Are you a relative of Alvins?

He was on the third floor of a dingy building on the north side of Canal St. in Manhattan. Couple of light bulbs, a coal hearth, bikes everywhere. And an assistant.

By that time i dont think he was making many bikes, mostly road racing types. But he was making a number of unicycles for circus performers.

He laid out frames on paper patterns and then brazed them together. No jigs, i think. Then to get them aligned, he clamped them in a vise and twisted them true.

We all had heard that you could ask him for anything and he would make it but if he disagreed with something, say the angle of the fork, he would get even by leaving some crude sign in perhaps an ill fitting lug somewhere.

He was amiable enough considering i was an annoying newly minted teenager.

The second floor of the building housed Standard Japaning, a paint shop that painted drysdales frames and painted other stuff on a contract basis. They had several more electric lights than Alvin did.

Everyone knew of him and had known him for years. A particularly charming guy was Eddie Gage who had been a telegrapher and a 6 day racer and was then about 75 or maybe 175. Gage was convinced that if he, not General Sarnof, had been on duty the night the Titanic sank, he, not Sarnof, would have been the head of RCA. Gage was the biggest supporter of the story that Alvin got his way on head angles or you got a poorly finished lug in recompense.

Used to visit his factory on Canal St in Manhattan in ’55 time frame. Some funny things:
1. By then he was making unicycles for the circus.
2. He laid his bike frames on a paper template. Brazed everything in a coal hearth. After brazing he would put frame in a vice and twist it until it was straight.
3. He would make whatever you wanted but if he thought it to be a dumb idea, he would put some imperfection in somewhere as a protest……at least that was our belief.
4. His shop was on third floor, one floor above Standard Japaning which did painting of bikes, and other things.
5. I would guess at that time he was in his late ’60s. He had an assistant and a couple of light bulbs.
6. Seemed like an amiable man. Had tolerance for a 15 year old. Not a lot of tolerance, but enough.
7. In those days a custom bike was around $160.
8. Those sliding goose necks with his name on them were great except in the extended position it made me ride erratically. Eddie Gage finally made me take it off and was satisfied then that i could be trusted to ride a straight line. Gage was an old telegrapher and ex 6 day rider. He was convinced that if he, not Sarnof had been on duty the night the Titanic sank, he, not Sarnof would have gotten the SOS message and he, not Sarnof would have been head of RCA instead of an ancient bachelor living alone in downtown manhattan.