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Now... for those of you who have occasionally found what look like Packard Cormorant/Pelican ornaments that are just not the same as factory parts... OR are too small, here's something of interest. I showed you Packard bicycle ornaments earlier in this thread. Here are more.

This company made aftermarket Packard-looking hood ornaments for cars. AND then... they made smaller versions that ended up being sold in bicycle shops. And yes... some were mounted on Packard bicycles! These were called "Swanettes" and one version (like the aftermarket car version) had plastic illuminated wings. Quite a thing to see going down your sidewalk on a summer night back then.

In the 1940s and 1950s–even into the 1960s you could still find these ornaments in both automotive parts stores AND bicycle shops for the "Swanette" version. And no– vintage bicycle collectors don't know about these.

Today, aftermarket descendents of the "Flamingo" ornaments can still be found truck stops and long-haul trucker accessory stores and catalogues.

Ironically back in the late 1950s and through the 1960s these "Flamingo" and "Swanette" ornaments were sold at Arlan's Department Store. Arlan's (for old-time Detroiters) was actually located INSIDE the Packard Plant on East Grand Blvd. at the corner of Concord Avenue. This was after Packard had shut down and moved away. You entered the store through a main door that was located under the famous Packard Bridge on the south end of the bridge.

AND... if you wanted your ornament faster, you could enter through the automotive parts department door on Concord Ave. and walk directly in. Yes, they sold genuine Packard parts and aftermarket replacement parts too! All at discount prices. Does anybody remember this? You parked your car (or your bicycle) in the former Packard employees' parking lot!

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Know it's and they are not "Packard" bicycles, Hemmings has discovered bicycles in this article.

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Ozstatman wrote:
Know it's and they are not

LOL. Understood. Yes, I saw that. It brings a chuckle. You can tell how young the guys running Hemmings are now because they don't seem to remember that Hemmings Motor News has had a bicycle and motorcycle ad section for decades. The young guys doing this post think they've discovered something new!

Krates are actually the relative newcomers in collectible vintage American bicycles. The seriously collectable (and valuable) stuff is from the 1930s–1950s as I always said it would be. Only nobody paid attention until this stuff started popping up on TV in pawn shops and with "picker" guys, buying low and selling high. THEN it was suddenly noteworthy!

I bought from Hemmings bicycle ads and ran ads in the section back in the 1960s and 1970s. I also did likewise with Krause's "Old Cars" newspaper back in the early 1970s (the paper came out once a month in the early days). And I took my classic American-made bicycles to automotive swap meets back as far as the 1960s.

I wrote the industry article, "How Two Wheels Led To Four" that was published in 1993. Car people never knew it... now they quote from it... some apparently not knowing the original source. THIS is where references to the Grabowski Bicycle Factory (predecessor to GM's GMC Truck & Bus division) came from. You'll see these references all over the internet and elsewhere today, without attribution. Grrr. It is what it is.

Also curious as to how little kids from the 1970s riding Schwinn Krate bicycles qualify as typical "baby boomers."

If you scroll back a few posts in the Packard Bikes thread here, you'll note I pointed out just a smidge of bicycle-automotive history that is still overlooked today by automotive historians.

And even more for the die-hard Schwinn-Built bicycle fanatics. The Schwinn-Built 1937 Packard bicycle I showed you a couple of posts back was known in factory and factory/wholesale catalogues as "Motorbike De Luxe Model BA107."

No, it did not have a motor. "Motorbike" was merely the generic name given by ASC to this design–no matter which brand (such as "PACKARD") was displayed on the headbadge. The graphic on the sides of the tank (look closely) says "Motorbike ASC."

Also, you can't see it easily here but there is a small black bakelite plunger button on the left-hand side of the handlebars. This plunger operated the electric horn in the tank and said "A.S." in white letters on its top. It was built into the special handlebar which also carried a contact switch and electric wiring. Most of these bicycles claimed to be "restored" today usually have a strap-on horn button control instead of the Bakelite button. This is because either A.) the original handlebars are missing... OR ...B.) the Bakelite plunger button has been broken off and nobody knows what to do with the hole that remains. Cute idea when new but certainly not a shining example of durable engineering. Today, most who think they know these bicycles don't even know about the brittle little button– or even that it existed.

Yes NBHAA also has the factory catalogue with all details and specs (and which is considerably more clear in image than the advertisement) and yes I have the bicycle WITH the button intact.

So where's the picture Leeedy?? Chris.

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Picture of? Which picture?

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Post #95 reads like there should be a picture one can reference, yes/no??....
Chris.

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LOL. Ahhh. It seems I've been spoiling my readers. But you have a good point. Okay Chris, give me a bit of time and I'll see what I can dig out of the files.

Unless you already know what you're looking at, the literature does not make the plunger button clear.

Frankly I don't think I ever took photos of the buttons. AND they are rare as hen's teeth today. The photo thing is really much more recent since huge numbers of cameras now exist in phones. But back when I was collecting all this stuff, it meant hauling the Nikon out, a trip to the store for a roll of film, a trip to the photo developer after shooting a roll. Waiting for the development... then a trip back to the developer and hoping the photographs turned out reasonably decent.

So I just didn't take photos of everything back in the day. To do so right now would mean a trip to deep storage, pulling one out into the light and taking photos.

Ooops! Got one after all. Took a look and found a pic I took of my 1938 Schwnn-Built B.F. Goodrich Streamline. This bicycle is nearly identical to the Schwinn-Built Packard bicycle I show from 1937. The biggest differences are handgrips, frame graphics and graphics on the tank sides. And of course, the twin headlights mounted on the Knee-Action spring fork (instead of a standard fork with headlight on front fender) and the headbadge/brand. And yes, the Knee-Action spring front fork and twin headlights were also available on a Packard-branded model– for more money, of course.

Now. The white lettering is worn off of this Bakelite button, but if you look very close, you can see the stylized imprint of the letters "A.S." Side view of the button would be similar to a flattened mushroom.

Regarding the handlebar stem: Unlike the bogus thingies sold on eBay these days, THIS handlebar stem is dead original and is a REAL "razor-edge" (a term I coined in the 1970s, but nobody seems to know this–even though the term is regularly and widely repeated today).

While you're at it... note the key-locking fork– WITH original key in the lock.

The bicycle shown here is dead original 1938 (including B.F. Goodrich "Silvertown" whitewall tires) and has not been molested with bogus parts and bogus "information." I've owned it since the 1970s. And yesss, I DO have the original catalogue for this one too.

Finally, the orange/tan bicycle hint view in the left of the image below is One of my Sears Elgins. This one is in mint original condition and yes, those ARE the original colors in the original paint (as incredible as this may seem). And I knew the man who designed it. He did a number of streamlined prewar trucks and a few cars, but no Packards. When was it made? 1941. Again, unmolested original.

See? Ask and ye shall receive!

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And as further response to Chris and Schwinn worshippers out there... here is a page from the original Arnold, Schwinn & Company (ASC) dealer book for 1938. No DIY guessing here.

It clearly shows a side shot of ASC's built-in horn button in a profile view.

Also note the reference to "knee-action spring fork" (the actual name that ASC and most others called it) and NOT the common slang of today... "springer."

C'monnn... who else shows you this stuff? Right from the source?

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