WWII bicycle accessories?

[s1b]

During the war, was there any accessories made? I know supplies to produce things for homeland use was limited. Was wondering if there was maybe a standardized light made....or something

 

[bike]

I once had

a new old stock smooth top delta winner in olive drab with a military number on the plain brown box

 

[s1b]

I geuss I should have said civilian accessories. Blackout stuff

 

[MrColumbia]

Most of the WWII blackout bikes are pretty plain with maybe a bell or tire pump. It's difficult to tell if these accessories were added during the war or after.

 

[s1b]

I bought that 42 Sports Tourist "Blackout" off of Sailorben. Seem to be a well preserved example....has its scratches, but 70 years can do that.
I thought it would be neat if there were any "blackout" accessories made, to find them and put them on

Most of the WWII blackout bikes are pretty plain with maybe a bell or tire pump. It's difficult to tell if these accessories were added during the war or after.

 

[JOEL]

I have a Persons siren in blackout paint, the type with the long spindle made just before the war.

 

[SirMike1983]

I bought that 42 Sports Tourist "Blackout" off of Sailorben. Seem to be a well preserved example....has its scratches, but 70 years can do that.
I thought it would be neat if there were any "blackout" accessories made, to find them and put them on

I saw that- it was a nice example at a very fair price. A pristine blue one in a scarce color was on here for $600 this past summer but I'm not sure it sold. As Mr. Columbia notes- these were pretty sparse bikes made for utilitarian transportation during the war. The catalogs show a couple of frame sizes, both of which could work for a full-sized adult rider. In many ways they are better suited to adult riders than the more sought-after balloon models.

I guess it depends on the level of upgrading you want to do. If you want it to be straight factory, there aren't many accessories to choose from in black out format. The other option is to take late 1930s civilian accessories and add them, as someone might add existing accessories to a wartime bike in the 1940s. I'm sure some people using them added earlier stuff they had around to the bikes, but that is more a "period" type bike than a dead-on factory type set up.

 

[sam]

This is a good question--never though of what the accessorie factories were producing during the war.
only thing I see on the web other than parts common to military bikes were torrington #18 pedals , which were produced in Black out and may have not been made during the war.
As an example of how factories were converted to the war effort--The Emblem bicycle factory of N.Y. was converted into producting office furniture--never returned to bicycles.

 

[Balloontyre]

Parts and Accessories

Here is 1943 Sears, only 2 bikes were offered mens or womens light weight, check the Rationing Paragraphs, the 44 and 45 have the same accessories, no bike though. Lots of references to black finish

 

[ohdeebee]

'42 Columbia w/ Light

Here is my Wartime Columbia that was listed for sale over the summer (still available if anyone is interested). I bought the bike with a blackout headlight on it. I'm not certain it was offered during the war but the finish is a close match with the other blackout parts including the handlebars. I have the same light in white.

Headlight with disclaimer from Torrington