By William Jones, The Hinton News
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 This small metal pin superseded a “driver’s license,” the physical card we have today.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.
Read more: https://hintonnews.com/2025/04/08/a-peek-into-summers-countys-past-registered-chauffeur-badge/
