Looking for something else on the Internet, I recently came across Rockers Bike Ads, a "Pre-1980 Database of British Motor Cycle Adverts."
What a treasure trove for any fan of vintage British motorcycles.
The extravagant collection of old-timey advertisements introduces itself this way:
"Rockers Bike Ads is a non-profit resource for Motor Cycle enthusiasts and you're welcome to request free high res copies of the images by using the send ads link at the foot of each image.
"Put simply this is a searchable database of (primarily) pre-1980 British Motor Cycle Industry advertisements classified by Manufacturer, Year and Product type. All material is sourced from original literature in my personal collection."
Whose personal collection? Although the website doesn't say so, I suspect the powerhouse behind it is James Robinson, editor of The Classic Motor Cycle magazine and a prolific author of books on historic motorcycles.
I searched the database for "Enfield" and was rewarded with 509 vintage Royal Enfield advertisements to enjoy.
Searching is a bit tricky: you are warned that the search function looks for exact matches, so don't get fancy. Keep your search keywords simple for best results.
It seems that it will find a 1931 image if you search dates between 1930 and 1932 but, oddly, might not find it if you search between 1925 and 1935! Quirky. Also I am not sure the offer of a high res image on request still stands -- I tried it and never heard back.
An impressive feature of the database is that the source and date of publication accompanies each image. This is a historical research tool at its best.
Paging through all those Royal Enfield advertisements from the past I found a bunch of favorites and some real oddities.
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| We've seen a photo of that girl in white before! |
Image Number 17365 is from Motor Cycling magazine of Nov. 12, 1930, and touts the "FAST!" Royal Enfields in store for the 1931 model year.
This ad is illustrated with an unlikely drawing of an exuberant young woman riding a fast Royal Enfield.
The drawing is total fantasy, but it was no doubt inspired by a Royal Enfield factory photo found on the Hitchcocks Motorcycles website.
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| Model poses in Royal Enfield photo shoot for its 1931 motorcycles. |
Another interesting example: Image 13486 is from Motor Cycling magazine of Oct. 19, 1944.
It features artwork of a gun crew of World War II in action but, in the background is a Bell P-39 fighter plane.
Although shown in RAF livery, the P-39 Airacobra was an American made airplane.
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| Artillery piece is a 2-pounder anti-tank gun. |
Britain ordered hundreds of Airacobras from the U.S., but wasn't impressed with them, quickly passing them along to the Soviet Union. Only one RAF squadron, No. 601, operated the Airacobra, and not for long.
The plane is pretty distinctive, because its engine was behind the pilot instead of in the nose, requiring an air scoop behind the cockpit.
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| 601 Squadron lines up. Note the air scoop behind the cockpit. |
Why show this oddball plane rather than a more distinctly British fighter? It's fun to speculate. Maybe just because it's an eye-catching airplane?
The open mobile gun carriage shown in the ad matched no vehicle of World War II I knew of. Members of the Historic Military Vehicle Forum immediately identified it as a 2-pounder gun riding on a portee.
What is a portee? It's exactly what you see in the ad. In search of a definition I quickly found the very photo that must have inspired the ad artwork.
The photo, in the collections of the Imperial War Museum, shows a New Zealand gun crew in North Africa, on Dec. 3, 1941.
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| New Zealand 2-pounder gun in North Africa, 1941. (Copyright IWM E 3734E) |
Rockers Bike Ads is given as the source for the book, "Royal Enfield Motor Cycle Advertisements 1906-1966," by David Robinson. The book is available from Amazon.
The book is an impressive 418 pages. It claims:
"The Royal Enfield edition includes over 400 advertisements, complete with original publication dates and reference numbers tied to the Rockers Bike Ads database. While the company's broader history is well-documented, this collection offers a fresh and captivating way to trace its evolution through two world wars and shifting economic conditions.
"You'll discover how press adverts reflected the economic climate and regulations of the time, such as post-war petrol rationing and the rise of cycle-motors and sub-250cc motorcycles. Early advertisements highlight reliability, while later ones focus on performance and sporting achievements.
"Occasionally, themes like fuel economy and weather protection appear, though actual progress with the latter making few advances due to buyer resistance on visual appearance grounds. These adverts also highlight the minimal changes in fundamental motorcycle design over seven decades.
"Images are reproduced in grayscale, as they originally appeared, but with original full color adverts clearly marked as such."
Other books by David Robinson include collections of advertisements by motorcycle makers Francis-Barnett, BSA, Ariel, Norton and others.
In this video about his book on Triumph motorcycle history, Robinson credits the Mortons Archive (another excellent choice of images) as his source.
He also has collected historical advertisements for such aviation greats as de Havilland, and even RAF recruitment ads, based on a separate aviation database.
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