Carlton Closed up in 1981 (source : http://www.carltoncycles.me.uk). I don't know exactly when Raleigh started to distribute Carlton in the USA, but Carlton tried several times to penetrate the USA market after acquisition by Raleigh - once via Huffy, and again using the "Carlton" brand. When these failed I think that the Raleigh Carltons originated in 1965 or 1966, but the catalogues on http://www.bulgier.net do not cover this period very well, e.g. the 1967 catalogue mentions the "Raleigh Carlton" bicycle from worksop, see :
http://www.bulgier.net/
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA