Re: Packard Bikes
Posted by Leeedy On 2021/10/5 12:38:56
Now... moving on to 1939. A Pennsylvania store named "Schenk & Tittle" out of Harrisburg sold Packard AND Colson bicycles.
Here is an original advertisement from 1939 listing both Colson and Packard bicycles. Note that THESE Colsons and Packard bicycles were equipped with CHROME spokes rather than typical cad-plated ones. First class!
These days some people want to moosh both bicycles into one, but here is proof that retailers didn't see it that way. In the REAL world. A Colson bicycle was a Colson bicycle. A Colson-BUILT Packard bicycle was a Packard bicycle. Retailers back then understood it –why can't today's collectors?
Also note that the ad refers to "Packard Knee Action Bicycles." What was "knee action"? You don't know? Well...
The bicycle hobby and people in general have asmnesia about this history. And terminologies in both vintage cars and vintage bicycles have gone berserk since the 1970s. "Knee-action" was once both automotive and bicycle terminology in the USA. However today is the era of made-up terms that defy any existing legacy or tradition. And folks around today (including the "experts") seem to not know any better.
What were once generally understood terms (like "custom/customized"..."stock"... "modified" etc,) have been morphed, mooshed and purposely muddied by auction companies, magazines, fast-buck flippers, TV hosts and ultimately confused newbies parroting the new made-up terms back and forth to one another.
In cars, what was once considered a "restoration" is now a put-down. If you are doing a genuine restoration and returning a vehicle to the way it was when first made, you are now a "purist" rather than a restorer. And "purist" is now intended as some kind of insult. "Restoration" now has sadly degenerated down to what used to be a "refurbish." These days, a "restoration" is a shiny paint job, a modern crate engine stuffed under the hood and a set of big flashy wheels. REALLY? An "upgrade" used to mean something like going from clear glass to factory tinted glass ... or manual steering to factory power steering.
NOW... "upgrade" is considered changing a 1950s/1960s car from original drum brakes to DISC brakes (something Detroit didn't even offer until the 1970s). And a lot of the people doing such stuff will moan, "But it's saaaaaaaafer to have disc brakes in my 1958 Buick or my 1953 Packard!" Yes, well it's safer still to have anti-skid ABS brakes and traction control and air bags. Where does RESTORATION stop and CUSTOMIZING begin? And why is it that nobody today wants to admit that they CUSTOMIZED a vintage car instead of claiming they "restored it" or "upgraded it"? If you messed with your car and created something the factory never made, why not admit it and take credit for your "art"?
In the old days, doing such a thing as putting modern stuff on an old car would have been known as "CUSTOMIZING." Pure and simple. Clearly understood. No doublespeak. No mumbo-jumbo. No confusion at all about it. Like putting a 427 V-8 in a Model A Ford. To do such a thing was clearly understood as HOT-RODDING and CUSTOMIZING. But now? In an era when auctions and flippers want to hide that a car has been rodded, customized or otherwise modified and messed with, it's an "upgrade." For some born after the Apollo moon landing, all this silliness makes perfect sense–even if they don't understand what they are actually saying. Wow.
Anyway... in vintage American-made bicycles "knee-action" was a commonly understood generic term for front cushion spring forks. Sometime in the 1970s the term "springer" began to get shoved into the mix (heaven knows why). And the term "knee-action" was completely overwhelmed and eventually forgotten.
I still say "knee-action" but today's "experts" like those pickin' guys on TV and people who post on DIY web sites insist on calling knee-action by the term, "springer." As in, "Yeah, that old Schwinn has the cool springer fork!" This when even Schwinn called their own fork "knee-action" and never uttered the term, "springer." But today? Who cares? Ignore the original terms and even the original literature. Today? Ignore history. Defy legacy. Make up your own terminology and say whatever you please. It is what it is. And nobody says or does a thing to correct it. Maybe folks today are still hung up thinking about Jerry's TV show, huh?
So if you don't know what "knee action Packard bicycle was"... here's why.
By the way, if you scroll back in this thread you will also find a company out of Cinci, Ohio offering an aftermarket "Packard Knee-Action" (universal conversion spring fork) for bicycles. Again, proving that most people once knew what "knee-action" on a bicycle (and car) was –as incredible as this may seem today.
And again... no Packard automobiles mentioned as being sold with these Packard bicycles again. Awwwww. Where are all the folks who were arguing and raising stinks years ago saying "everybody knows they gave away Packard bicycles to sweeten deals on Packard cars!" Where are those folks who knew so much about Packard bicycles now? Hmmm?????
