Bus Conductor's ticket printing machine, tickets and case
Object
Machine
Production date
c.1940s-1950s
Object number
2007.53
Physical Description
This Gibson model A14 ticket machine was owned by a London bus conductor and used to issue tickets to passengers. It was carried on a wide strap around the neck, leaving both hands free to operate the machine. A number of different tickets could be issued for different priced tickets. This machine has been personalised with the addition of an elastic band on the turning handle, to give a better grip.
Material
plastic
metal
board
paper
leather
Dimension
height (Whole): 165mm
width (whole): 170mm
depth (whole): 130mm
width (whole): 170mm
depth (whole): 130mm
Exhibition Label
"I chose this ticket machine because it holds some great memories of growing up. The 73 was the first bus I caught on my own without my parents, at age 11, to Stoke Newington Secondary School.
If I caught the 73 from Stoke Newington Common, where the bus started, the conductor would get on the bus with his brown case and rig up his silver ticket machine with a fresh white paper roll and a harness. "Fares please," he said, as he rotated the hand cranked silver ticket machine and handed me a ticket. Sometimes it would be a free ride if he didn't collect the fare before my stop, which meant more money for sweets. Some of us would avoid paying by jumping off at high speed.
Catching the bus after school was mayhem. It was always overcrowded with us school kids pushing in front of the older people. Sometimes the driver switched off the engine if there were too many people on board. Or he'd drive past our stop! Pulling the bell cord was an art-form in itself. We'd confuse the driver so much he'd pull up the blind to have a go at us.
We really gave the bus conductors a run for their money!"
Chosen by Winstan Whitter
Filmmaker
If I caught the 73 from Stoke Newington Common, where the bus started, the conductor would get on the bus with his brown case and rig up his silver ticket machine with a fresh white paper roll and a harness. "Fares please," he said, as he rotated the hand cranked silver ticket machine and handed me a ticket. Sometimes it would be a free ride if he didn't collect the fare before my stop, which meant more money for sweets. Some of us would avoid paying by jumping off at high speed.
Catching the bus after school was mayhem. It was always overcrowded with us school kids pushing in front of the older people. Sometimes the driver switched off the engine if there were too many people on board. Or he'd drive past our stop! Pulling the bell cord was an art-form in itself. We'd confuse the driver so much he'd pull up the blind to have a go at us.
We really gave the bus conductors a run for their money!"
Chosen by Winstan Whitter
Filmmaker
On display?
No
Inscription
London Transport - 22194 Gibson A14 - brown case with 22194 stamped on side - tickets with London Transport Buses printed on roll