April 13, 1966, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Do kids even want bikes anymore? This little number was the hottest thing going when I was ten years old. It was advertised on Saturday morning TV all the time as well as gracing the backs of the endless supply of comic books I devoured each week. I wasn't fortunate enough to have a 5 speed with a cool shifter, but I had the basic model with the coaster brakes and that was enough for me at the time. During that more innocent time, Menasha was my kingdom and that bike was my mighty steed. We first visited this shop in 2013: http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2013/02/menasha-bike-and-toy.html
Re innocent times, can anyone answer? When did we start locking bikes?
ReplyDeleteJ Krahenbuhl
Banana seats were so cool!
ReplyDeleteMy parents bought me a second hand 1966 black Schwinn fastback when I was 10 (in 1968). It was cool, but we all wanted the Schwinn Krates that had recently been introduced. The Krates were really expensive as I recall. I only remember one kid that had a Krate. I think he lived somewhere on Grove street. We used to have wheelie contests to see who could ride on the back wheel the longest. One kid near St. John's could ride on one wheel for a block or more. High sissy bars where also coveted. To Don's point, I think we locked our bikes when we went to the pool and such, but not if we were at the burger shanty or the park shack.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Neenah, so my bike shop was La Salles (where Sammy's Pizza is now). I bought two big Schwinn three-speed middle-weight bikes there for transportation and paper route use. They also had parts... we worked those bikes so hard that every couple years we opened up the rear three-speed hubs and rebuilt them with new parts as needed. Good bikes!
ReplyDeleteAnd... concerning locks, well that's why I bought the second bike... WITH A LOCK!