Elgin? No. Columbia? Hmm.

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GuitarlCarl

GuitarlCarl

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Serial number on the BB, W73176A. Bent forks, a cheap skip tooth chain, and a few repair welds, but I'm happy with my 20 dollar BO12 bike. Pretty distinctive paint scheme and a rectangle rusted head badge that's unreadable, think it's an Elgin?
f12e25ea50f388a1e2b636d3d1471728.jpg


Carl.

sent from a banana phone...
 
Just from the paint scheme, I'd say Columbia.
 
But of course even though it has the blackout stem it still has a rusted rectangle head badge... the few rectangle badges I've seen by Columbia Westfield are aluminum so during the war... steel? Similar frames on Google images all have the round Columbia badge...So it's in that family but what branch? Mead Ranger?

Carl.
 
Too bad all the old bike brands don't have a complete page like the Mr. Columbia page.
http://vintagecolumbiabikes.com/index.html

from that page, looks like you have a 1944 model:


"1943.……G112859 - G195135........................................................................BB code "K"

1944.……G195136 - G200000 and W5001A - W85244A.............................BB code "L"

1945.……J5000 - J114781..............................................................................BB code "N" ?"
 
Wildcat said:
Too bad all the old bike brands don't have a complete page like the Mr. Columbia page.
http://vintagecolumbiabikes.com/index.html

from that page, looks like you have a 1944 model:


"1943.……G112859 - G195135........................................................................BB code "K"

1944.……G195136 - G200000 and W5001A - W85244A.............................BB code "L"

1945.……J5000 - J114781..............................................................................BB code "N" ?"
Click to expand...
I found that...Still doesn't remedy the rectangle badge...

Carl.

sent from a banana phone...
 
Even though it's unreadable, post up a pic anyway, maybe there's a clue. It might be some hardware store or other that was authorized to sell bikes. I think you had to put a request for a bike for a good reason. I read only Westfield and Huffman were allowed to make bikes during the war, but I wonder if that was just for military bikes. I have a 42 Snyder, but that was right about when the restrictions went into effect. So, yours is Westfield made during the war. That's a big deal right there.
Have you tried to take the badge off? I wonder if it may have been a replacement, but if the paint looks good with no other outline, that was the badge it came with.
I'll look forward to see the build in the annual build off.
 
I'm pretty sure it's original even though I haven't tried to remove it yet.
The screws look pretty much rusted to the badge...
KIMG0724.JPG
 
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That's a Westfield-built bike; i don't know if the mysterious rectangle of rust is going to yield any more valuable information. Headbadges mean little, not only for the reasons that most of us know but somehow forget, but also b/c in 75 years, that frame may have had it's badge switched a few times anyway. I'll feel pretty bad if, in 50 years, some guy is trying hard to figure out why my old Kona has a Newcastle Brown Ale cap as a headbadge....
 
Really? No more info? I'd just like to know WHO else blackout bikes were built for. This is the original badge for this particular bike and if someone can find another bike or picture of a Westfield/Columbia built bike with a badge from the family of bikes built by them, I'd be happy.

It's NOT the same as some podge of a bike with a badge from somewhere else. Same as the clowns that put FENDER decals on their partscasters... Anyone with knowledge can see it isn't a real Fender, nor a Brown Ale.

Carl.
 
Well heres something that looks close to yours. It's a 1940 WestField Air-Rider, it's pretty close.
1940 columbia westfield air-rider.jpg
 
AFAIK, blackout parts were war-time parts. Often, the frames were built before the war, and they built completes with blackout bits during the war. At least, that's my understanding of it. I'd think that anyone buying bikes from Westfield during the war would likely get a black-out package.... and then they slap their private badge on there and sell it. That entire narrative fits nicely with your bike's Westfield 1944 serial number.

The more I look at it, the more I think that's a Westfield badge, or an Elgin badge, being big and rectangular. (I'm not sure how/why you'd apparntly ruled out Elgin? Elgin became JC Higgins post-war; I'm not sure whether they sold any Elgins during the war or not. I guess I could google it...) It's the right size and shape for either of those marques. If you're really itchin' to know for sure, measure your badge, and compare to any specs you can find on the Elgin and Westfield badges from other members here or on the CABE. I suspect you might have been on to something with the aluminum badge being replaced with steel during war-time, kinda like how the normally chromed bits were blacked-out...

Maybe i'm in the minority here, but I don't see how much more info we'd get by knowing what the badge once said. We know who made the frame, and when. All the badge would tell us is what retail outlet sold it. Whether it was Sears, or some indy outlet selling Westfields, or some other retailer selling re-badged Westfields under a different name. In any case, we know that thing was made in Massachusetts in 1944, probably wore mostly Torrington components, and it appears to be in great shape.

Nice bike
 
Yeah, I've seen a few styles but always aluminum...
As far as Elgin, my initial thought was Elgin because of the pinch bolt seatpost frame and rectangle badge but when I got it home there are big differences in the badge size and screw spacing (2" vs 2 11/16") on my 41' Elgin. Also the Elgin I have and the one you usually see, have a straight center bar and down tube. I've yet to see an Elgin painted like a Columbia either.
KIMG0727[1].jpg

There is also a big difference in the fork crown.
KIMG0728[1].jpg

Now the frame style could be either but I doubt the fork crown would change. I'm really just curious to see a STEEL badge. Bicycle history just interests me, negativity, not so much...

Carl.
 
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Your other Elgin is probably Murray-built.... most pre-war Elgins are ether Murrays or Westfields. But the distance between the bolt-holes is definitely note-worthy
 

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