Vintage AAA National Award License Plate Topper Chrome Enamel 1950s W/ Orig Box For Sale

Vintage AAA (American Automobile Association) "National Award" license plate topper WITH its original two-piece display box. This was AAA's safe-driving award - handed to members who went a year citation-free and bolted to the top of the license plate. Mid-century car culture, badge-of-honor style.

THE BADGE: Chrome face with deep red granular enamel behind the raised AAA letters, NATIONAL AWARD banner in polished chrome over glossy burgundy enamel, original rivets and slotted mounting screws with the mounting bracket and plate-edge clamp on back. About 4.5 inches wide. Consistent with mid-century 1950s production. This is the design of US Patent 2,004,635 (Wilbur F. Price for L.F. Grammes & Sons, Allentown PA, patented June 1935) - a "club emblem or sign such as are used on automobiles," with a reflective layer built to catch headlights at night. Mounting hardware shows honest age; I can't rule out past display on a vehicle. Chrome bright with minor age marks, enamel intact and glossy.

THE BOX: Original two-piece lift-off-lid box, silver foil paper wrap with the green AAA oval logo and "National Award" in green script. Honest age wear, fully disclosed: tan age stain to the lid front, silver paper rubbed through at the corners, lightly bumped corners; base clean with even toning. Structurally sound.

A great addition to an automobilia, petroliana, or vintage license plate collection - the box is the hard part to find. Shipped carefully packed.

I typically ship out same or next day via USPS from the middle of the desert.

Thanks!