# '57 JC Higgins Jetflow girls all original



## dadayo (Nov 5, 2012)

I'm new to The Cabe. I picked up this JC Higgins bike recently and thought it would be a nice project to learn a bit about mid-century Americana. Last year I restored a c1929 Conn stencil alto sax mfg'd for Sears, and learned a ton. This bike really caught my eye and I figured I'd see what this old girl had to say.

As it turned out, I did no restoration, simply cleaned her up.  I've read up in this forum about the JC Higgins brand and have been searching sites for a Sears catalog with some original photos, but haven't seen this model yet.  I figured to post and gather any wisdom and comments rom you folks who are much wiser than me in this vintage bicycle arena.

My observation is that everything is original. I am the 3rd owner, the 2nd received this from the original owner and had it sitting on a bike stand.  The horn and headlight work. The only missing item I can tell is the red reflector that goes inside the rear blue dome. Is there a more technical term for the style of rear reflector unit on this bike model? What do you all think of this girl?

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/album.php?albumid=1122


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## Boris (Nov 6, 2012)

You sure landed a beautiful bike there. Practically complete and in wonderful original condition. Congratulations! You may get more feedback if you request that the moderator move your post to "Classic Balloon Tire Bicycles 1933-1965."


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## ridingtoy (Nov 7, 2012)

Wonderful score! She's a real beauty! A perfect example of why I wouldn't mind having some more stylish ladies models in my small collection.

Dave


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## militarymonark (Nov 7, 2012)

I have the exact same bike. Even being a girls I love to ride it.


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## ridingtoy (Nov 8, 2012)

dadayo said:


> I'd love to get hold of a 1956 or 1957 Sears & Roebuck fall catalog to see the other JC Higgins models & options available.




Check ebay...there's always older Wards and Sears catalogs listed. Some sellers charge too much but others are more reasonable. You wouldn't need a copy in pristine condition, just with the sporting goods or toy section intact, whichever section the bicycle pages were placed in.

Dave


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## Adamtinkerer (Nov 9, 2012)

You have managed to do most of the decoding on your own, bravo! This model does have the same catalog # for both 1956 and 57, but the stamping MOTS-V places the frame date in 56. The 2009 Murray serial thread was mostly guesswork at the time. About a year ago, member ABC Services reprinted a 1959 Western Auto bike parts catalog, which offered invalueable info on dating bikes of the era. It's main contribution was to clear up Murray's numbering system through 1959. Murrays built for Sears hava an extra S in the code, one built for Western Auto in 56 would just be stamped 'MOV' or later in the year, 'MOT-V'. These Jet Flow models were the last of the classic Balloon tire models, replaced by the Flightliner middleweights in 1958.


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## fordmike65 (Nov 9, 2012)

dadayo said:


> Last night I dug into a site that has a bunch of digitized Sears Wishbooks and found this bike model 4547 on page 349 of the 1956 book. This make me more confident that this bike is a 1956 of 1957 model.  I'd love to get hold of a 1956 or 1957 Sears & Roebuck fall catalog to see the other JC Higgins models & options available.
> 
> I posted a picture to my album:
> http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/album.php?albumid=1122&attachmentid=72616
> ...




That link seems to go to the current Sears site. You may have meant this... http://www.wishbookweb.com/


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## PCHiggin (Nov 25, 2012)

*Shes A Beauty!*

Nice find,I had her identical twin 'till 5 or 6 years ago. The headlight with the visor bezel is unique to '57,very cool looking. I sold mine to an old man with a garage full of cool bikes. Wish I had kept that one,never saw another that nice and complete 'till now.


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## krateman (Dec 4, 2012)

I agree that there are a lot of cool girls/womens bike to collect. I don't mind riding one of them. With the stepthrough, it is easier/quicker to mount a womans bike. That Jet Flow is one womens bike I would buy for sure.


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