# Hawthorne 1933-1942



## RMS37 (May 12, 2008)

Hawthorne 1933-1942

I?m posting this tread to build on a discussion started on the pre-balloon forum. A part of that topic related to identifying the manufacturer for Hawthorne bicycles from 1933 to 1942. Some of what follows may be applicable to pre-balloon and post-war balloon bikes but that is coincidental and not implied.

My research is based mainly on bicycles I have seen in person or on the internet and the Montgomery Ward full merchandise catalogs which were issued twice a year, (a fall-winter issue and a spring summer issue). Many of these have been reproduced in the Elgin/Hawthorn book that most collectors are familiar with. The other catalogs are not too hard to find on eBay.

During the pre-war balloon period Montgomery Ward (M-W) sold Hawthorne branded bicycles that were produced by H.P. Snyder, Monark, and Cleveland Welding (CWC). I do not believe there were any other suppliers but I would be very interested if anyone has evidence to the contrary.

Monark built Aluminum Hawthornes are obviously the easiest to separate out.  Steel Monarks are also not too difficult as the only steel models sold through M-W were 5-bars boy?s and 4-bar girl?s models.  The Monark versions stand out as they have continuous twin tubes that run from the head, under the crank hanger, and become the chain stays.  The four and five bars produced by Snyder and CWC have down tubes that end at the crank hanger.

Some models were only produced by Snyder (this would include the Moto-Balloons and the Speedlines). Other models were produced by both Snyder and CWC. Some of these are only generally similar while others are virtually identical.

I have found that the foolproof way to separate Snyder Hawthornes from CWC Hawthornes is the upper rear fender bridge. Snyders have a curved bridge (as do Monarks but we have already eliminated them) and CWCs use a straight bridge. 

While other manufacturers used both curved and straight fender bridges, this method perfectly separates the CWC Hawthornes from the Snyder Hawthornes. The only flaw is that if you are looking at photographs of a bicycle, the fender bridge is often obscured by the seat or rack.

In photographs a useful visual tool is the fender stays used on CWC bikes. The fenders and stays used on CWC Hawthorns are different in shape from those used by Snyder.  Both began with straight stays and went to curved stays. Close up the differences are easy to tell but from a distance the give away is that the front vertical fender stay on a CWC bike is vertical (the fender brace is riveted to the fender directly above the front axel) while the front Snyder brace cants forward at about 20 degrees. The caveat here is not all bicycles still have their original fenders.

A method that generally doesn?t work is the fork crown method. While triple plate fork crowns are a Snyder signature, CWC also used a triple plate fork crown on several in-house (Roadmaster) models and on most of the models they built for Hawthorne. Later, when the CWC Shockmaster fork was made available, it was used exclusively on all Hawthornes so equipped or could be added as optional equipment to any unsprung full size model. In 1941 the tables were turned and the Snyder pattern springer became the chosen unit and again was used on bikes from both Snyder and CWC.

These above tools are useful but are only a couple of the discernable differences between the frames and bicycles produced by Snyder and CWC. This makes for a lengthy subject and is best addressed year by year, model by model. I hope to have a web site up in the not to distant future to make this information and research more accessible. 

Phil


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## Classicriders (May 13, 2008)

I can honestly say that I have never seen an original bike of one manufacturer(CWC or Snyder) with the springer of another.  I have seen this occur on restored bikes, and there is no telling what a local bike shop may have done back in the day.  But as for straight from the factory original bikes, I haven yet to come across any "cross breeds".
That doesn't mean that it never happened, it just hasn;t occured in my little world.

Interchangable forks are one thing, but what about interchangable tanks?  I am talking about two frames from different manufacturers that will take the same tank?
It's true.  A Schwinn DX and a Monark blister tank are interchangable.  I learned this years ago when I picked up a DX in house paint from a collector.  It had a blister tank on it from a Monark?  It is an exact fit too, not a "close enough" type of fit, but exact!  

SB


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