# Authentic 1945 Compax ( Military ? )



## MrColumbia (Jul 15, 2012)

I've just aquired this Compax. It has an early 1945 serial number. It has an interesting story behind it which is why I'm posting it here in the military section. The gentleman I got it from got it from his uncle who was a blimp pilot for the Navy during WWII stationed at the base at Lakehurst NJ. After the war he purchased the bike from the navel base commisary as surplus. It has been ridden by the man and his family ever since. He says about 40 years ago he repainted it and unfortunatly for me had removed the original paint and head badge. 

 My questions to all you military experts;

How common was it for the military/base to purchase civilian vehicles like bikes during the war if at all?

Would they have been in blackout civilian colors? (This bike has the correct blackout ND hubs for the period) The previous owner does not remember what the original color of the bike was.


Why would the Navy be purchasing/using civilian bikes on base when they had a contract for military spec. bikes from Westfield Manufacturing?

This bike has a unique frame design not seen on any pre or post war civilian models ( the extra frame strut on the rear of the frame ). There was one of these in the Columbia museum and my father was alway convinced that this frame style was made for the military. I no longer can ask him what evidence he had and cannot find it in his extensive notes. 

Any Ideas folks???

My final question is if anyone has an idea on the grips. I doubt they are original but what may have been on the bike?


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## Bozman (Jul 18, 2012)

MrColumbia said:


> I've just aquired this Compax. It has an early 1945 serial number. It has an interesting story behind it which is why I'm posting it here in the military section. The gentleman I got it from got it from his uncle who was a blimp pilot for the Navy during WWII stationed at the base at Lakehurst NJ. After the war he purchased the bike from the navel base commisary as surplus. It has been ridden by the man and his family ever since. He says about 40 years ago he repainted it and unfortunatly for me had removed the original paint and head badge.
> 
> My questions to all you military experts;
> 
> ...




It is a war time production Compax Traveler with all the earmarks of a military bike. Not much is known about how many were purchased by the military but it makes perfect sense that it was sold after the war. I would check under the neck of the fork as often repainters don't bother taking the fork off. I have seen black and olive drab (OD) originals. The OD one had balloon tires and Military Green handgrips. What is the serial number on the crank? Does it have the MG, MC or MF serial number?

The chain guard looks like a replacement.


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## MrColumbia (Jul 19, 2012)

Thanks for the info. The guard is a relacement as it is chrome under the paint. The serial number starts with a "J" for 1945.


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## bikecrazy (Jul 19, 2012)

There is much confusion regarding the militarys use of the Compax. Some people call this bike the Paratrooper because Columbia featured it in wartime advertising. The ad showed the bike with a soldier dressed in combat uniform. They show up in military museums and at reinactments painted in Olive Drab. Please correct me if I am wrong, but there is no record of these bikes ever being used in combat. During WWII, bicycle shortages forced the military to buy bicycles anyway they could. Many civilian bicycles showed up on military bases.


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## MrColumbia (Jul 19, 2012)

bikecrazy said:


> There is much confusion regarding the militarys use of the Compax. Some people call this bike the Paratrooper because Columbia featured it in wartime advertising. The ad showed the bike with a soldier dressed in combat uniform. They show up in military museums and at reinactments painted in Olive Drab. Please correct me if I am wrong, but there is no record of these bikes ever being used in combat. During WWII, bicycle shortages forced the military to buy bicycles anyway they could. Many civilian bicycles showed up on military bases.




Right, exactly my point. It is pretty much accepted that no US troups jumped out of planes with these bikes strapped to their backs. I never thought for a moment that they did. For that matter I doubt many of the 10's of thousands of bicycles purchased by the military were used in actual combat. Mostly they were used on base. My main question is if a branch of the Militray did purchase this bike to use on base would they have painted it in militay colors or would they have simply left it in the civilian paint job it came in. There  is no doubt in my mind that the military used bikes other that the 2 Columbia and 1 Huffman model in the tech manual.


