Even A Replica Can Confuse

 

Replica of a LPTB Police Warrant Card

Police memorabilia can change hands at very high prices.  In practice this means that museums and formal groups miss out on owning and preserving items that would be core to their collections.

As I write this there is a London Passenger Transport Board Police (LPTB) Warrant Card from 1940 that is on sale on ebay for £249.00. It looks like a fine item but at a price beyond the reach of all but the most avid or wealthy of collectors.

Some time ago replicas of LPTB Police Warrant Cards were on sale on the same auction site.  There was NO claim that they were original and they were sold on the basis that they were reproductions, at a very reasonable price.  Such objects are useful when mounting displays or delivering lectures as they protect the original or, in the absence of the real thing, provide a surrogate.  For this reason, a copy was acquired by the British Transport Police History Group (BTPHG).

On examination it was clear that the item was not a very good reproduction at all.   The most obvious thing was the colour.  It was light blue and virtually all police Warrant Cards from this period were black.  The logo on the front and inside of the card was not that of the LPTB.  The wording inside is nearly right but has a couple of significant errors.  For example ‘vested’ becomes ‘Vest’.  The key mistake is that the Act of Parliament authorising the attestation of constables is wrong.  The replica card talks of the London Passenger Transport Act 1939.  It was in fact s107 of the London Passenger Transport Act 1934 that was in use between 1935 and 1949 (1).

There is no suggestion that the person producing or selling the card had any intention to deceive.  These seem to be genuine and simple mistakes.  But there is a lesson here for all who hold collections or use materials for historical purposes.  In this case the utility of the item lies in it being a discussion point.  But will the fact that it is a replica with mistakes be quite so clear in 50 or 100 years time? By then the card may (if used as intended) be battered and aged.  The nuances of individual local or private Acts of Parliament may be more opaque than they are now (and they are pretty challenging now!).    We preserve materials for future generations.  History is a long term game.  How we record and describe what we hold in our collections is important not just for us, but for those that come after us.

 

Philip Trendall

September 2023

 

What appears to be an original LPTB Police Warrant Card, currently for sale:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175497978537?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20221115143428%26meid%3D11278e21a37b4c4ba672799a99d9a59b%26pid%3D101614%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26mehot%3Dnone%26itm%3D175497978537%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DWatchlistVariantWithMLR&_trksid=p4375194.c101614.m47999&_trkparms=parentrq%3A5abd6af018a0a55f535053dcffffb98e%7Cpageci%3A9ab34893-4a4a-11ee-9b17-a663512b1c43%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage 

BTPHG do hold Warrant Cards from this era in their collection

(1)  There is a London Transport Passenger Act 1939 but it is not concerned with policing - it has only 61 sections and focuses on trolley buses and vent shafts.

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