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1950-51 Manark Super Deluxe (Strato Blue)

• Model - 1950-51 Manark Super Deluxe (Strato Blue)

• Original Price - $69.95 (East of Denver, higher in the West)

Era Facts:

Price of Gas - $0.18/Gallon

Average wages per year - $3,210.00

• Original Colors (for this year) - Sea Green, Cruiser Red, Monark Maroon, Royal Blue, Chartreuse, Monark Green, Peacock Blue, Pastel Aqua, AND Strato Blue all with white and gold trim, color coordinated seat and grips...

• The MONARK line was sold exclusively by certain bicycle shops, retail stores and by mail order from catalogues. This information is contrary to bogus information floating around in the hobby, in "books" and on the internet. Do not believe the supposed "books" DIY web sites and newsletters. This Super Deluxe was made by the Monark- Silver King Company, Inc. of Illinois and California. Today, many people mistakenly refer to MONARKS as "Monark Silver Kings" or spell the name "Monarch", but neither is true. Remember... it is either a MONARK... or a SILVER KING. (BY MONARK).. but not BOTH. There was no intent to refer to this model as "Monark Silver King". At this time, Monarks were made in Illinois and California by the Monark-Silver King Company as you may know. The model you see was made in Illinois. MONARK bicycles were NOT associated with MONARCH bicycles. These were two different bicycle companies. Two different brands. Monark- especially the Super Deluxe postwar series is perhaps the MOST mis-identified bicycle in the hobby and on the internet. 

1968 Lemon Peeler

•  Model - Schwinn "Krate Lemon Peeler"

Era Facts:

Price of Gas - $0.34/Gallon

Average wages per year - $7,850.00

• Original Price - $89.95 (West of the Mississippi, slightly lower in the East)

• Original Colors (for this year) - Kool Lemon yellow (Orange Krate was "Kool Orange," Apple Krate was "Kool Red").

• The Schwinn Sting-Ray Krate line was sold by Schwinn Dealers as you may know. This Lemon Peeler was part of The Krate series. 1968 was the first year the Schwinn began featuring the Krate series and made it for several years afterward through to 1973 with minor detail changes. Names of Krate models corresponded to the color they were painted. There were three models in 1968 in colors as listed above.

1950 Schwinn Panther D-27

• Model - Schwinn "Panther" D-27

Era Facts:

Price of Gas - $0.18/Gallon

Average wages per year - $3,210.00

• Original Price - $69.95 (East of the Mississippi, higher in the West)

• Original Colors (for this year) - black with red trim, maroon with red trim, or two-tone green- all with white pinstriping on the frame and color contrasting striping on the tanks.

•  The Schwinn Panther line was sold by Schwinn Dealers as you may know. Do not confuse the regular Schwinn Panther with those sold by B.F. Goodrich because there were some differences. 1950 was the first year the Schwinn began featuring the Panther model and made it for several years afterward with minor detail changes.

1940 Elgin (Equipped Standard Fram)

• Model - Elgin "Equipped Standard Frame"

Era facts:

Price of Gas - $0.11/Gallon

Average wages per year - $1,725.00

• Original Price - $24.95 (East of Denver, higher in the West)

• Original colors (for this year) - (Black or Elgin Red #510) with white trim, back seat and black grips. (yours is Elgin Red #510) Tires are Allstate whitewall 26 x 2.125 balloon

• The Elgin line was sold exclusively by Sears, Roebuck & Company retail stores and by mail order from the Sears catalogue. It was made by many different bicycle manufacturers under contract to Sears, according to Sears' designs. The model shown was made for Sears by Murray-Ohio Manufacturing Company in Ohio. The Original rear fender reflectors were set in a cast white rubber housing and used a Stimsonite #15 red plastic lens. There were numerous versions of this bicycle. Some had polished aluminum fenders. THE VERSION shown was made 1940 only. However, some of these very bicycles were still being sold a year later near the beginning of WW2, but they were not shown in the catalogues again. They were warehouse leftovers. This particular Elgin was based on SOME Mercury bicycle components that were originally designed by the great Russian, Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, but this is an unknown fact today. The Price of this bicycle was exceptionally low for the amount of equipment and was a great value. Some areas were cost was saved was painted (instead of chromed) truss rods. Other areas of savings, as I said above, was to use certain existing components.

* Era Facts information provided by: http://www.thepeoplehistory.com