The modern day onboard GPS system is now making drivers never lose their way, but has it ever occurred to you what life was like before GPS? When we navigated with maps and also developed the psychological traits of men never asking for directions and women reading the maps and getting even more confused. But the modern-day sat-nav is likely to pose far fewer problems for lost drivers than its 1927 forerunner. The Plus Four Wristlet Route Indicator, which has gone on display at a National Trust house, is thought to be the first navigation device for motorists. Worn like a wrist-watch, it is loaded with a tiny paper road map that is rolled across the face by adjusting two small black knobs. It comes with set route maps, such as London to Bournemouth and London to Edinburgh, and the driver winds the knobs to move the map on as their car travels further. When motorists wish to turn off the road, they have to pull over to replace the map with another map that corresponds to a number on the junction.
The ingenious but fiddly device was never mass produced and would have only been used by the tiny section of the population who could afford cars. It comes with around 20 maps but more could be ordered to cover the entirety of the country. Most of the set journeys start from London.
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