'In the past', when cars were not yet fitted with indicator lights - known as flashing lights or direction indicators for several decades - the driver had to indicate the change of direction with hand signals.
Those gestures had to be (learned) and when driving down for the then already coveted driving diploma also used. A whole ritual. In bad weather and cold, the already not so pleasantly heated vehicle became even fresher because the driver's side window had to be turned all the way down, or slid open. It goes without saying that the arm hung outboard then became quite wet and cold; if a lot of direction had to be indicated, everything would become wetter and colder. As time went on, the driver's arm was replaced by a 'pole' mounted on the vehicle with a 'hand (you)' attached to it. In many cases, the driver's window still had to be fully opened or turned down. Those were the days ... Such equipment had a short life, because then the (enlightened) 'finger' was invented. The stick with hand is therefore considerably less known. Also in classic circles. And now let us come across a very old truck in Great Britain with such a stick-on-hand attached. A Ford 85 from 1939 equipped with a so-called flat head V8. This model was also known as 'barrel front'. Why? That is not difficult to guess when you see the nose. The model of a 'ton' ... By the way, this was still a beautiful restoration object. Unfortunately, it was just sold for £ 2.500 or 3 mille in euros. Bad luck?