I didn't know Rickman didn't build their own bikes.
We've been sorting the loft out, as l mentioned, & this has turned up. I recall seeing it on previous explorations but investigated it more closely this time. It was absolutely dry as dust but l've attacked it with the Obenaufs leather oil & balm & it's looking a whole lot better:
It's German, stamped 'Graf, Leipzig, 1930'. I was working on the assumption it was a motorcycle pannier but after a lot of searching on t'internet l came up with this:
A superb condition WW2 German 1942 dated Horse / Motorbike side bag / pannier | eBay vu
Not quite as elaborately buckled up as ours but has the frontal pocket instead. Looks like it comes from the same 'stable'
)) but has a different stamp & date.
Attached to our one by a strap which pretty much disintegrated was the leather knife sheath which if you look closely has 'Tom Mix' embossed into it. I happened to know who Tom Mix was, being the first 'Hollywood cowboy', mainly appearing in silent films:
Tom Mix - Wikipedia
I knew of him because Frank Zappa subsequently rented the house he had built in the Hollywood Hills. Mix also buried his horse outside in the garden when it died (still there when Zappa moved in & probably still there now) & he himself died in 1940, apparently in his Rolls Royce Speedster:
How the top western movie star Tom Mix gained fame on a horse, and lost his life in a car - Click Americana
Sounds like he was an interesting fella'. Anyway, an early item of film merchandise, probably fairly contemporary with the pannier & it's also responded well to a good oiling. On the pannier those outer front straps with the clips have the holes numbered one to twelve from the bottom up. There are also a few broken straps for the small 'thread-throughs' including a very long one, which it might be fun to have remade. I had a brief attempt at deciphering the mounting system but haven't come up with a satisfactory outcome as yet.
Definitely the most interesting thing to emerge from the attic so far, at least apart from personal schoolday items that l was also happy to find.
Edit; l just found these two. The first more like our one but again without the extra strapping:
Original WW2 German Cavalry Saddle Bag Dated 1938 Good Condition Complete | eBay
German m-34 Sedel Calvary Leather Pouch Bag RAHM & KAMPMANN WUPPERTAL 1941 | eBay
All different dates & stamps, perhaps suppliers rather than the manufacturers.
No doubt there was a crossover in use with horses & motorcycles.