Ledgers
Alf's Tenure, 1962 - 1986
We are fortunate in having a substantial body of documentary evidence regarding Hetchins frame production. Ledgers from August 1935 until 1967 are extant, however, scans of ledgers exist only from August 1935 to August 1962. From Sept. 1962 to Dec. 1967 only Excel files are available to this Editor. An original receipt book from March 1969 to January 1973 is extant, and has been scanned. The period from January 1973 to the time when Alf sold the business in April 1986 is a blank.
An original receipt book dated March 1969 to January 1973 is intact, in Alf's unmistakeable writing, with dates and frame numbers, models, prices, first owner's names and addresses. The first dated entry is 24 March 1969, the last twenty-something January 1973. The entries are in chronological order, but the frame numbers are all jumbled up, some going back to 1952. It contains a wealth of information about models and their designations, and reveals indications about the business (when read between the lines).
Some excerpts from the 1969-73 receipt book are presented below.
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Obviously, sequential production did not correspond to sequential sales. A couple of points spring to mind immediately about Alf's receipt book, compared to Hyman's. First, Hyman listed frame numbers sequentially, with dates of sale added subsequently, whereas Alf kept dates of sale chronologically. This means that Alf's receipt book has gaps in the frame number sequence.
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Above: a page from Hyman's ledger, 1952. Columns (blue digits) as follows:
1: frame size, inches
2: V = vibrant (curly) stays, O = orthodox (straight) stays
3: frame nr.
4: invoice nr. (indicating a sale; no entry, no sale)
5: model (EC = Experto Crede, MO = Mag. Opus, NS = Nulli, etc.)
6: frame geometry
7: F = frame only, /E unknown, /S unknown
Invoice nr.s vary considerably, indicating dates of sale over a long period. Red dots indicate Alf's marginalia, with subsequently entered dates of sale and invoice nr.s. Green dots identify two frames listed as Experto Crede, type 6, but without dates of sale: H24689 and H24690. Produced but not sold within Hyman's tenure.
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Above: a page from Alf's receipt book, showing H24690, sold March 4th, 1970, 17 years later.
This blasts a commonly-told myth about Hetchins, that every one was custom-made, to spec. for a specific customer. Hand-made, yes, certainly, but many were produced during slow periods, for example during winter months when sales were depressed, in standard sizes, and hung about the shop, probably in primer, waiting for the right customer to walk in the door and be finished off. All told, 20 frames from the 1950s were sold during the period covered by this receipt book.
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Above: Alf's distinctive scribble. Rows (blue digits) as follows:
1: invoice nr., clearly legible as 10.797
2: (M)R.? D.M. ASHMORE, 219 BRIXTON RD SW 9 (London post code) 4/4 (19)70
3: HETCHINS SPECIAL EXPERTO CREDE FRAME
4: No. H24690 (pound sign) 28 0 0
5: By Dep(osit) 10 0 0
6: Bal(ance) 14.4.70 (pound sign) 18 0 0
7: Alf's signature
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Three sheets from the 1969-1973 receipts book are reproduced below, with their associated frames; photos of frame numbers on file with hetchins.org archives confirm identity. These bicycles are also featured at the Gallery section of this web site.
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For the Gallery feature on the first bike, the 1970 VM iii de luxe, click here.
For the Gallery feature on the second bike, the 1972 custom frame, click here.
For the Gallery feature on the third bike, the 1972 touring bike, click here.
Production Quantities
Alf once claimed in a magazine interview, that the U.S. export market had kept the firm in business. All three frames above went directly to customers in California. In addition, there were two importers in northern California: Spence Wolf's Cupertino Bike Shop, and Roger Sand's Bicycle Center in Santa Cruz.
The above receipt book lists a total of 174 frames with 1970-72 numbers; 45 with 1969 numbers; 8 with '68 nr.s; a singleton from 1967. There are many gaps in the frame number series, and all the entries appear to be for single customers who took delivery in the (Tottenham) shop. It may be surmised that the missing numbers were exported to dealers, both in Britain and the U.S.A., and that separate ledgers were kept for those frames.
Alf started a new frame numbering system after Hyman's death. Instead of a continuous production sequence nr. starting August 1935 (when Hyman started counting), Alf restarted the production sequence nr. at 1 for each year. So, 6001 was the first frame made in 1966, 7001 was the first frame made in 1967, and so on up to 9001 for 1969. The sequence carried on from 10 001 in 1970.
