SpaceCrawler

Hello all, new to the forum. I'm trying to ID an old bike my family had and this is the only image that I have of it. I estimate it to be from the late 1950s to early 1960s (I believe it was bought new in the early 60s). Can anyone help ID this bicycle?

Thanks!


Sean

AZORCH

Sean, is that a vintage photo? If not, we're going to really need to see a better, drive side photo of the entire bike that is in focus. Looking forward to seeing the bike!

SpaceCrawler

It's the best photo I have of the bike, unfortunately. Taken from a frame of Super 8 film.
I knew it was a long shot but I had to try.

Sean

rhm

The shape of the crank arm is unusual, that may help. The crank arm looks very short, in proportion to the pedal; was it a child's bike? It looks to be an American made bike with a Wald stem, so probably not an expensive bike. Also, I see a rack on the back... for what it's worth.

I only see one frame tube. Could be a folding bike, maybe?

Hardrock23

You might have some more luck asking over at Alt Bike Culture - Bike Forums

With google, the closest results I got were - *J.C. Higgins, *Rollfast, *Columbia, and maybe some Schwinn with a touch of Monark...lol The saddle type seemed to be used more in the 40's to mid 50's. I didnt look earlier than 1938, or much in the 60's because of the saddle, though.

It looks like a ladies frame with a tank thingy, no rear brake lever, white accents/decals, and of course rack and fenders. Might have a tube connecting the top tube and bottom tube where the top tube curves at the bottom.
I thought I saw those silver pole things that go from the headset to the fork ends but Im not sure now (Dont know what theyre called).

Hardrock23

Oh, the crank arm - I saw tons that curved, but the only one I saw with more shape was on a BSA. That was a huge dead end in google though.

SpaceCrawler

Thanks for the help everyone.

I can add the following details-
It's not a folding bike.
Yes, probably a fairly inexpensive bike, a bike for kids. Bought in the US (New England) area. Maybe from Childworld, Kiddy City or Sears.
This was Christmas morning, probably 1961-ish. The bike was bought new.

Sean

rootboy 

Was it your Christmas present when you were a youngster?

1989Pre 

As far as this photo goes, I think the paint scheme on the rear rack should be the give-away. If you search "vintage rear rack", you might come upon it.
The "bow" pedals look like a Phillips design, so Hard might be on the right track.
You might want to ask these people if your bike is a Murray:
https://murrayeliminatormusclebikes.yuku.com/directory

SpaceCrawler

I am assuming this was my older sister's bike (as I wasn't born yet when this image was taken, and this seems to be a girl's frame so maybe wasn't my older brother's bike), but I inherited it for a short time when I was very young before I got my amazing anti-freeze green Kool Kat.

Sean

SpaceCrawler

Can anyone else see my original post with the photo? For some reason it's not showing to me anymore and the first response to me is now the lead post, numbered #1. Not sure why it's missing. Anyway- here's the image again below.

Anyway- I looked at those Murry catalog pages and it's definitely similar to some early 60s bikes, but the rear tire rack on the Murrays is shaped differently than this bike (the Murrays seem to come to a blunt point/wedge hape towards the seat). Also, mine doesn't seem to have anything on the front fender, most of the Murrays with a similar frame seem to have more stuff going on with the front fender.




Sean

no1mad 

Note: I had to smack the server hamster in order for it to spit out a couple of posts.

durangotang

Firestone Deluxe?

SpaceCrawler

Thanks, I was wondering what happened to my edited post. I appreciate it!

Sean

SpaceCrawler

Thanks... That looks similar, except for the front fender. I think mine lacked any headlight or extra bracing. Peddle arms look different too. Also the rear fender rack seems to taper to too narrow a point on this Firestone, while the rack on mine was more squared off where it met the seat.

Sean

SpaceCrawler

So I found this online. Seller says it's a vintage Roadmaster bike. This is the closest looking bike I've seen to my old bike pictured in the first post in this thread. But still not exact (different set and different paint scheme on bracket on rear fender.

Sean

non-fixie 

Thanks for the follow-up. I always like stories to have an ending of sorts.

T-Mar

In the original photo, it looks like it may be a children's convertible models, where the top tube can configured for either a boy's or girl's model. Did you contact your siblings to see what they remember?

SpaceCrawler

Yes, but they weren't able to provide any more details, unfortunately.
I don't recall the bike being able to change from a boy to a girls bike but then again I didn't remember it being a girl's bike at all- that info came from the original photo alone. The search continues.

Sean