Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[clan chieftain]

I was looking through some old photos the other night and noticed that the rear mudguard on my dads pushbike had the bottom half painted white....any reason for this.
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The Clan Chieftain

[MVPeters]

I'd imagine this is a left-over from WW2. Bumbers &/or the edges of car wings were painted white to help in wartime blackout conditions. I expect it was whitewash or similar & could be easily removed without damage to the cellulose paint.

For bikes, I think it continued well into the 50's when plastic mudguards became more common.
I have a 1949 Raleigh which is all factory-original, and the bottom 6" or so of the rear mudguard is white.

I'm sure a bicycle historian can give you a better answer!
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Mike - MVPeters at comcast.net
2002 MINI Cooper 'S'

[Roger-hatchy]

Mike

I think the white section on the rear mudgard continued into the 60's and was I presume for the same reason, high visability.

I can remember being told always wear bright clothing when out cycling.

Roger

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Yes it was a carry on from the war time, visability atempt, when lighting was minimal.

I haven't seen a penny with this done to it, so maybe no one played with pennies during the war, then again, I haven't seen them with mud guards either!

Cheers

Dave

[MVPeters]

Here's what a car should have looked like in the blackout:

http://s775.photobucket.com/albums/yy33/mvpeters_98/?action=view&current=hshf_img_blackoutcar.jpg

but of course, as you might have guessed, Rick has already covered the bicycle part here !

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/classic-bicycles.htm - scroll down to the paragraph opposite the natty gent pushing his bike off the kerb/curb.
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Mike - MVPeters at comcast.net
2002 MINI Cooper 'S'