Over a hundred years have passed since the first Harley-Davidson motorcycle graced the American highways. The manufacturer has made bikes for all tastes, from affordable bikes for budget-conscious riders to some of the most stylish motorcycles on the market. The company has had several impacts on society, one of which is indirectly fostering motorcycle clubs worldwide. Among the most well-known is the Hells Angels, the largest motorcycle club in California.
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Like many motorcycle clubs today, the Hells Angels came into existence primarily because of a needed brotherhood among riders. While motorcycle enthusiasts formed riding clubs throughout the first half of the 20th century, it wasn’t until the mid-century that their numbers truly swelled. World War II hurled the motorcycle industry into overdrive, with manufacturers like Indian Motorcycles and Harley-Davidson pumping out upwards of 100,000 motorcycles to feed the war effort. Some of these army surplus machines flooded the American streets after the war ended, and with them came the rise of more organized motorcycle clubs, among them the Hells Angels.
How the Angel was born
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club originated in Fontana, San Bernardino County, California, in 1948. The American streets were filled with easy-to-come-by military surplus motorcycles. The post-war years also left war vets with a need for the kinship they’d known while fighting overseas, so it was only a matter of time before these organized motorcycle clubs began sprouting nationwide.
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Otto Friedli, a war vet who had broken away from one of these clubs known as the Pissed Off Bastards, is credited with laying the foundation for what the Hells Angels would become. The club credits its name to Arvid Olsen of the “Flying Tigers” Hells Angels squadron, who suggested the name. The club’s favored white and red colors can also be traced to Olsen, while its famous Death Head insignia originates from the 85th Fighter Squadron and the 552nd Medium Bomber Squadron.
Thus, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was born. It was only a speck of what it is today, but it would gradually spread its wings past California and the American border into the rest of the world.
Angels Forever, Forever Angels
The expansion of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was incremental but far-reaching, with one of its first new chapters forming in Oakland, California, in April 1957. The chapter’s founding is credited to Sonny Barger, who would rise to prominence in the club, eventually becoming its leader. The 1950s saw more chapters rise throughout California, and in 1961, the first international chapter formed in Auckland, New Zealand.
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In 1969, two English Hells Angels charters started in South and East London. Australian and Canadian clubs sprouted in the 1970s, and in 1984, the first South American charter came to life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1993 saw the Angels fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, and in 2009, a club opened in Turkey, making it the first Muslim country to embrace the Angels. Today, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club can be found worldwide, from Norway and Alaska to the Caribbean.