Elgin ID
- Thread starter Michaels
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I can help a bit. Elgin was the branding for most of the bicycles Sear sold between the twenties and just after the end of WW2. Sears used many different manufacturers to supply the bicycles they sold. The 501 on the BB is the Sears code for bicycles manufactured by Westfield Manufacturing. The 174 is the Sears designation for the model of the bike.
F13440 is the Westfield serial number for the bike and the “F” translates to 1941. The numbers that follow the F are the sequential serial number and based on a total Westfield production of over 200,000 bicycles in 1941 your bike was built near the beginning of the year.
That leaves “H2” to be decoded. I have noticed that most of the Westfield built Elgins have this two character additional code and the leading letter is generally two letters higher than the letter heading the serial number. This is the case for this bike with H being two letters beyond F in the alphabet. I don’t know why the bikes were double coded if that is indeed the only meaning for the second letter. The number following the letter, 2 in this case, may be the month the bicycle was made as there has been a high correlation between that number and the relative position of the sequential serial number against the annual total.
F13440 is the Westfield serial number for the bike and the “F” translates to 1941. The numbers that follow the F are the sequential serial number and based on a total Westfield production of over 200,000 bicycles in 1941 your bike was built near the beginning of the year.
That leaves “H2” to be decoded. I have noticed that most of the Westfield built Elgins have this two character additional code and the leading letter is generally two letters higher than the letter heading the serial number. This is the case for this bike with H being two letters beyond F in the alphabet. I don’t know why the bikes were double coded if that is indeed the only meaning for the second letter. The number following the letter, 2 in this case, may be the month the bicycle was made as there has been a high correlation between that number and the relative position of the sequential serial number against the annual total.
Wow, thanks for the help. Got a simullar answer, but not as detailed on the other site. One thing that seems odd is that my bike has single tube wheels and tires, could they have still used these in 1941? Hard to believe that my dad would have changed them from balloon to these out dated tires in the short time he rode it. What do you think? Yes I know pics would help but I don't have a pic hosting set up yet, I am used to uploading from my computer, hard to teach old dogs you know.
