In a message dated 11/4/2002 1:47:38 AM Eastern Standard Time, R.Delmare@Charter.net writes:
<< But, according to Mr. Norman Taylor, the style with all the rectangles is termed "Mondrian" as in the artist, and the style with all the pointy bits on the letters is termed "Gothic" for obvious reasons .
My black, very late production, frame set has red "Gothic" graphics>>
From my dealing with Norman Taylor a year ago or so, I deduce this: the "Gothic" style is the oldest, seen in ads from the 1950s, but still in good supply so has been used more by Norman in the past 10 years or so. He has some "Mondrian" style transfers left but very few and has been reserving those for resale in restorations (I do not recall the exact asking price but it was quite a bit!) He resisted (declined) my request to use the Mondrian transfers on a recent frame order.
<< a Reynolds decal that reads "Tourist Model 531". >>
He ran out of the model specific Reynolds decals long ago. Basically this was a situation in which "If you order enough, you can get your name on it".. The Taylor brothers, in return for a big commitment to a large order of Reynolds tubing, some parts specifically drawn for them, were allowed to order specific personalized Reynolds transfers. As the Taylor business softened and reserves were left unused, those special tubes (curved seat tubes, over sized fork blades etc.) were released for sale to any builder.
<< It also has the large and very English caps on the stays . Speaking of those large caps on the stays , I first became really aware of them when Raleigh released the first of the 753 frames . >>
That treatment is not necessarily uniquely English. Many bike makers have used that method. The first bikes I saw using that technique (brazing an oval or tear drop shaped stamping atop a angularly cut seat stay top) were the LeJeune team bikes.. Then Gitanes as well, both in the early 1970s, well before 753 was introduced...
Dale Brown
Greensboro, North Carolina