Yet more time travel

I decided to visit Hunt End in 1945 using google Earth. The old Royal Enfield factory (by that time it had been sold to Dunlop) is there. So is the building that is currently the Red Lion Pub (I marked it with a red arrow). Could it be that it was there when the Enfield factory was in place and the workers stopped there for a pint? In the 1945 google map you need to ignore the streets, they appear shifted to the left of the picture. This is what the place looks today. The old factory burnt down in the 60's and the current industrial estate is new. The roads flanking it are now called, appropriately, Enfield road and Dunlop road.

Peterman rides an Enfield

John Peterman started the J. Peterman company in 1987. It concentrated on the sale via catalogs and the internet of safari-themed clothing and merchandise, much like Banana Republic had initially sold before being acquired by The Gap. The descriptions of the products were particularly florid. He became a household name in the US after the Seinfeld TV show featured a character named Jacopo Peterman who ran a mail order company with complicated wording in the description of their products. Writing the descriptions was Elaine, the main female character of the show. Buoyed by the indirect free publicity, the real Peterman embarked in a massive expansion of his business including opening some retail stores. This did not go well and he ended up going bankrupt in 1999 and being acquired. The new owner went bankrupt in 2000. Peterman repurchased the company with investment money of John O'Hurley, the actor that played him in Seinfeld. Among other activities he has written a book titled "Peterman rides again" and has a blog in which he says he rode a Royal Enfield in India including the picture accompanying this post.

Seaba Station

The Seaba Gas station was started in Warwick, Oklahoma, by John and Alice Seaba in 1924. Eventually it grew into a manufacturing company. Now two biker buddies have purchased the historic building and turned it into a motorcycle museum. Is that red racer with girder forks in the middle of the picture a Royal Enfield?

Only the bike!

Bosch magnetos

Royal Enfield motorcycles of the 1910's used Bosch magnetos. Robert Bosch GmbH was established in 1886 and is still going strong. Apparently there were not many other companies selling magnetos at the time. This presented a problem in 1914 when World War I broke out. Apparently, Bosch was very interested in continuing to sell magnetos war or no war and they set up a re-exporting agreement via Switzerland that kept Royal Enfield supplied of magnetos during the war. It was kind of ironic that Royal Enfield machines supplied to the UK, Russian and Belgian governments were being used to fight the war against Germany with German parts on them.

(Source: "The history of Redditch and the locality" by Neville Land)