Shelby-badged Serial Numbers-Prewar

[jrk2018]

I wasn't trying to argue or show disrespect to anyone. I just thought an organization like the NBHAA would hold a wealth of information that would benefit all of us involved in our great hobby if it were made public. I didn't know this was all just a private collection of gathered information by one individual, or I would get the whole safeguarding information, as many hobbyists do for whatever reason.

 

[NBHAA]

I wasn't trying to argue or show disrespect to anyone. I just thought an organization like the NBHAA would hold a wealth of information that would benefit all of us involved in our great hobby if it were made public. I didn't know this was all just a private collection of gathered information by one individual, or I would get the whole safeguarding information, as many hobbyists do for whatever reason.

YES... IT WAS ALL GATHERED BY ONE PERSON. AND PROBABLY 75% OF IT WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE ENDED UP IN LANDFILLS, TRASH DUMPS, INCINERATORS AND HEAVEN KNOWS WHERE ELSE. In other words, GONE FOREVER. BUT... INSTEAD OF THANKING THAT PERSON, YOU WANT TO LIST A DEMAND THAT SOMEHOW THAT PERSON WHO SPENT A LIFETIME PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER JUST OUGHT TO HAND IT ALLLLLLLLL OVER. TO FOLKS. "US" WHO CAN'T EVEN SAY THANKS OR RECOGNIZE THE FEAT THAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED HERE OVER THE PAST 60+ YEARS. YOU GOT IT– WE WANT IT– SO DO WHATEVER IT IS THAT WE WHO DON'T HAVE THE STUFF SAY TO DO WITH IT!!!!! Wow.

"Put it online!" Yeah. And this happens how? And at how much labor and how much staff? Even the owner of this web Do-It-Yourself website has to pay fees, has to have maintainers and specialists... pay for internet hosting, domains, and more and more. This stuff doesn't just fall out of the sky for free. And even then, SOMEONE has to oversee it all.

It is always easy for someone (or someones) who never spent a lifetime gathering, chasing down, traveling, paying for vehicles, paying airline fees, gas, hotels, buying (even at outrageous prices), storing in buildings, preserving, conserving, transporting, paying rents, paying utilities, paying insurance... it is ALWAYS easy for someone who has NOT done all this to step up and pronounce what shoulda-coulda-woulda-oughta be done with it all. BUT... NO ONE is in position to make such demands.

So. HOW would YOU go about first accumulating all of the 80,000 + items? THEN...how would YOU store these items and pay for said storage? Then how would YOU "make it public"????? Saying it is one thing. DOING it is quite another. You got a FREE and appropriate building at a decent location? You got the money and skill to run an internet operation? The money for insurance? Utilities? Vehicles to transport? Money to pay staff? Work crews (even the immigrants standing around Home Depot and Loew's parking lots) expect to get paid. Computer equipment? Stationary? The list goes on and on.

ALL of you had exactly the same opportunity to start collecting this stuff 70 years ago (IF you were alive). But you didn't. Today, it may make some folks feel vindicated or like a folk hero to sit around and criticize the entity that exists and even the fact that it exists. And to moan about what shoulda-woulda-coulda-oughta be done with the 80,000+ items that have been saved and preserved in "just a private collection." So WHERE IS YOURS?

In the end, no matter who thinks what– this isn't Russia and it sure isn't China.

 

[SKPC]

Ha!~^ Yea, I own a really cool rental home with an artesian well on an acre in Idaho/(Long Valley) that I busted my ass working on solo to fix up for the last 13 years. I just raised the rent $200/mo on my renters after 4 years in. They were paying $500 a month UNDER market rate all that time. They gave me two weeks notice after accepting a Gov't job in Maine, so I hustled to put it on Zillow and was planning to get up there to check on it.....my phone and internet blew up! So many people looking, I was getting higher offers. A week later they called me and said the Forest Service job got Axed with the job freeze and now they wanted to stay. I said ok, but the rent is going up $250 a month, and they were outraged! "How could you do that to us?" "I found another leak in the south shed today" "We have been having a really hard time this last month" "You have no idea how hard we work on this place, you don't appreciate the amount of work we do around here". Really? The reality is that all they have to do is blow and shovel snow in the winter, the house and yard are maintenance free.
I stopped him and then asked him....... "What does any of that have to do with my retirement income? You should be grateful you and your wife pay $500/mo below market to begin with in an awesome location." "You do know that 35 other renters are falling all over themselves to replace you, one of then offering to sign a year least for $1000 more per month than you are paying? Oh, and by the way you changed your mind after giving me two weeks notice."
They had zero appreciation or consideration of how much work I put into that place.

 

[jrk2018]

YES... IT WAS ALL GATHERED BY ONE PERSON. AND PROBABLY 75% OF IT WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE ENDED UP IN LANDFILLS, TRASH DUMPS, INCINERATORS AND HEAVEN KNOWS WHERE ELSE. In other words, GONE FOREVER. BUT... INSTEAD OF THANKING THAT PERSON, YOU WANT TO LIST A DEMAND THAT SOMEHOW THAT PERSON WHO SPENT A LIFETIME PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER JUST OUGHT TO HAND IT ALLLLLLLLL OVER. TO FOLKS. "US" WHO CAN'T EVEN SAY THANKS OR RECOGNIZE THE FEAT THAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED HERE OVER THE PAST 60+ YEARS. YOU GOT IT– WE WANT IT– SO DO WHATEVER IT IS THAT WE WHO DON'T HAVE THE STUFF SAY TO DO WITH IT!!!!! Wow.

