Loftis & Laceby – Dealer Decal Transfer, c. 1926

An original dealer decal transfer for Loftis & Laceby, motor cycle dealers associated with 196 Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, held in the collection of the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Museum.

The colourful design features the firm's name in a central banner, with the wording ‘P. & P. Specialists’ and the address ‘196 Grimsby Rd, Cleethorpes’.

Contemporary newspaper advertisements from 1926 show Loftis & Laceby selling Ariel and Montgomery motorcycles, including both new and second-hand machines. The firm advertised itself as the sole agents for Grimsby and Cleethorpes for Ariel motorcycles.

By 1933, Harry Loftis was listed individually as a motor engineer at 196 Grimsby Road. He had been recorded as a cycle agent in 1924, and the 1939 Register records him living at the same address with his wife, Mercia, and their son Patrick.

By 1958, 196 Grimsby Road was home to a model railway shop trading as Loftis of Cleethorpes. An advertisement offered a wide range of model railway equipment and described the business as a Tri-ang service agent. Later recollections associate Harry's son Patrick, known as Pat, with Loftis Models, a much-remembered local shop for railway enthusiasts.

Harry Loftis also played a prominent role in local government, serving as Mayor of Cleethorpes in 1962–63 and Deputy Mayor in 1963–64.

The Loftis name was associated with 196 Grimsby Road across several decades, from the early motorcycle trade to the model railway shop remembered by generations of enthusiasts. This decal preserves a distinctive reminder of that history.