Originally Posted by
SirMike1983
Sounds to me like a bike owned by a Yale student/grad student originally. In the late 1940s Raleigh Lentons would be quite rare compared to the usual American-made heavyweights of that era. An exotic adult bicycle of higher expense than a regular American ballooner in New Haven sounds like a Yale case to me. It would make sense too if the guy you bought it from was a Grad Student-- did he go to Yale? He may have bought it from another student there.
It's an excellent find.
I believe he went to Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science - I can imagine how exotic this bike may have been - possibly their introduction to a 531 model - I bet you're right about him buying it from a fellow student.