Jack Rosenthal with Underpriviliged Children's charity Chairman, DaC's David Lessman (D19)
On Wednesday February 16th Call Sign was invited along to The Jewish
Museum at East End Road in Finchley to witness the opening of a new
exhibition in London which outlined the story of Jewish taxi drivers and the
London Cab trade. The opening was performed by celebrated playwright Jack
Rosenthal whose plays have numbered many, but who will always be remembered
within the cab trade for his bittersweet portrayal of student taxi drivers
in The Knowledge. His story on the night about how he arrived at the museum
had the surprisingly large first night 'audience' in stitches!
The exhibition does leave it's main purpose occasionally with many of the
exhibits being of the London taxi trade's history in general, however,
explanations are aplenty and visitors can make their own minds up as to what
it was that drew so many Jewish people into the trade.
There are anecdotes, video recordings of old news items, photographs and memorabilia of all aspects of the trade - much of which
involves the long and varied history of the London Taxi Drivers Fund for
Underprivileged Children. That organisation has been linked with Dial-a-Cab
continuously throughout the years via it's Committee members and Chairmen
such as Sam Harris,
JEWISH TAXI DRIVERS AND THE LONDON CAB TRADE
NEW EXHIBITION OPENED BY JACK ROSENTHAL
Jack knows which mag to read during a quiet moment!
DaC Driver Jackie Kott (Y88) poses against some old taxi photos
Jack Taylor, Bill Tysack, Gerry Dunn and current
chairman David Lessman (D19).
Visitors to the TAXI exhibition can also view two other
exhibitions. One is about early Jewish life in London while upstairs is the
rather harrowing testimony to the survival of Leon Greenman who, in 1943 was
transferred from the German labour camp of Westerbork to
A final word about one special person. Henry Feldman was a Radio Taxis driver and an excellent cartoonist whose drawings appeared regularly in Mountview News. Henry lost a brave battle with cancer last year at a tragically young age and the TAXI exhibition has been mounted in his memory.
The exhibition is at The Jewish Museum, 80 East End Road, N3 and will be on until October 29th 2000. Admission is £2 for adults (Concessions £1) with children admitted free.
