Hello,
Guess I will throw my hat into the ring, as it were, and offer my opinion for what it is worth. First , if this bike came to me minus the decals it would scream post Sept., 1944 wartime civilian model Huffman. At this time the War Production Board ( WPB ) revised Limitation Order L-52, which governed wartime bicycle production, to allow for increased use of chrome parts on bicycles, which explains some of the chrome plated components along with blackout parts on this bike. The O1 dated Morrow Hub would narrow the production date down to the 1st or possibly early 2nd quarter of 1945. The two head badge attachment holes appear to be exactly in the correct position for a wartime Dayton headbadge. Several years ago, I was told by a knowledgeable WWII US bicycle and militaria collector that late in the war the Westfield Manufacturing Co. purchased a quantity of wartime bicycle components from Huffman. As of this time I have not seen any printed documentation to prove or disprove his information. However, I personally accept this as true, until documentation is found which shows otherwise. If Westfield did purchase bicycle parts from Huffman, as I believe is the case, then is it not possible that this bike, which appears to be Huffman manufactured could have been assembled from parts purchased from Huffman by Westfield and the Columbia decal, which does look like it could be period, applied by Westfield? I do agree with Mercian that the Serial number does appear similiar to Huffman style stamping, but the 1 M prefix is unusual for a Huffman or in fact a Westfield bike at this time. This is just a guess, but if this bike was a purchase from Huffman by Westfield, then is it possible that these particular bikes were provided with a special stamping used by Westfield to keep track at that time of the bikes that were assembled with Huffman parts? I cannot say that this is all correct, however it is my best quess given the information provided in this thread and my own knowledge of WWII US Military and civilian bicycles.
Regards,
Bill