I have some supplemental pages for Mafac to the 1955 Kitching catalogue - the open backed lever is called the Professionel and the closed-back lever is called the Racer. The pictures are clear as well as the description which for the Racer lever reads 'with rounded inside edges'. As Jan writes the Professionel lever was supplied with the Criterium and Tandem cantilever brakes whilst the Racer unsurprisingly was supplied with the Racer brake. As to Lam - I believe that Lam were the first brake company to make 'hooded' levers just pre-WWII. I have the levers featured in a 1939 catalogue where they claim that first. And I do not know of any other hooded levers to predate this. Lam were certainly around pre-war for at least two or three years making nice quality aluminium side-pull brakes both for racing bikes and in a deeper drop version for touring bikes. At sometime I think they also made cantilever brakes too.
Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
Jan Heine writes:
> Mafac levers: The all-open version was early, used often with the
> brakes of other makers - for example, Herse used these on their bikes
> with Herse brakes. Mafac at the time, I believe, only made their
> cantilever brakes. I have seen them on bikes from approx. 1950
> onwards. Before, most people used Lefol or LAM levers.
>
> The half-closed model, still with dots between the letters, was shown
> in Le Cycle in 1952 as a new item together with the announcement of
> the Racer centerpulls (marked "Forge Dural" then, but already
> officially called Racer).
>
> LAM also made brakes and levers. 1940s sounds about right. Most
> French brake makers went by the wayside or downmarket to cheap bikes,
> once the Mafac Racers were introduced. So you don't see LAM, Lefol,
> etc. on top-class bikes after 1955 or so.