Mans Best Friend | what other color should a chimney sweeps hound be that white?
April 6, 2019
Hound in the Hack
Comfy Chair | a respectable couple take their pet pup for a ride in the countryside. I’m sure there’s a picnic tucked away in there somewhere.
March 19, 2019
Cuppa
Royal Flying Corps | A despatch rider in the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) enjoying a tea break while seated on her Phelon & Moore 500cc single cylinder motorcycle circa 1918. On 1 April of that year the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service were amalgamated to become a new service: The Royal Air Force (RAF). Image from the archives of the Imperial War Museum
January 19, 2019
Playtime
LEGO – always a favorite for learning about building and creating. Here is a motorcycle themed set I’d never seen before. A motorbike dealership set from 1984. Complete with showroom, helmet display and office, as well as a little flower bed out front.
December 16, 2018
Tannenbaum
Driving with Dog – Exploring remote muddy woodland trails, on the hunt for a small conifer to decorate, sometimes your companion needs to be an attentive hack passenger. “Bark if you spot any suitable candidates George!”
November 30, 2018
Ya got Fun
Friday Feline – another fine outfit set-up for fun with a capital F and that rhymes with S and that stands for sidecar. We’ve surely got fun right here in Chi-town City…
November 29, 2018
Baby you can drive my ‘car
Thursday Hack – a trifecta of combinations. Top is the utilitarian Dnepr; a Soviet vehicle built like a tractor with two-wheel drive. Center a jovial Pannonia from 60’s Hungary, the Duna sidecar is aeronautical in style. And last, but not least, at the bottom is a mercurial Vespa scooter and bomb nosed sidecar – a loop around the Colosseum and whizz back to the Trevi Fountain…
August 22, 2018
Das Motorrad
Don’t mention the War – winding up a suitcase gramophone this period dressed BMW R75 owner carefully took out old crimson labeled 78’s from their protective manilla sleeves and played the likes of Marlene Dietrich across the parking lot. The combination had a small trailer that would have been used to tow matériel into hard-to-reach front line positions.
The car holds a non-functioning MG42 machine gun whose air cooled muzzle looks fearsome. The driver had a very Teutonic air about himself which completed the outfit.
May 1, 2018
Power to the People
Red Square – center of the socialist world. May 1st celebrates the workers of the world and their stand for the rights of the laboring class. Started after the Haymarket Affair in Chicago which occurred after striking action for an 8 hour day turned into a riot. The Ural combinations ride in a formal line through Moscow in 1951. Soviet era banners fly from the GUM department store behind.
April 18, 2018
Sopwith
Sidecar Camel – this little fella seems quite content to be driven around in this homespun combination. Turquoise Ural looks great under the Steppes sunlight.
This is a still from the 2008 Kazakhstan film Talpan (Tulip).
“a sweet and funny tale of a young Kazakh man, Asa, who has been recently discharged from the Russian Navy and lives in the remote steppes with his sister and her family. While he dreams of becoming a herdsman, he is also actively looking for a wife and has his eyes set on Tulpan, the daughter of a neighbor, who is also the only eligible young woman in the area.”
April 7, 2018
Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler?
Dad’s Army – classic BBC comedy from the seventies. Currently being repeated on Netflix; well written, and superbly acted. Captain Mainwaring and his second in command Sergeant Wilson in charge of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard which includes Lance Corporal Jones, Privates Frazer, Walker, Godfrey and Pike…
March 6, 2018
One on the Side
Jade Chair – seafoam pearl combination mounted to a suitable Trident ready for the driver and passenger. Operating an outfit is on my to-do list…
January 28, 2018
Snow Recovery
Winter is Here. As January draws to a close we’ve had a couple of unseasonably warmer days here in Chicago. Don’t let that fool you! It’s forecast to snow later this week and plunging temperatures are anticipated again. Here’s a classic image of an AA officer coming to the help of a broken-down Hillman Minx.
January 27, 2018
Side by Side
Combination Lock – ready to drive around the Ring of Kerry with your partner by your side is this emerald patterned sidecar outfit a la Trident. Quite daring in its appearance but back in those days all this psychedelic were the rage.
“Oh, we ain’t got a barrel of money,
Maybe we’re ragged and funny
But we’ll travel along
Singing a song
Side by side.”
June 30, 2017
Vacation
On The Road – the missus and me are off for a few days trip across this great country. Through Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania looking for sights fun, curious and hidden. Wish we’re were in a classic sidecar outfit like this happy couple! #roadtrip
