# What Year This Schwinn?



## ridingtoy (Jul 11, 2010)

Bought this at an indoor flea market several years ago for $50. The bicycle and head badge are shown in my flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/toys-prams/

The seller had a tag which read, "1950s Girls Bike", but it looked older to me. I came home, did some research, and found this exact frame with two short cross pieces on a bike shown on a 1939 catalog page. Has no evidence of ever having a front light attached, but still has it's rear jewel reflector. The head badge has a train under the Schwinn name and a plane on top of the name. From what I could make out on the serial number with a bit of pitting on the first part, it looks like a letter "H" (maybe two number ones?) followed by number 29426. Any guesses as to the correct age? Am I right pegging this as a 1939 model? Thanks for the help!

Dave


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## 53Phantom (Jul 11, 2010)

It is definetly a prewar. '39 sounds about right.


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## ski (Jul 11, 2010)

i am thinking 1940 or 41 with the two bars. check for a date on the crank


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## Xcelsior (Jul 11, 2010)

looks to be a 41.


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## chriscokid (Jul 11, 2010)

O yea thats a nice bicycle it might be 38-39... it's not 50's.... Do  like ski says check the crank.


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## ridingtoy (Jul 11, 2010)

I'll be sure to check the crank tomorrow since it's getting pretty late tonight. It looks much better in the photo than in person. Both fenders, fender braces, and chainguard have more than their share of dings and dents. I put two NOS blackwalls w/new tubes on it to replace the VERY dryrotted original tires. I made the mistake of trying to pump them up when I brought the bike home. Next thing I noticed was the sound of something tearing open, and saw the tires splitting open with the tubes blowing up like balloons!

Sounds like I'm close on the year on this one. In case anyone is wondering, in the upper left of the photo is a 1950 Deluxe Hawthorne girls tank model and my wife's late 1980s Roadmaster Aspen model. The MW Hawthorne is pretty cool with built-in turn signals in the rear and a signal switch mounted on the handlebar. The wiring needs a little repair to get it working again, but the tank mounted horn and front headlight with green visor works just fine. It's the favorite in my small classic bike collection and rides like a Cadillac with it's front suspension! 

Dave


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## 35cycleplane (Jul 11, 2010)

painted fender braces were a thing all bikecompanies were doing late '41,into early '42,when production on bikes was stopped due to the war effort,cad,chrome,nickel plating were muchmore in need for the war effort. late '41/early 42 isabout right.kk


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## chriscokid (Jul 12, 2010)

in what year did schwinn stop the 5 number system? i have been looking at a schwinn data base of serial numbers and the year starts at 1948 so thats no help..

I don't doubt you 35cyeleplane  but are you sure schwinn started painting fender braces in 41/42? & when did that stop?? How did you obtain this information?? looking at schwinn catalogs and years of experience?? is there a link or web site that explains all this??? also is it possible to date the bicycle by the head badge...    
 do me a favor Dave pull the crank. We all know it was common for schwinn to use a stock crank from the year before.. so if the crank says 39 or 40 it is possible it's a 40/41.. i just wish prewar schwinns research was more accurate..


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## Aeropsycho (Jul 12, 2010)

chriscokid said:


> in what year did schwinn stop the 5 number system? i have been looking at a schwinn data base of serial numbers and the year starts at 1948 so thats no help..
> 
> I don't doubt you 35cyeleplane  but are you sure schwinn started painting fender braces in 41/42? & when did that stop?? How did you obtain this information?? looking at schwinn catalogs and years of experience?? is there a link or web site that explains all this??? also is it possible to date the bicycle by the head badge...
> do me a favor Dave pull the crank. We all know it was common for schwinn to use a stock crank from the year before.. so if the crank says 39 or 40 it is possible it's a 40/41.. i just wish prewar schwinns research was more accurate..




KK is right

No website or help but only word of mouth and prior ownership...

Education Kid Education!!!


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