Re: [CR] Refinish or not part 2

Hi, John---

I had actually spotted the Mercian when it was first listed, doing my own search and had wondered about the silver sparkle paint, what the Mercian shop order calls "silver pearl."

I know that the "barber shop pole striping" on the seat tube is a Mercian signature on many of their models, at least if requested by the buyer. I myself have had a frame so painted by them. But the sparkly paint on the head tube was what caused me to blink.

Still, paint was one of those things which was often readily customized at the request of the customer (look at the dizzying array of finish and pinstriping options in the old Claud Butler catalogues, for example). So almost anything was available.

The photos do look somewhat garish, but perhaps the frameset shows itself better in the flesh. A similar treatment done with stove enamel rather than flamboyants and pearls would not look quite so "blingy" and perhaps more genuinely retro.

I think Alexander Von Tutschek made a good point when he told me that darker and more subdued enamels give a refinished frame more of a genuine period look than do bright colours, especially candies, flamboyants and pearls. Perhaps this is because we are so used to seeing these old bikes in black-and-white film footage or, if in person, with worn and faded paint. I think we sometimes forget that the world was just as colourful back in the '40s and '50s, but we're not used to looking at images that show us that. For instance, there is a videl collection called, "World War II in Color" and just watching it is startling, as we've grown so accustomed to looking at the War in black-and-white. So I'm sure that a "club run" in 1953 would have presented a surprising splash of colour to eyes that are used to viewing such things through the grainy, grey photos of dog-eared issues of Cycling.

But then again, you were actually there back in the day and so know more than armchair enthusiasts like me!

Peter Jourdain
Whitewater, Wisconsin USA