Ghost Letters on Frame.

[midlife]

It depended on the size of the frame builder, generally the bigger the builder the more chance of frames being painted in house.

Going way way back, even small builders had a spray booth and did bonderized finishes etc but that sort of stopped by the 70's

Before committing to a run of frames all the same, a few would have been made to check the design, brake drop, mudguard eyes, braze ons and all the.

These could have been made in house or contracted out to somewhere like Woodrup or Mercian. Maybe yours is one of those?

 

[Illaveago]

It depended on the size of the frame builder, generally the bigger the builder the more chance of frames being painted in house.

Going way way back, even small builders had a spray booth and did bonderized finishes etc but that sort of stopped by the 70's

Before committing to a run of frames all the same, a few would have been made to check the design, brake drop, mudguard eyes, braze ons and all the.

These could have been made in house or contracted out to somewhere like Woodrup or Mercian. Maybe yours is one of those?

It is marked Harry Quinn.

 

[Illaveago]

Well I have removed a bit more of the sticker but it hasn't helped . Some had already peeled off but hadn't revealed anything . It looks like there might be another letter in front of the 3 which are already there but it doesn't help being a rounded shape like a D or O. So it could be DOOM or DDOM.

 

[newfhouse]

kinGDOM?

 

[midlife]

Can't think of a makers badge with United Kingdom in it?

 

[biggs682]

The Welsh Harry Quinn head badge has from memory

 

[Illaveago]

I have been studying other makers stickers and it seems that the ghost letters are from a different font. What style it is I don't know but the letter "M" is similar to the one used by Mercian, in that the centre of the M doesn't reach the bottom.
From how the glue has remained it would seem that the original sticker was embossed, possibly aluminium foil like the ones used on Falcon head badges.
It is a mystery as to what it was .

 

[Illaveago]

Can't think of a makers badge with United Kingdom in it?

I don't know if it would fit in with the Northern Ireland factory. It might have been a trial badge which was rejected ?

 

[Illaveago]

I think I might have solved my puzzle. I was looking at a 1976 Flyer for the new Viking Cycles. It shows 2 models, a yellowish gold model and a bronze and chrome model. I zoomed in on the seat tube transfer and took some rough dimensions and compared them with the later transfer. It looks like the old transfer would easily fit within the the oval of the later transfer. There might some remnants of the glue which suggests the edge shape of the old transfer. I now believe that the writing says United Kingdom with the G on the centre line of the oval.
It would make sense that the frame was issued with the early style transfers which were then replaced by the later version.

 

[wafter]

I think I can make out what might be another letter appearing just a bit higher up from the central O.