I waited many years to find an authentic 1918 Columbia Military Model bicycle. Then in 2019, as my friend James Allen and I sorted through Real Le Bel's bicycle collection in Quebec, Canada (a colossal task that would have proved impossible without James, who predictably did most of the work), James spied the Columbia you see here, hanging from the rafters in Real's garage. James saw it first, so by rights it was his--but generous soul that he is, knowing of my years-long search, he gave the bike to me.
This Columbia Military Model bears the "USA" stamp, followed by the serial number, on the bottom bracket, signifying that this bike was one of the 22,000 + bicycles Columbia provided to the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) serving in France in 1918. Made by the Westfield Manufacturing Company in Westfield, Massachusetts, the Columbia offered the U.S. soldier a feature the horse and motorcycle could not match: stealth. I like to think that my Columbia was sent home to Quebec at the end of WW 1 by a soldier who had fought in "the war to end all wars."
Note: My bike is equipped with the appropriate Neverout U.S.A. lamp. It has been written that the correct clamp for the military Neverout lamp has two arms--but I am satisfied that the single-arm clamp on this lamp, in original olive drab paint, is also correct.
Thanks to Charlie Dixon for help in preserving this and countless other vintage bicycles over the past thirty years.
This Columbia Military Model bears the "USA" stamp, followed by the serial number, on the bottom bracket, signifying that this bike was one of the 22,000 + bicycles Columbia provided to the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) serving in France in 1918. Made by the Westfield Manufacturing Company in Westfield, Massachusetts, the Columbia offered the U.S. soldier a feature the horse and motorcycle could not match: stealth. I like to think that my Columbia was sent home to Quebec at the end of WW 1 by a soldier who had fought in "the war to end all wars."
Note: My bike is equipped with the appropriate Neverout U.S.A. lamp. It has been written that the correct clamp for the military Neverout lamp has two arms--but I am satisfied that the single-arm clamp on this lamp, in original olive drab paint, is also correct.
Thanks to Charlie Dixon for help in preserving this and countless other vintage bicycles over the past thirty years.
1918 Columbia Military Model ©Daniel Dahlquist