Buried Treasure (Nippon Swift Company)

次回、この記事の日本語版を投稿します。

Swift is a well-known bicycle name dating back to 1869 when the Swift Bicycle Company was established in Coventry, England.  Here is an advertisement for a Nippon (Japan) Swift bicycle from around 1924.

The Nippon Swift Company (N.S.C) had a unique logo, a tripod mounted machine gun. The use of this logo probably stems from a patent awarded to the the chairman of the  parent company back in England, Charles Thomas Brock Sangster, in 1916 for the design of a tripod used on Vickers machine guns.

Here is an actual Nippon Swift Company fender ornament.

Another model fender ornament.

A genuine Nippon Swift Bicycle Company guarantee medal.

Even ladies bicycles bore a tripod mounted machine gun fender ornament as can be seen in the advertisement below.

Last year I received an email from HS-san whose grandfather's house is a literal time capsule.  Up on the second floor were many wonderful old things that had been asleep for well over half a century, including a few bicycles.

The dust is indicative of how long these bicycles have been asleep.



After wiping away the dust low and behold a genuine Nippon Swift high-grade bicycle.
Note the badge on the seat tube.


Head tube. 

For those of you that can read Japanese, note that the characters are read from right to left, signaling that this is most likely pre-WW2.

Chaincase.  Note the two tone pin-stripes.


Amazingly still has the original frame (top tube) cover

Fine detail right down to the fender stay badges which bears the company logo.

Sign advertising a Swift bicycle.  Note that the fender ornament doesn't appear to be a machine gun.