So who else shows you such stuff?
Attach file:
PackardBicycles1939PAcopy.jpg (236.04 KB)
Here is an original advertisement from 1939 listing both Colson and Packard bicycles. Note that THESE Colsons and Packard bicycles were equipped with CHROME spokes rather than typical cad-plated ones. First class!
These days some people want to moosh both bicycles into one, but here is proof that retailers didn't see it that way. In the REAL world. A Colson bicycle was a Colson bicycle. A Colson-BUILT Packard bicycle was a Packard bicycle. Retailers back then understood it –why can't today's collectors?
Also note that the ad refers to "Packard Knee Action Bicycles." What was "knee action"? You don't know? Well...
The bicycle hobby and people in general have asmnesia about this history. And terminologies in both vintage cars and vintage bicycles have gone berserk since the 1970s. "Knee-action" was once both automotive and bicycle terminology in the USA. However today is the era of made-up terms that defy any existing legacy or tradition. And folks around today (including the "experts") seem to not know any better.
What were once generally understood terms (like "custom/customized"..."stock"... "modified" etc,) have been morphed, mooshed and purposely muddied by auction companies, magazines, fast-buck flippers, TV hosts and ultimately confused newbies parroting the new made-up terms back and forth to one another.
In cars, what was once considered a "restoration" is now a put-down. If you are doing a genuine restoration and returning a vehicle to the way it was when first made, you are now a "purist" rather than a restorer. And "purist" is now intended as some kind of insult. "Restoration" now has sadly degenerated down to what used to be a "refurbish." These days, a "restoration" is a shiny paint job, a modern crate engine stuffed under the hood and a set of big flashy wheels. REALLY? An "upgrade" used to mean something like going from clear glass to factory tinted glass ... or manual steering to factory power steering.
NOW... "upgrade" is considered changing a 1950s/1960s car from original drum brakes to DISC brakes (something Detroit didn't even offer until the 1970s). And a lot of the people doing such stuff will moan, "But it's saaaaaaaafer to have disc brakes in my 1958 Buick or my 1953 Packard!" Yes, well it's safer still to have anti-skid ABS brakes and traction control and air bags. Where does RESTORATION stop and CUSTOMIZING begin? And why is it that nobody today wants to admit that they CUSTOMIZED a vintage car instead of claiming they "restored it" or "upgraded it"? If you messed with your car and created something the factory never made, why not admit it and take credit for your "art"?
In the old days, doing such a thing as putting modern stuff on an old car would have been known as "CUSTOMIZING." Pure and simple. Clearly understood. No doublespeak. No mumbo-jumbo. No confusion at all about it. Like putting a 427 V-8 in a Model A Ford. To do such a thing was clearly understood as HOT-RODDING and CUSTOMIZING. But now? In an era when auctions and flippers want to hide that a car has been rodded, customized or otherwise modified and messed with, it's an "upgrade." For some born after the Apollo moon landing, all this silliness makes perfect sense–even if they don't understand what they are actually saying. Wow.
Anyway... in vintage American-made bicycles "knee-action" was a commonly understood generic term for front cushion spring forks. Sometime in the 1970s the term "springer" began to get shoved into the mix (heaven knows why). And the term "knee-action" was completely overwhelmed and eventually forgotten.
I still say "knee-action" but today's "experts" like those pickin' guys on TV and people who post on DIY web sites insist on calling knee-action by the term, "springer." As in, "Yeah, that old Schwinn has the cool springer fork!" This when even Schwinn called their own fork "knee-action" and never uttered the term, "springer." But today? Who cares? Ignore the original terms and even the original literature. Today? Ignore history. Defy legacy. Make up your own terminology and say whatever you please. It is what it is. And nobody says or does a thing to correct it. Maybe folks today are still hung up thinking about Jerry's TV show, huh?
So if you don't know what "knee action Packard bicycle was"... here's why.
By the way, if you scroll back in this thread you will also find a company out of Cinci, Ohio offering an aftermarket "Packard Knee-Action" (universal conversion spring fork) for bicycles. Again, proving that most people once knew what "knee-action" on a bicycle (and car) was –as incredible as this may seem today.
And again... no Packard automobiles mentioned as being sold with these Packard bicycles again. Awwwww. Where are all the folks who were arguing and raising stinks years ago saying "everybody knows they gave away Packard bicycles to sweeten deals on Packard cars!" Where are those folks who knew so much about Packard bicycles now? Hmmm?????
So who else shows you such stuff?
Attach file:
PackardBicycles1939PAcopy.jpg (236.04 KB)
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