December 3rd is National Harley Day, for those named Harley. The name was made famous by Harley-Davidson motorcycles. William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson founded the company in 1903. In the 1920’s The first name Harley began to take off. Growing up in Winthrop Harbor, our police chief was Harley Bone. In the 1980’s, girls were being named Harley. Then in 1992, Harley Quinn is introduced in Batman.
I have several books on Harley-Davidson Motorcycles. (There is a National Motorcycle Day on the second Friday in July.)
I have a two volume set of large high quality photograph coffee table style books: “The Classic Harley” by Mark Williams with photographs by Garry Stuart, 1993; and “The Custom Harley” by John Carroll with photographs by Garry Stuart, published 1995.
Both of these books are visually stunning. The first delves into the history and appeal of Harley-Davidson bikes through the years. The second shows just how Harley-Davidson motorcycles lend themselves to amazing custom design and painting. If one loves motorcycles, these two books are a joy to just thumb through.
I also have a wonderful Harley-Davidson pop-up book, “Harley-Davidson: A Three-Dimensional Tribute to an American Icon” by Jerry Hatfield and Dawn Bentley, published 1998. And there are battery operated Harley sounds!
Here are several of the pop-ups. There are mini pop-ups on each side, along with great informational tidbits about Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
There are several die-hard Harley riders in the family. My brother-in-law being number one. In his aging years, he doesn’t quite have the strength to hold up and maneuver his bike. Hello trike!
My son is also a Harley fan. So are his daughters. Instead of pub crawls, they are off to an ice cream crawl. “I scream, you scream, the bike screams, for Dairy Queen.”
“A Harley by any other name would still rev as loud!” – William ‘Bard-boy’ Shakespeare
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