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## bikecrazy (Jul 19, 2012)

I have seen pictures of bikes on military bases in both the civilian colors and Olive drab. If the base was in the US, I don't think anyone really cared. These bases has a lot of civilian workers who rode bicycles to work. It was considered patriotic to save fuel for the war effort.If you can imagine a bicycle in any combination of color or brand, it probably existed. I have seen pictures of officers in uniform riding stock paint Schwinn DX bikes on base.


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## MrColumbia (Jul 19, 2012)

bikecrazy said:


> I have seen pictures of bikes on military bases in both the civilian colors and Olive drab. If the base was in the US, I don't think anyone really cared. These bases has a lot of civilian workers who rode bicycles to work. It was considered patriotic to save fuel for the war effort.If you can imagine a bicycle in any combination of color or brand, it probably existed. I have seen pictures of officers in uniform riding stock paint Schwinn DX bikes on base.




I've seen similar pictures. One further piece of the puzzle is a letter from Westfield Mfg to bicycle dealers that came out in October 1947. The letter is stating that they had not offered a Compax for several years but now are getting ready for the 1948 production year and taking advance orders. It also states that if ordered early they were using up existing inventory to fill those orders.


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## bikecrazy (Jul 19, 2012)

My guess is that they built the bicycles expecting to sell them to Uncle Sam, and that never happened.


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## MrColumbia (Jul 19, 2012)

bikecrazy said:


> My guess is that they built the bicycles expecting to sell them to Uncle Sam, and that never happened.




This is my working theory as well. Thanks for your input. It still is a bit strange that Westfield Mfg insisted these were used by Paratroopers even after the war. I doubt they were mistaken about something that important, especially since all their other war productiuon efforts were so well documented. It seems to be a deliberate marketing falsehood. Posssibly it can be called a half truth as they did sell some Compax bikes to the military with an exclusive military design. 
There is no question that this particular bike was owned by the military during the war. I think it will receive a military restoration since the original paint is gone anyway. In my opinion it is a military Compax but not a Paratrooper bike.


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## Bozman (Jul 19, 2012)

MrColumbia said:


> This is my working theory as well. Thanks for your input. It still is a bit strange that Westfield Mfg insisted these were used by Paratroopers even after the war. I doubt they were mistaken about something that important, especially since all their other war productiuon efforts were so well documented. It seems to be a deliberate marketing falsehood. Posssibly it can be called a half truth as they did sell some Compax bikes to the military with an exclusive military design.
> There is no question that this particular bike was owned by the military during the war. I think it will receive a military restoration since the original paint is gone anyway. In my opinion it is a military Compax but not a Paratrooper bike.




It will be interesting to see if you find the true color under the fork. I have a 1946 Compax Traveler that I restored to OD as my first effort at bike restoration. I'm still trying to get access to an unrestored War time Compax Traveler that by all indications is Olive Drab, Ballon Tire, original and with the military green handgrips. I just need to sweet talk my way into a very private collection. Wish me luck. I am dying to see the serial number to see if it has the "M" classification on the serial number.


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## MrColumbia (Jul 20, 2012)

Good luck with your efforts. I't will be interesting to know what serial number it has.


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## Wing Your Heel (Jul 21, 2012)

*?*

Mr C - 'This is my working theory as well. Thanks for your input. It still is a bit strange that Westfield Mfg insisted these were used by Paratroopers even after the war. I doubt they were mistaken about something that important, especially since all their other war productiuon efforts were so well documented. It seems to be a deliberate marketing falsehood. Posssibly it can be called a half truth as they did sell some Compax bikes to the military with an exclusive military design.' 

- I'd say it compares well to post-WW1 Columbia advertising of their Military models. Although they did of course supply them to the military in that instance, they designed a marketing campaign in the following years' catalogues playing on the military connection - imaginatively illustrated - so perhaps felt they should do something similar after WW2 as well?


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## MrColumbia (Jul 22, 2012)

Wing Your Heel said:


> - I'd say it compares well to post-WW1 Columbia advertising of their Military models. Although they did of course supply them to the military in that instance, they designed a marketing campaign in the following years' catalogues playing on the military connection - imaginatively illustrated - so perhaps felt they should do something similar after WW2 as well?