The scanty number of frames listed for 1967 and '68 do not allow us to draw any sound conclusions about the quantity of frames produced for those years. For 1969 and 1970-72, however, we may make broad guesses.
The receipt book gives 9150 as the highest frame nr. for 1969 (but in fact sold in March 1970). This tallies well with production figures from the 1960s known from other sources.
In 1970 the series continued 10xxx (carrying on from 9xxx from 1969) with the production sequence restarting at 10 001. 10 2xx numbers correspond to 1971-72 production; 10 3xx nr.s start appearing in the receipt book after March 1972. 10 399 was sold in July 1972; 10 4xx numbers appear from Aug. 1972.
Production quantity for 1970 can be assessed by looking at the terminal frame nr. for that year in the receipt book. Frame nr. 10 146 was sold in Dec. 1970; nr. 10 152 was sold in January 1971--this tallies with previous years' production quantities.
1971-72: Alf's numbering system carried on uninterrupted from the end of 1970, rather than re-starting at 1 with new year prefixes for 1971 and 1972. This makes it uncertain which frames were produced in 1971 or 1972. Frame nr. 10 201 was sold on 26.6.1971 (earliest entry for that year); frame nr. 10 488 was sold on 23.12.72, the final entry for that year (but see next paragraph). If the sequence nr.s are accurate, then production during 1971-72 was roughly 290 frames.
The receipt book has only seven entries from 1973, as the book was full, terminating on 29.1.1973 (frame nr. 10 487, evidently produced in 1972, see previous paragraph). The first entry, 6.1.1973, is for frame nr. 10 552, which presumably means that something close to 60 frames should be added to the 1972 total. This would mean that roughly 350 frames were produced in 1971 & '72, which tallies well with previous years' quantities.
No conclusion can be drawn about production quantities for 1973 based on the evidence of this receipt book.
Model Designations
Alf's receipt book allows us to positively identify some previously unclear models.
For example, the 1972 purpley-blue/red straight-stays touring frame pictured above and below (in more detail) is designated by Alf a "Special Swallow." David Miller calls these "Italias."
"Spyders" have the long points split and curled back.
Examples below.
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Twenty years ago, when Len Ingram and I started counting frames and noting model designations, in preparing this web site, we did not have access to the above receipt book. We were going by extant frames and rare instances of original customer documentation. In the intervening years, we have had access to hundreds of frames, customer documents, and now this receipt book too. Based on the currently available evidence, both physical and documentary, I now wish to revise some of the designations and classifications. It is my considered opinion that Spyders constitute a class of their own, and that Swallows, Italias, and quite a few of what Alf called "Specials" belong together, as they are all based on the same Prugnat lug blanks with only slight modifications (slashes or scallops).
Market Trends
The above receipt book gives a clue to changing market trends during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Not counting the 20 frames left over from the 1950s or frames sold to dealers, the following models were produced and sold to single customers during this period:
Experto Crede: zero
Brilliant: zero
Nervex: 1
Leggere: 1
Folly (!): 2
Italia: 2
Italianate: 2
Mtn. King: 4
Hellenic Italia: 4
Hellenic: 6
VM iii: 6
Mag.Opus: 8
VM: 9
VM i: 9
VM ii: 12
Mag.Bonum: 13
track (multiple lug patterns): 13
custom: 14
Special (not otherwise specified): 14
Spyder: 25
undesignated: 33
Swallow: 50
In short, Spyders and Swallows together account for more sales than all the Latin Series combined, marking a major shift in Hetchin's clientelle. Eight frames are listed in Alf's receipt book as "Italia" or "Italianate"; one of the latter is documented photographically: it features Prugnat long-point lugs, just like Swallows, with a sloping Cinelli fork crown. All the frames Alf designated "Swallows" seen to date also feature plain long-point Prugnat lugwork, occasionally with tangs added to fork crowns or seat stays, some having the distinctive double-plate crown of older Hetchins, others feature the then-new sloping Cinelli crown; no specific feature distinguishes Swallows from Italia or Italianate frames. Many of the frames designated "Special" or without any model designation also have plain long-point Prugnat lugwork. Assuming the proportions of frames sold to dealers were similar, plain-lugged frames were Alf's mainstay during this period. Clearly, Alf was keeping pace with the times (incorporating Cinelli crowns and moving from pencil stays to round-ovals, for example), and responding to market forces, competing head-to-head with major exporters of racing frames from Italy, and yet, as the extant frames demonstrate, he never sacrificed quality for quantity. This is indeed a great tribute to the "marque of distinction."
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