Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to specialist chauffeur service companies or individual drivers that provide both driver and vehicle for hire. Some service companies merely provide the driver.
The term chauffeur comes from the French term for stoker because the earliest automobiles,[1] like their railroad and sea vessel counterparts, were steam-powered and required the driver to stoke the engine. Early petrol/gasoline-powered motor cars, before the advent of electric ignition, were ignited by 'hot tubes' in the cylinder head which had to be pre-heated before the engine would start. Hence the term chauffeur which, in this context, means something like "heater-upper". The chauffeur would prime the hot tubes at the start of a journey, after which the natural compression cycle of the engine would keep them at the correct temperature. The chauffeur also maintained the car, including routine maintenance and cleaning, and had to be a skilled mechanic to deal with breakdowns and tyre punctures en route, which were very common in the earliest years of the automobile.
The Chauffeur
Only the very wealthy could afford the first automobiles, and they generally employed chauffeurs rather than driving themselves. A 1906 article in The New York Times reported that "the chauffeur problem to-day is one of the most serious that the automobilist has to deal with", and complained that "young men of no particular ability, who have been earning from $10 to $12 a week, are suddenly elevated to salaried positions paying from $25 to $50" and recommended the re-training of existing coach drivers.[2]
While the term may refer to anybody who drives for a living, it usually implies a driver of an elegant passenger vehicle such as a horse-drawn carriage, luxury sedan, motor coach, or especially a limousine; those who operate buses or non-passenger vehicles are generally referred to as "drivers". In some countries, particularly developing nations where a ready supply of labor ensures that even the middle classes can afford domestic staff and among the wealthy,[3] the chauffeur may simply be called the "driver".
People currently sometimes employ chauffeurs full-time to drive themselves in their own personal vehicles, yet there are also professional services offering limousines or rental cars[4] driven by chauffeurs. This is very similar to but much more luxurious than taking a taxicab. A variety of benefits are cited for using chauffeurs, including convenience, productivity and time savings,[5] and driving safety for business people[6] and seniors.[7] Insurance costs for luxury vehicles are often lower if the designated driver is a chauffeur.[3]
The legal requirements to be a chauffeur vary depending on the local jurisdiction and class of vehicle. In some cases, a simple permit is all that is required, but in others an additional professional license is needed with certain minimum standards in areas such as: age, health, driving experience, criminal record, local geographic knowledge,[8] training attended.[9]
In many places (or at times in the past), proper physical presence is presented by the chauffeur at all times. This usually includes a well-groomed individual, conservatively dressed in a clean and crisply pressed black or dark business suit or tuxedo, dress shirt, and appropriately matching tie, with black leather gloves and freshly polished matching footwear. In some areas, such as Japan, white gloves are the norm. Some companies have complete uniforms for their chauffeurs, and some require that hats be worn as part of the uniform.
The first chauffeurs were people employed to stoke a steam engine and keep it running. The literal meaning of the French noun chauffeur (from the verb chauffer, meaning "to heat") is "one that heats." In the early days of automobiles, French speakers extended the word to those who drove the "horseless carriage," and it eventually developed an extended sense specifically for someone hired to drive other people. It was this latter sense that was borrowed into English in the late 19th century. Incidentally, the French word chauffeur derives from the same Anglo-French word that gave English speakers the verb chafe, and ultimately can be traced back to the Latin verb calēre ("to be warm").
This article describes the origin of the term "chauffeur fracture" used to indicate an oblique fracture of the radial styloid process with extension into the wrist joint. This kind of fracture was originally described by the British surgeon Jonathan Hutchinson in 1866. The invention of the automobile increased the incidence of this fracture among chauffeurs and cabdrivers. Indeed, at the beginning of the 20th century, motor vehicles were started by means of a crank-handle connected to the engine, which needed to be turned vigorously clockwise by hand. If the motor started unexpectedly, the crank-handle could jerk back violently and thereby cause a wrist injury due to sudden hyperextension. We retrospectively reviewed the literature and historical articles to better define the historical origins of an often-forgotten eponym. In 1904, the French surgeon Just Lucas-Championnière first evidenced the occupational origin of this fracture, so introducing the term "chauffeur fracture" to identify this injury.
When Albert Einstein was making the rounds of the speaker's circuit, he usually found himself eagerly longing to get back to his laboratory work. One night as they were driving to yet another rubber-chicken dinner, Einstein mentioned to his chauffeur (a man who somewhat resembled Einstein in looks & manner) that he was tired of speechmaking.
When they arrived at the dinner, Einstein donned the chauffeur's cap and jacket and sat in the back of the room. The chauffeur gave a beautiful rendition of Einstein's speech and even answered a few questions expertly.
Then a supremely pompous professor asked an extremely esoteric question about anti-matter formation, digressing here and there to let everyone in the audience know that he was nobody's fool. Without missing a beat, the chauffeur fixed the professor with a steely stare and said, "Sir, the answer to that question is so simple that I will let my chauffeur, who is sitting in the back, answer it for me."
However, this incident no more happened to Einstein's chauffeur than it did to the Easter Bunny. This story has long been part of the canon of Jewish folklore, usually framed as a tale about the envious manservant of a wise rabbi who has been invited to address a gathering of elders in a distant town.
Le mot chauffeur n'apparaît à aucun moment dans les paroles de la chanson, par contre la chanson est écrite du point de vue de quelqu'un qui conduit une autre personne, une femme, lors d'une chaude journée.
L'une des deux jeunes femmes est vêtue de lingerie et est conduite par un chauffeur en uniforme dans une Vanden Plas Princess limousine pendant que l'autre femme, vêtue elle aussi de lingerie fine, se prépare dans une somptueuse suite d'hôtel. Les deux femmes se retrouvent à la fin dans un parking souterrain désert et se mettent à danser ensemble (comme Charlotte Rampling dans Portier de nuit).
If a person in 1900 could afford a steam powered automobile, they could certainly afford had to have a chauffeur. Right? And these first drivers and chauffeurs were paid more than double what regular laborers were paid, or roughly $20 week. The die was cast.
In 1906 Rolls Royce introduced the Silver Shadow, the first purely chauffeured automobile, equipped with what was soon to the standard for luxury: a chauffeur compartment. Think Teddy Roosevelt. Think Norma Desmond.
Limos lined up at the academy awards, with svelte starlets, who sashayed onto the red carpet from the back in long gowns. Captains of industry drove to One Wall Street. The queen when to cricket matches in them. And who was behind the wheel. Tick, tick. Hint. Not the queen, nope. A chauffeur. A black-suited chauffeur.
By the 70s limos were a thing. Hell, Donald Trump drove around in one. Jagger arrived at concerts in one. And with that visibility, everyone wanted one. And the price went down. Wedding parties. Proms. Drunken revelers. You name it. The limo and chauffeur were commonplace, until opulence and luxury surrendered to absurdity. Limos become longer and longer until they looked like shiny black gummy bears, stretched in the July heat, contorted beyond recognition. What stayed constant: the chauffeur.
Sam was first brought to our attention after we met one day on a London street. Our meeting was not by accident but, while most brokers are sat in an office, Sam brought his product out directly to chauffeurs and took the time to listen about the issues we had with historic policies and claims. I have since bumped into him and his team in many occasions, such as Ascot races, Film Premieres and this year at the Farmborough Airshow on the hottest two days in British history. 2ff7e9595c
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