IF YOU REMEMBER CHERRY Cokes that didn`t come out of a can, ever put a baseball card between the spokes of your bike with a clothes pin or tied a balloon to the fender stay to make it sound like a motorcycle, you may be a potential classic-bike fan. These bicycles from the `30s through the `60s are some of the hottest new collectibles around.
The classic bikes-sculpture on wheels, if you will-are being seen in window displays and magazine advertising across the country, not to mention in such television shows as ”The Wonder Years” and such movies as ”Back to the Future.”
Bikes from the great boom years of cycling are finding their way back into the hands of people who may have owned them or longed for them as children. Though well loved for their ride, some of these bikes are enjoyed simply as well-crafted examples of beautiful styling and innovative design.
Some collectors ride their bikes; others collect only those that are new in the box. Some may prefer to leave their finds unrestored; others enjoy the restoration as much as the ride. One collection includes bikes made of materials unusual for the period, such as the Monarch Silver King of the 1930s, made of an aluminum alloy. Or the Bowden, a `40s design in fiberglass of which Kestrol, a new carbon-fiber design, is surely some extended family member.
More than 38 million balloon-tire bicycles were manufactured between 1933 and 1959, plus another 17 million middleweights and banana-seat models. These bikes weren`t throwaways; they got stored away next to Aunt Nancy`s furnace or up in the rafters of the garage. The newly stung enthusiast can find them at auctions, garage sales, flea markets and bicycle shops that have been around for a while. Though still affordable, many of the bikes are selling for more than 10 times their original prices.
Chicago, home to many bicycle and bicycle-related businesses since the 1890s, was such a manufacturing and marketing stronghold that such names as Schwinn, Monarch, Elgin, J.C. Higgins and Hawthorn are familiar in this area. In 1899, for example, the U.S. produced 1.2 million bicycles, many on Lake Street in what is now the West Loop. Referred to as ”Bicycle Alley,” this neighborhood housed more than 30 bicycle and bicycle-related firms. As America fell in love with the car, bicycle sales plummeted to 194,000 very uninteresting units in 1932. To survive, manufacturers standardized their lines, many diversified and others left the business altogether.
An exhibit of bicycles at the Century of Progress Exposition in 1933 included Schwinn`s new super balloon tires. This innovation stimulated the industry to depart from the standardized manufacturing stance, and the game was on as companies individualized their models and began almost immediately to enjoy a boom that returned bicycle sales to the magic 1.2 million mark by 1936.
The bikes that carried the bicycle industry into this boom were streamlined Art Deco beauties that looked like flight captured in freeze frame. The `30s models included the Schwinn Aerocycle, the Elgin Bluebird and the Shelby Airflow. The Aerocycle, produced in 1934, may have been inspired by some of the themes featured at the Century of Progress. Aerodynamic design was the buzzword of the day. The public loved the voluptuous shapes that marked everything from airplanes to water pitchers during this era. The bicycles of the day were beautiful and offered a ride with heft and lots of cushion.
THE 1937 ELGIN SKYLARK was a study in style. With a shipping weight of 90 pounds, this iron maiden had teardrop-shaped pedals and a leather seat atop auto-style leaf springs. It was marketed by Sears as ”the prettiest thing on wheels,” and the grilled skirt guard gave it a very finished look. As with most of the models of this vintage, it sported two-toned stylized paint with pinstriping as well as the new super balloon-style tires and a built-in, streamlined battery-operated horn light.
During World War II, bicycles were a rationed item and were stripped and standardized into a very utilitarian model named the Victory Bike. After the war, the bicycle industry returned to the marketplace to find a new market. With postwar prosperity, more American adults were able to afford cars. They wanted bicycles, but for their children. Manufacturers complied by not only filling the market with good-quality bicycles but by producing bikes that were really ”swell” too.
The chrome and flash of the `50s can be summed up in two words: Black Phantom. Manufactured from 1949 to 1959, this boy`s model was known for having all the right deluxe appointments. It was the bike everybody wanted. The features included chrome fenders, wide whitewall tires and a spring front fork. The saddle was leather and very plush. At a time when the American dream included flashy transportation, this bike, which even had a key for the locking front fork, was almost a car. In fact, the Schwinn company guaranteed your the for one year against theft if you could present your key.
The banana-seat Stingray or Krate, with its high-rise handle bars, is again gaining an enthusiastic following. Reminiscent of the ”muscle car” and loaded with `60s styling, including ”sissy” bars, stick shift, shock absorbers and slick tires, it was as much like the hot-rod ”funny cars” as you could get without a license.
Gadget lovers could enjoy even the most pristine of the classics, which sported great accessories. Automatic brake lights on the rear carrier, beautiful decals (of airplanes and rockets) on the horn tanks were among the many standard items on the classics. The reflectors were glass and faceted like jewels in red, green and yellow. Aftermarket accessories included crash bars, mud flaps, hubcaps and baskets. One `50s model had a battery-operated radio in the horn tank. Imagine riding around listening to the Cubs!
Shelby made a model with Donald Duck`s head on it. (Donald`s eyes flashed and the horn quacked instead of honking.) There were also several cowboy models at this time. One, the Hopalong Cassidy, was black with lots of chrome and a horsehair-grained saddle.
Devotees of the classics claim that a ride on one of these flashy beauties can calm computer or commuter nerves. They are smile-producing sights that bring back memories of childhood freedom and special friends who shared some of the first experiences with autonomy. And responsibility: Such bikes were often the first thing many of the Baby Boomers paid for with their own money. Sears even offered a pay-as-you-play plan.
Not all classic models enjoyed popularity. The Bowden Spacelander, considered the Duesenburg of the classics, was designed in the mid-`40s but not manufactured until 1960. Tagged at a pricey $89.50, it sold poorly. The Spacelander was financed by a firm that sold a vibrating chair as a weight-reducing device. When the device was exposed as worthless, the company was ruined, funding for the bike dwindled and production ceased after it became apparent that the marketplace had changed as well. By the time this truly magnificent fiberglass design was manufactured, lightweight 3-speed models were in and the Bowden was doomed.
Although Europe boasts 40 museums exclusively devoted to the bicycle and Tokyo is home to a seven-story culture center that exhibits the history as well as the progress of the industry, museums in America`s auto-oriented society have mostly displayed antique bicycles as a boutique item. The Smithsonian Institution, however, recently added balloon-tire models to two of their displays, and Chicago`s Museum of Science and Industry Cycleworks display boasts one of the finest examples of the time line of the bicycle. Within two years, the Schwinn company plans to have a ”corporate museum,”
most likely in the West Loop, for its collecton of nearly 1,000 old bicycles and other memorabilia.
Uniquely American, with quality that was meant to last, many of these classics can be found in surprisingly good condition, even though a complete restoration, if needed, is not an overwhelming project. Parts and accessories are readily available. So are batteries for the Hubba Hubba wheel lights or the bat-wing headlight. Then all you have to do is pump some air in the tires and you`re on your way.