"Put it online!" Yeah. And this happens how? And at how much labor and how much staff? Even the owner of this web Do-It-Yourself website has to pay fees, has to have maintainers and specialists... pay for internet hosting, domains, and more and more. This stuff doesn't just fall out of the sky for free. And even then, SOMEONE has to oversee it all.

It is always easy for someone (or someones) who never spent a lifetime gathering, chasing down, traveling, paying for vehicles, paying airline fees, gas, hotels, buying (even at outrageous prices), storing in buildings, preserving, conserving, transporting, paying rents, paying utilities, paying insurance... it is ALWAYS easy for someone who has NOT done all this to step up and pronounce what shoulda-coulda-woulda-oughta be done with it all. BUT... NO ONE is in position to make such demands.

So. HOW would YOU go about first accumulating all of the 80,000 + items? THEN...how would YOU store these items and pay for said storage? Then how would YOU "make it public"????? Saying it is one thing. DOING it is quite another. You got a FREE and appropriate building at a decent location? You got the money and skill to run an internet operation? The money for insurance? Utilities? Vehicles to transport? Money to pay staff? Work crews (even the immigrants standing around Home Depot and Loew's parking lots) expect to get paid. Computer equipment? Stationary? The list goes on and on.

ALL of you had exactly the same opportunity to start collecting this stuff 70 years ago (IF you were alive). But you didn't. Today, it may make some folks feel vindicated or like a folk hero to sit around and criticize the entity that exists and even the fact that it exists. And to moan about what shoulda-woulda-coulda-oughta be done with the 80,000+ items that have been saved and preserved in "just a private collection." So WHERE IS YOURS?

In the end, no matter who thinks what– this isn't Russia and it sure isn't China.

I wasn't moaning or demanding anything. Maybe reread what I said without having a defensive mindset right away.

 

[WillWork4Parts]

Well Leon, you have already done the work of accumulating the 80,000+ items, please tell us what YOU intend to do with it all...to make it worth the investment that YOU have made. Please...since we already know it's not about US "Communists."
With the advent of the internet, there are more people now than ever looking for and able to connect with this specific information(and pay for that accuracy) that you claim to own a majority of paper copies of, but it is not actually your intellectual property to maintain the publishing rights to. The letter from Kinkos in the background of the image in your last post hints to that. Could you take a moment to look past the curveball insults you like to strike down with and think about seeking help from someone savvy with the current version of the internet...? Aiming for a major book publisher nowadays is not in the stars for most, it's not even a possibility that's in the room. Private publishing is the answer. Look at all of the "Newsletter by John" books(visual references) that are in the hands of collectors and enthusiasts alike. I know you can do better than him in terms of content. Forget the upfront cost of printing and storing copies of the books you want to publish and you don't have to risk your physical Archive. Talk with someone that can work with you to arrange the documents you have into secure PDF format where people have to pay you to download and read them. I know there is an option for purchasing a file that can only be read once, there are bound to be more options for securing and monetizing with PDF files or whichever format you might be advised from someone that is in the know to use. There will be folks that want hard copies too, I'd talk to whomever has books reprinted and edited for this site if you can't find a print company on your own. Distributing the prints and digital files yourself would be your only real control and way to see a return on your investment into your Archive if that's what you are truly looking for.

 

[SKPC]

So lets move on. I did some cleanup, moving some things around, double-checking, so this Below is the result. Many times the images of stamped numbers are very odd and don't fit into the general range, so I have left them out and separate them for now. "R" and "P" prefixes have been confusing, and when a stamp is poorly done, it becomes something else. Regardless, clear images of stamped numbers and frame will be required to make it into the range list, odd or not.

Mr. Dixon has a proprietary serial number list he does not want to share, that's up to him. Mr. Dixon has the right to post here with his actual Shelby lit if he chooses to, especially if he possesses literature pre-1933.
Regardless, we will continue to look at actual existing bikes with images of their serial numbers because it's fun and real. The thread is here to discover and vet ballpark years for Shelby frames & forks, not the models, not when they got pieced together, not what was hung on them, what an invoice or brochure states(unless there is a serial number ref. on it), but when was the bare frame built? All the little details are great. I hope it continues to be an easily accessed place for people to discover what year their old Shelby bike frame was made, this thread really is just about that, not the details...

 

[SKPC]

Recent post war from oldbiscuit.

 

[SKPC]

This is my what looks like 1940 peanut Y with springer. Gambles Hiawatha badged. V 8 11035? Note the dark grey original primer.

 

[SKPC]

A recent 24" Shelby posted. 15" seat tube length.

 

[SKPC]

There are a few Oddball serial numbers I am thinking are War era or post-War era that oppose definition so far. The bike above just found and the one below posted here earlier (pg7- @Just Jeff bike) that has a very similar font and sloppy-ness to it. @Freqman1, Shawn, another year/mo example?