Through the efforts of Clara Barton, the American Red Cross was established in 1881. The International Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement had been founded in 1863, one year before the First Geneva Treaty Convention. Both emblems - the red cross and red crescent - were agreed upon as symbols of neutrality to allow relief workers to safely enter and provide services within hostile areas. In 1905, the United States Congress chartered the American organization. Early efforts focused on fund raising and educating the public about the organization's role. After the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made the Red Cross an official agency to facilitate relief efforts. Throughout this time, the Red Cross realized that if it was going to provide essential life support services - in wartime and in peace - it would need more money. Extraordinary efforts in this area were organized, due in no small part to Mabel Boardman, who had assumed leadership of the organization when Clara Barton stepped down in 1904. But soon, war clouds gathered in Europe. With the onset of World War I, the American Red Cross and its international contingents would be needed more than ever. As it has time and time again, the Red Cross came through!

Now, an Ambulance Field Service vehicle from those early days of the American Red Cross is recreated in an extraordinary die-cast model by Matchbox collectibles. It is decorated with the neutrality-signifying "Red Cross," a symbol that lives on to this day, as well as authentic period serial numbers and identification graphics. Your American Ambulance Field Service 1912 Ford Model T is produced by - and available only from - Matchbox Collectibles.

(1999)

Scale: 1:43