It is big business after all. They were trying to sell bikes and they did have an extensive amount of contribution to the war effort in both world wars aside from just bicycles. Check out some of the statistics I have uncovered so far. 

http://vintagecolumbiabikes.com/id111.html

What I learn about this bike will be added to this page on my site.


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## MrColumbia (Jul 29, 2012)

Well, I removed the paint over and most of the original paint is gone but enough was left to know how it was painted. The primary color on the frame, fork and fenders was "Mohawk Maroon", a standared Westfield color in the 40's. The bars, gooseneck, seatpost, crank and sprocket and bearing cups were all black as was the New Departure rear hub and the one piece Columbia front hub. The rims were Ivory. This was a typical paint job for a wartime Columbia. 
 The serial number is J33428 which probably puts it in the first quarter of 1945. A reader of my site recently contacted me with pictures of a Compax they own with the same frame and serial number J83496 which is still no doubt the first half of 1945 if you go by the serial numbers on record. Their bike is in very good original condition and has the same Mohawk Maroon paint job.
 Since mine was owned by the military during the war and most of the original paint is long gone I have decided to do it over in OD. I will post pictures one it is done.


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## 42 Columbia MG (Jul 29, 2012)

MrColumbia said:


> Why would the Navy be purchasing/using civilian bikes on base when they had a contract for military spec. bikes from Westfield Manufacturing?
> 
> View attachment 57900View attachment 57901View attachment 57902View attachment 57903




It is quite likely that a Navy unit had discretionary funds available for small local purchases and this bicycle -- or a couple of them -- was purchased on the local civilian economy. It would have been much easier and faster than going through all the military red tape for a bicycle or two.


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## MrColumbia (Jul 29, 2012)

42 Columbia MG said:


> It is quite likely that a Navy unit had discretionary funds available for small local purchases and this bicycle -- or a couple of them -- was purchased on the local civilian economy. It would have been much easier and faster than going through all the military red tape for a bicycle or two.




The most logical answer I've had to date. Thank you.


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## Bozman (Jul 29, 2012)

42 Columbia MG said:


> It is quite likely that a Navy unit had discretionary funds available for small local purchases and this bicycle -- or a couple of them -- was purchased on the local civilian economy. It would have been much easier and faster than going through all the military red tape for a bicycle or two.




Got ot disagree with this one. Today it would not be difficult for a Navy unit to buy some bicycles but civilian bicycles in WW2 were a rationed item in WW2 and you had to go through  along process to get one as a civilian or as a civilian bike seller.


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## MrColumbia (Jul 30, 2012)

Bozman said:


> Got ot disagree with this one. Today it would not be difficult for a Navy unit to buy some bicycles but civilian bicycles in WW2 were a rationed item in WW2 and you had to go through  along process to get one as a civilian or as a civilian bike seller.




That was true earlier in the war but in the beginning of 1945 bicycle rationing was lifted. I have a 1945 catalog that states this fact and that bikes were now available without restrictions.


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## MrColumbia (Aug 25, 2012)

Well, here is the 1945 Compax restored in WWII Lusterless Olive Drab. It still needs the finishing touches like bags and straps to hold it together once folded.


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## Gary Mc (Aug 25, 2012)

Bike looks great in olive drab.  Great job on the military look!!!!!!! Neat piece of bicycle history and I bet it looks really good next to your WWII replica Columbia.


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## Bozman (Aug 25, 2012)

Well done my friend! I love the correct blued bearing cups.


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## MrColumbia (Aug 26, 2012)

Bozman said:


> Well done my friend! I love the correct blued bearing cups.





They still had the original finish. I just removed the overpaint. This is a great bike to ride. It's nice and light compared to the heavy ballooners. I can take this apart as intended and bring it to the rail trails.


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## Bozman (Aug 26, 2012)

I have a 1946 that I will be refinishing next year. A great fun ride and easy to travel with!


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