a child, and because of the fact I am a “tad” obsessed with anything that has to do with L.W. Thompson.
