Classic & Vintage - Can anyone help me identify this?

I restore old bicycles as a hobby. Recently a friend of mine gave me my first paid project. Neither of us has any idea of what this is, but it looks to be early-50's-ish. The crank and sprocket are non-original, they were taken from an old Royce Union several years ago, so they're no clue, and the rear wheel is also a frankenstein.

I find the lines of the frame to be quite distinctive, and thought maybe somebody might know what it is. Also note the placement of the bottom bracket, I've never seen one recesses like that.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p91877fe883adfe5ebedd4e705d28e965/fc28f16c.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p7e47e31945d640081570860a611987ff/fc28f118.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p127b928b01bf257bf1dbe8287916960a/fc28f0ac.jpg

UPDATE:

Does anybody know if there were ever any bicycles made with a brass frame? As I'm cleaning the corrosion and tar (don't ask) from the frame, It looks like it's BRASS underneath, and I swear it looks like the joints are brazed instead of welded.

Anybody?

Most better-made bikes of yore were brazed. It's how lugs work. From your pic, though, it looks like some ham-fisted backyard mechanic welded/brazed a broken BB shell onto or off of this frame at some point. Probably has little strength there....

I am fairly sure it's an original bottom bracket, the joins at the top are flawless, it's only on the bottom that you can see any lumps from the brazing.

Also, I've determined through use of a magnet (duh) that the frame is indeed ferrous.

Thats the exact same chainguard on one of my bikes, and old Sears cruiser.

The chainguard is also a frankenstein from another bike, it's held on with brackets, and when I removed it, there are old weld nubs left from the original. Thanks though.

Weelllll... since all of the easily identifiable parts are from other bikes, I'd say you may be SOL.

That reflector looking thing on the front... is it an actual reflector, or an ornament of some kind? If its not a reflector, then does it have a capital 'H' stamped in it by any chance??

Can you post close-up pics of the fork crown, rear dropouts, and bottom of the BB? I might be able to work with those. Also, does it have a serial number? where is it stamped on the frame?

Brass brazing is used for lugged and lugless joining in bikes, but has been replaced by welding in recent years.
Cruiser-style bikes are usually made of heavy-duty tubes in a workmanlike manner. I seriously doubt that it was made by a master frame-builder. To see what brazing artistry looks like, take a look at

http://www.bohemianbicycles.com/Gallery's.htm

I seriously doubt that it was made by a master frame-builder. To see what brazing artistry looks like...

...come to my house and I'll show you the worst fillet-brazing job in the world ;)

Its on the later of my two brazed schwinn supersports. The older one is nice. The newer one looks like crap. |P