South West African Wheel Tax Badges 1926-1961, by Gordon McGregor

South West African Wheel Tax Badges 1926-1961, by Gordon McGregor. Revised edition. Windhoek, Namibia 2017. ISBN 9789991670034 / ISBN 978-99916-700-3-4

This is the foreword to South West African Wheel Tax Badges 1926-1961, by Gordon McGregor.

Gordon McGregor  

The long and narrow or oval metal pieces with the words 'S.W.A. Wheel Tax' or others having the words 'S.W.A. 4 Wheel Tax' or 'S.W.A. 2 Wheel Tax' and a date and 2 holes in them are usually referred to by many people as 'ox-wagon licences'. These badges come in a variety of metals ranging from brass, tin to aluminium and have also a serial number stamped on them. These metal badges are displayed in many museums, appear in private collections, or are found lying in the drawers of desks at homes with little or no reliable information available on them. South West African Wheel Tax Badges 1926-1961 sets out and defines the wheel tax badges used in the country when it was known as the Protectorate of South West Africa. Of the many and varied Wheel Tax Ordinances and Regulations, I have only used those that are relevant to the wheel tax badges for the book and disregarded the rest. Further, a section at the end of the book on the wagon tax in German South West Africa has been added even though outside the scope of this book. No doubt, it will be of interest to the readers and also provides an insight into how the wagon tax system operated in the German colony. The question of whether or not to clean a badge has cropped up on many occasions and my opinion was requested on this issue. My answer to the question is that I personally do clean badges if they are dirty or corroded so as to bring out the detail on them. This is my personal choice and if a collector decides to leave a badge in the condition he obtained it in, that is his choice. However, a collector should be careful with the method used to clean a badge, as it is very easy to destroy it in the process. I personally use a liquid household cleaner with Ammonia in it, but am still very cautious not to damage the badge. In addition, a section marked NOTES has been included at the end of the book in which personal notes can be made on any badges, etc. Please contact the author with any further information on badges and pictures of wheel tax badges that you may possess so that this work can be expanded and possibly lead to a revised and even bigger second edition. Without the assistance of Wolfi Hlasek, Werner Baas and Alex MacDonald who allowed me access to their collections and photograph them, there would be a lack of pictures in this publication and for their generous help I must thank them. It must also be noted that some of the badges are not shown in real size but somewhat enlarged so as to show up detail. Some badges that have been damaged or mutilated are included but this is due to no better quality badge available. The revised edition of this book contains far more pictures of the badges than the first edition and most certainly now helps complete the overview of the badges. My thanks must also go to the personnel of the Namibia Scientific Society, the National Archives of Namibia and the National Library of Namibia for their assistance in my research.

This is an excerpt from South West African Wheel Tax Badges 1926-1961, by Gordon McGregor.

Title: South West African Wheel Tax Badges 1926-1961
Author: Gordon McGregor
Series: Medals & Badges, Vol. 14
Publisher: Gordon McGregor
Revised edition. Windhoek, Namibia 2017
ISBN 9789991670034 / ISBN 978-99916-700-3-4
Softcover, 15 x 21 cm, 35 pages, throughout colour photographs