Hey Chuck,
I hope you don't misunderstand... The note just intrigued me and I'd like to know more. I believe we should try to figure out things from the 1980s while there is time.
Take my Hugonnier-Routens tandem in original condition, but the decals are gone. I've asked everybody who should know what the decals should look like, and to my surprise, there isn't a single Hugonnier-Routens known with original paint and decals. (Anybody know of one? I'd love to be corrected! Even a photo or a Rebour drawing would be great!) To make things more confusing, during the 1947 technical trials, the Hugonnier-Routens women's bike of Mme. Routens had a "Jo Routens" label (in the style of the 1950s "Jo Routens" bikes) on the downtube (photo in the upcoming VBQ), yet Routens only split from Hugonnier around 1952 (5 years later!), and before that, the bikes always were advertised as "Hugonnier-Routens." So here is the only known photo of a Hugonnier-Routens downtube, and it says "Jo Routens!"
Questions abound: Was there ever a Hugonnier-Routens decal? Or is it possible that all Hugonnier-Routens were labeled "Jo Routens"? The headbadges were similar, but they explicitly stated "Hugonnier-Routens" and "Jo Routens." When was the decal/lettering (could have been hand-written) changed, if at all? etc.
Nobody seems to know the answers any longer. If anybody has some leads, I'd love to hear about it!
BTW, back to the Singer story: Ernest Csuka always has been the "constructeur" (since Alex Singer died in the 1960s) - as states the decal on the head tube ("E. Csuka, Constructeur"). He designs the bikes. Roland built the bare frames, then Ernest put on the braze-ons and made the racks, stems and other parts. Since Roland's death, the bare frames have been farmed out. Ernest now prepares the lugs, tubes, and everything, but the brazing is done elsewhere. (That is the story I have heard from Ernest and others.) I recently saw a raw frame at the shop (built for a listmember), and it was beautiful. Perfect brazing.
Most of all, I definitely don't want to spoil the party. I wish I could be there!
Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
http://www.mindspring.com/
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>Of course I don't know the facts one way or the other; just going on a
>participant's entry form.
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>And of course, I don't want to "rain on someone's parade" particularly
>at a party like Velo Rendezvous.
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>Kind of like the family reunion and everybody's getting along great and
>then you overhear, "And what's THAT supposed to mean!?"
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>Let the good times roll...
>
>Chuck Schmidt
>South Pasadena, CA
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