Here are a couple of very old battery lights for bicycles. The rear lights are about as simple as you can make – a spring holds the battery away from the bulb terminal until the body is screwed on far enough to compress it and make contact with the bulb. As the body is unscrewed the spring pushes the battery away from it to turn the light off.
battery tail lights - with no switch
the battery goes here - simple and austere
with seat stay bracket and reflector/lens
this dimple is the negative contact!
The blue one is stamped “Eveready” “Made in England” and the black one looks like bakelite and is unmarked. Both are from my grandfather’s collection.
The headlamp / torches above are multi purpose, perhaps for army / boy scout / camping, fishing etc. uses. The black one is marked “Eveready” “Made in England” and has a fitting for a bicycle light bracket on the back.
just the thing for your rusty old roadster ...
To operate the Eveready, the knob screws down. The brass Kempthorne knob pushes down and twists to lock. The Eveready takes a battery size called No. 701A .
made in australia
The brass one is dated “1944 Aust” – I believe it may be an army torch, it has a sort of large pocket clip on the back.
a new recyclist 
Eveready was/is a common battery company in the US and UK. Got some Eveready rechargeables in my battery-powered bike lights.
I really love the look of the headlight and wish someone would make a more modern (i.e. LED bulb) version of one of these! I can only hope since they’re bringing back the classic “torpedo” style light.
The lamp is a British civilian model converted to military use. The added tongue is to attach to a webbing belt.
Hello,
I would like to know where did you buy the front hub bracket. I am looking forward to take the same idea on my bicycle.
I will be grateful for the answer, thank you so much.
Hi Francesco, I would simply try eBay, as in my experience they are not that hard to find