The picture you see here is from La Conea around 1951 or 1952, taken at the finish line. We can learn a lot about clothing in the early 50’s by looking at this picture. Check out the white brim on the one hat and the black brim on the other. Now look at the pants, one with a stripe and the other does not. Work your way down to the boots and you will see engineer boots, field boots, as well as lace up boots. As you notice the shirts, the Penn.Valley Landsdale Motorcycle Club is decorated on the back of the one biker.

The men shown in the photograph are Dick Marshall (in center of picture above), owner of Norristown Harley-Davidson, Bill McGuff, with the hat and George Jeffers in the ski sweater. Marshall’s Harley-Davidson was located 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Pa. in a one room, 30 x 50’ shop on 112 East Marshall Street. 

About our cover photographs:

The photograph you see on our website home page is taken from a large collection we have. The man on the bike is Sparky from Easton, Pa. Sparky had the Harley dealership at 2695 Freemansburg Avenue in Easton, Pa. for many years. This is from a time when bikers truly rode their machines. The group photo you see on our company web page is also from Easton, Pa. near Allentown. This photo is of Herman Indian located in Easton, Pa. We are still trying to determine the exact street in Easton where this picture was taken. We believe that Herm’s Indian became Herm’s Leather Togs in 1953.

Check out the terrific hats, kidney belts and goggles. This is great stuff and to think that these photos were saved from the trash.

Many thanks to Dick Marshall for providing the photo of La Conea in 1951. Dick is very passionate about his heritage and his father’s old Harley-Davidson business.

Thank you Troy Shuman of Easton Honda for your help with Sparky. Without your help the pieces of the puzzle would not have come together.

For further reading on this subject matter see: Harley-Davidson Book of Fashions1910 thru 1950’s by Rin Tanaka.  Also written by this author are: Motorcycle Jackets and A Century of Leather Designs.

A note from Wikapedia on "Engineer Boots"

During the depression era, Chippewa Shoe Company, of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, developed a pair of boots with stovepipe leg and was fashioned over "English Riding Boot" last. In the 1960s, Sears carried the Sears branded Chippewa Engineers and showed them as worn by land surveyors, a possibility as of how the name came about. Another major manufacturer of Engineer Boots is West Coast Shoe Company based in Portland, Oregon. They began manufacturing the engineer boot in 1939. A large portion of their sales began with the shipbuilders in Portland, Oregon, building ships for World War II.