ORIGINAL OWNER DOCUMENTATION
Below are samples of original documentation, including the initial order form specifying frame model, braze-ons, finish, etc.; a sales receipt, invoice, and Alf's original ledger entry; fotos showing details of the frame finish and the frame number; and a letter in Alf's unmistakable scribble. |
Order form dated 16th Sept 1970 from a customer in California for a Vade Mecum iii deluxe with vibrant stays. (The date 30th Nov at the top was the proposed delivery date.) Other features which can be noted include: gear lever peg, round fork blades, tunnels (under the bottom bracket for gear cables), close clearance for Universal side-pull brakes, chromed head lugs and stay ends, purple flam finish with gold lining and lettering. The finished frame was to be delivered at the end of November.
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Sales receipt for components for the above frame, dated 14th Nov. 1970; note prices in pounds, shillings and pence. "C.W. Set" is chain wheel set.
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Invoice for the above frame, dated 18th Nov. 1970, showing the order no. 10828, invoice no. 6836, frame no. 10143, and price of 32 pounds 10 shillings.
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Ledger entry with matching invoice no. 6836.
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Lettering on the frame for the original customer.
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Tunnels under the bottom bracket, as ordered.
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The finished bike, original paint. |
A letter from Alf to the same owner, dated 5.10.1971, regarding an order for a second frame. The text reads: Dear Jim, How nice to hear from you and thanks for the photos. Everything is ok with your requirements. I have noted your finish illustration[?] and would go for No.1 all chrome with the lugs lined in Blue Flame etc. it would look terrific. I take it you would want Vibrant Seat stay again. The price of the frame with Campag headest would be 68 pounds, carriage paid by you at your end. Hope to have the pleasure of suplying[sic] you, all the best, Alf
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This VM iii deluxe was purchased from the original owner in 1980 and renovated in England by Hetchins Lightweights. For some years it was displayed in a German auto and technology museum, above the Blue Flame land speed record jet car. It was later transferred to the Golden Age Cycles Gallery, Oxfordshire UK, where it is on permanent display. The renovated bike is featured at the Gallery section of this web site.
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The bike below was ordered in 1981. The original order form is reproduced below, with annotations as to Alf's scribble. Original-owner documentation from this period is rare and helps to fill in a gap in the records; sales ledgers are missing for the 1970s and 1980s, so original-owner documentation is the one sure way to date serial numbers from this period.
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The bike below was ordered in 1982; it was sold in 2017 by the original owner with original-owner documentation and a photo of the bike as delivered with the original owner in front of the shop. Below is the order form, dated 27.3.1982, in Alf's inimitable scribble.
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I spent an afternoon conversing with the original owner, Mrs. Vaughan. She explained that off-the peg bikes did not fit her well, as her torso was shorter than her legs, compared to most people. She happened to live near Southend and someone recommended she go round to Alf's shop and get a bike fitted. She reported that Alf greeted her and was most congenial. He was, however, an insistent salesman, not wanting to transfer any equipment from Mrs. Vaughan's previous bike to a new frame; Alf insisted that she get all new kit to go on her new Hetchins. Jack (Denny), however, did not take any measurements; he just looked at her and sized her up mentally. This tallies with other reports; Jack had an eye for dimensions.
The details of the bike are all noted on the order form, reproduced above: it was to be built of Reynolds 531 double butted tubing (what else?), 20-1/2 inch seat tube, with oval forks, Campag ends, and Keyhole Special lugwork with O-shaped windows cut into the lugs and slotted together. A brazed panier carrier was to be supplied, a Tange headset, mud guards, Weinmann rims and brakes, high pressure tyres (27-inch). The finish was to be Burgundy Flambouyant, with lugs lined in gold, and the owner's initials, JMV, in gold on the left side of the top tube. A deposit of 50 pounds was levied.
On 10 July 1982, the bike was delivered and the balance paid in full.
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A commemorative photo was taken outside the shop. It shows the familiar shop front, the new owner and Alf on the right, and another man on the left. The man on the left is a puzzle. "Jack Denny" is written on the back of the photo. But it cannot have been Jack. The man in the photo is too young and he does not look at all like the man in another photo of Jack taken only 3 or 4 years later. David Miller tentatively identified the man on the left as a shop assistant named Ted Croker. The photo is reproduced below:
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Below are pictures of the bike in the condition it was in after 35 years of use. The rear mech had been replaced by a more modern one with indexing, and the drop handlebar had been replaced by a more upright touring bar, but rest looked as it did when delivered in 1982, including the numbered panier carrier. Even the original front wheel is intact, as evidenced by the faded and scratched Southend transfer on the rim.
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Disassembling the bike, there were still more surprises in store. The steerer tube had a bit of masking tape stuck to it bearing the lettering: ALF BURGUNDY FLAM. This was evidently for the benefit of the sprayer. It proves that the frame still has its original coat of paint, as this would not survive respraying.
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Below: the lugwork. Keyholes are well-known from the 1970s and 1980s, but Keyhole Spades are less common. The drill holes are connected by slots, noted on the order form above as "Special O."
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The varnish over-coat is peeling away, but the Burgundy Flam underneath is still in good condition, considering its age. Note the Tottenham crest transfer on the head tube; on such a short frame, no other transfer would have fit, much less a metal badge. The seat tube, however, has a Southend transfer.
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