The legend was born on March 17, 1948 in Fontana, California. It was there and then that a group of amateur motorcyclists announced the creation of the Hell's Angels Club. Later, largely thanks to the "angels" in the world came into being a very effective business scheme, which works to this day. This scheme has three important elements: motorcycle manufacturers, motorcycle fans' army and a small, but noisy group of motorcycle scumbags, which give the whole biker movement a romantic halo and thus help manufacturers to promote their products. At the same time, the image of wild and brutal heroes of young people and earn themselves motor hooligans, because the biker movement from the beginning was a promising business.
And everything began very decently. In the early twentieth century, the bike was a fairly expensive toy for gentlemen who decided to connect their lives with sports. These gentlemen, as usual, organized clubs, where they had fun, including organizing competitions and going on thematic picnics together. Since 1924, these clubs were united by the American Motorcycle Association (AMA), which already in those distant years had international recognition and the status of an official representative of the International Motorcycle Federation - an organization headquartered in Paris. AMA held its own competitions and colorful motorcycle festivals, which in those days did not even remotely resemble a violent bike show with strippers and dozens of gallons of beer drunk. No less respectable motorcycle manufacturers like Harley-Davidson were pleased to cooperate with the respectable AMA, and everyone was satisfied.
Meanwhile, a strange combination of words "Hell's Angels" was fixed in the American mass culture. In 1927, the screens came out a movie, actually a blockbuster, shot by the future crazy billionaire Howard Hughes. Aviator Hughes made a picture of the brave pilots of the First World War, and the squadron in which they served, called "Hell's Angels", and the film itself was also called so. It became a cult for American pilots, and soon a successful name, invented by Howard Hughes, healed his own life.
In 1937, when Japan attacked China, a group of American volunteer pilots went to beat the Japanese. Volunteer Corps of American pilots in China began to be called "Flying Tigers" by the easy hand of journalists, and they were happy to give loud names to their squadrons. For example, "Hell's Angels". One of the links in this squadron was commanded by Arvid Olsen, known for his love of motors and motorcycles. It was thanks to him that the most famous club in the history of the biker movement received this aviation name.
With America's entry into World War II, the number of "Hell's Angels" in the U.S. Air Force began to increase rapidly. So, for example, the name of the famous four-engine bomber B-17 ("flying fortress"), whose crew during the propaganda tour of the U.S. called the population to buy military bonds, were also called several squadrons. By the end of the war in the minds of Americans the name "Hell's Angels" was firmly connected with the exploits of combat pilots. When the war ended and brave pilots began to return home, it turned out that their craving for risk and adventure can be quite good to earn.
During the years of war Harley-Davidson became a monopolist in its field. The company has supplied thousands of motorcycles to the American army and became a very large enterprise. When the war ended, the army began to sell its motorcycle fleet at a low price, and many Americans were happy to buy two-wheelers. Retired people bought them with special pleasure, as "Harleys" were well known to them in the army. Many of them, wishing to apply in practice the technical skills acquired in the troops, opened workshops, in which they worked with "Harleys". These mechanics were creative. Former fighters and young Americans who wanted to look like them were eager for the thrill of their peaceful lives. Motorcycles basically provided these feelings, but the military Harleys were too heavy and clumsy. Mechanics fought against these vices of Harley-Davidson products. They took everything unnecessary off the cars, leaving only the engine and frame. Rotating lights, wings, metal shields covering the rider's knees were all to be removed. The craftsmen tried to lower the saddle and raise the steering wheel so that the motorcyclist could sit upright, minimizing the load on his hands. That's how choppers and bikes with their original appearance appeared, which served as a sign of a special relationship with motorcycles. The construction of choppers became the first specifically biker business, which thrives today. The first, but not the last.