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Prewar War Time Columbia 26" mens balloon bike

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1288650
 
Thanks to all for your interest in this bike and to StingrayJoe for starting the thread for me. Here is some additional information that I can offer in response to your questions.

The stamping on the rear hub is as follows;
01 36 13
Eclipse Machine Division
Made in Elmira, NY

There does appear to be holes for the head badge which are pictured above. There also is a stamp on the rear of the fork which I attempted to photograph that appears to be a single character "5".
Hi again.

The O1 on the morrow hub dates it to the first quarter of 1945, which fits with it being a blackout hub. Normally you could guess that a Huffman bike straight from the factory with an O1 hub would have been built between Jan and June 1945, and likely in the middle of that period.

The 'S' on the fork could be a 5. It is possible there are other numbers but they are obscured. If it is a 5, then it is either indicating 1945, or May.

The serial number does look like Huffman factory applied font, but 1M2355 doesnt even start to fit the Huffman numbering system from that period, such as this November 44 H210563 https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1945-dayton-huffman.98787/

The Columbia transfers on both bikes are surprising. They look like they are meant to be there. Perhaps some sort of deal with Westfield distributors because of a bicycle shortage? I really don't know, but it's fascinating to see.

@HUFFMANBILL may know more?

Best Regards,

Adrian
 
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
 
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