There Willem Metz bought the business, and thought of a suitable name for the racing bikes. He came up with Springfield, since Springfield rifles had a ring of quality to him.
Freek, I don't get it. Did he name his company after the American Springfield rifles or did Holland have their own Springfield armory (with an English name?)? Or maybe he named it after the movie with Gary Cooper.
Craig Montgomery Tucson, AZ -where .45-70 Springfields are very popular
> Now and again the connection between guns / arms / weapons producers and
> bicycles turns up here. So i think i'd better add the Dutch version of
this
> connection.
>
> So lets have a look at Springfield:
> http://www.wooljersey.com/
>
> Springfield originated in Amsterdam, as an wholesale firm, at the
Oudezijds
> Achterburgwal (in the heart of the red light district). As real estate was
> worth quite considerably more in that area than trying to sell bike stuff,
> the firm sold the house/shop (which was their property) and moved to
> Haarlem, around 40-45. There Willem Metz bought the business, and thought
of
> a suitable name for the racing bikes. He came up with Springfield, since
> Springfield rifles had a ring of quality to him. The shop in Haarlem
carried
> the name Hoogland Sport, so thats why that name is on the stem and other
> parts of my Springfield.
>
> The frames were built by Jasper Bouma (Jabo) in the beginning, and later
by
> Witte Ko (Ko de Jonge). I believe the business ended somewhere in the
> mid-80s.
>
> Ko de Jonge first lived and worked in Amsterdam, later he moved to
> Brouwershaven, southwest of Rotterdam (and thats when he built my Visser
> Vainqueur, in 1981). In earlier days Ko de Jonge worked for Joco, a bike
> firm owned by Toon de Jonge, so there might be a family relation here.
Every
> time I go around asking about Witte Ko, i get the same anecdote, so i'd
> better pass it on (it must be true!).
> It seems that when still living and working in Amsterdam, in the 50s and
> 60s, he delivered the frames he built with his motorbike with sidecar,
> accompanied by his wife. When he was done delivering, he was probably in a
> good mood, and rode his bike slalomming around the trees that line the
> canals in the center of Amsterdam. Sidecar with wife balancing
precariously
> above the murky waters ...
>
> Ko de Jonge taught framebuilding to Frank Groot (Vittorio, Alkmaar) and
Cees
> Raas; Cees Raas is a nephew of Jan Raas, And who doesn't know Jan Raas ...
> Cees Raas is a Zeeuw (Zeeland), his bikes are called Cera.
>
> Here are some old pics relating to Springfield. The text might be too much
> for most of you ..
>
> http://wielersport.slogblog.nl/
>
> http://wielersport.slogblog.nl/
>
>
> Enjoy the weekend,
>
> Freek Faro
> Rotterdam Netherlands