View Single Post
Old 01-27-2018, 04:20 AM   #363
Carruthers
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Buckinghamshire UK
Posts: 4,059
On the Indian sub-continent, spare wheels are still known as 'Stepneys', the original company having ceased trading after WW1.

Quote:
Q. Living and working in Saudi Arabia for 12 years brought me in contact with many different nationalities. One day I was out with one of my Indian colleagues when we had a puncture and he immediately asked if we had a Stepney. Having never heard of the term I finally deduced it to be the spare wheel. It’s a term not used in the UK. Any comments?

A. This odd-sounding term for what we in Britain call a spare wheel or Americans a spare tire is known in some countries of the former British empire and colonies, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Malta.
World Wide Words

I note that the top ad is dated 1907 and that the firm also traded from Berlin.
I wonder how long that arrangement lasted?

Grace's Guide to British Industrial History.
__________________
Carruthers is offline   Reply With Quote