Date my bike

[nchooks]

Hi, new to the forum here. My wife bought a new beach cruiser and I decided I wanted one too. I discovered this site during my research and immediately knew what I had to do. Back in the late 70's my father and I were restoring old cars and farm equipment as a hobby. He had a bike that he had as a boy and I decided I was going to fix it up. I disassembled it, sanded it down and shot a coat of primer on it. I then lost interest and abandoned the bike until now. Fast forward 35+ years and I tried to find the old bike, it took several days of looking around my Dad's place (imagine American Pickers on steroids) but I found everything except the fork. The bike is a Columbia and according to Mr. Columbia's site the bike should be a 1948 year model. That's where my questions start. Here is a shot of the serial number, the number is stamped in a very small size stamp about 1/8".

But my headbadge is brass, Mr. Columbia says it should be aluminum.

My dad said he received the bike as parts and pieces from neighbors and he had to build it, I haven't determined how old he was when he got it. He was born in 1937, so he would have been 11 years old in 1948, let's assume he was 15 when it got the bike. It seems odd that a bike from that era would be in parts and pieces in just 4 years. Other stuff I've found online, catalogs and advertisements show a 1948 as having a built in kick stand and other differences, this bike seems more primitive than that to me. Here are some more shots. Integral seatpost bolt.

Rear facing dropouts with no adjusters

I'll post more pics

 

[nchooks]

Some more pics
Chainguard

Front fender

and

Rear fender

Seat

Frame pics

The crank is a dog leg style. The rear hub is a New Departure with a skiptooth cog. So my real question is: Is this really a 1948 year model ? Thanks for any help.

 

[kingfish254]

Date her??? I don't even know her??
Cool ride!

 

[rms37]

Between the frame style, which is definitely Westfield Manufacturing built, its form, which is appropriate for a 1948 model, and the serial number which decodes as a 1948 model, I would say there is no doubt that it started as a 1948 Westfield built bike.

Being certain everything else you have is originally from that same bike or parted from elsewhere is a bit harder.

The fenders are Westfield pattern, it looks like the rear suffered a mishap and lost braces but otherwise they could be original to the bike. 1” pitch chain and sprockets (skip tooth) were still more prevalent on American bicycles in 1948 than ½” drive-trains so I don’t see a date problem there. I’m not sure about the badge material and when it was changed but it may be that a surplus of earlier badges was being used up at that time. The saddle has been recovered but looks period correct and the chain guard looks to be a period aftermarket add-on.

 

[nchooks]

Thanks for the info and detailed assessment of my bike. I'll start my build and keep you posted.