# wards hathorne bike help



## letutt (Jan 29, 2009)

so tell me about my bike please.  it was sitting in my neighbors garden for years and years, then a month ago it came accross the street to live with me.  please help.


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## balloontirecruiser (Jan 29, 2009)

Hi,

Great find! Based on how the lower frame bar curves down at the rear to match the top, and on the badge, skiptooth setup and rear facing dropouts, I'd say your bike is pre 1948 for sure- probably prewar or possibly early postwar. Great project- I don't think those wheels can be saved though. If you ever want to sell the nuts on the top of the truss rods (which keep the truss rods secured to the bracket beneath the bars) please let me know.


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## RMS37 (Jan 29, 2009)

You have a Montgomery Ward Hawthorne built for them by the Cleveland Welding Company. The serial number is stamped into the bottom of the crank hanger and should be a letter followed by five numbers. The serial number may help date the frame. 

MW offered variations of this model for several seasons but its only catalog appearance is in the Spring-Summer 1938 issue where it is shown as the Comet with a tank, rack, chain guard, and the ten sided MW "Zep" fender light.

Your bike may be a bit newer than S/S 1938 as it has curved truss rods. 

The crank and chain ring was probably switched out at some time in the past as the bike would normally have a dogleg crank and a chain ring with eight paisleys.

Phil


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## letutt (Jan 29, 2009)

serial number is E14855. and thank you very much for the replies.  i'd love to see some of those dog leg cranks and paisley chain rings.


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## RMS37 (Jan 29, 2009)

Comparing the number with other CWC bikes dates your bike to 1939.

Here is the catalog page from the 1938 Spring/Summer Wards catalog depicting the CWC built Comet. 





Note the straight truss rods. The curved truss rods on your bike are a slightly later design.

Since this is the only catalog page showing a CWC built Comet, it comes down to speculation as to how a later bike might have been fitted and accessorized. As your bike is likely from 1939 the chain ring pattern in the catalog would have been the same, it did not change until 1940. It is also reasonably likely that some of these bikes were sold in a more basic form with out a tank.


Phil


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## letutt (Jan 29, 2009)

well i want that crank and pedals and rack and head light and handle bars!!!  also, what color combinations?  was red the only one?  mine looks like it was blue?  where do i find parts?  thanks guys!  so is it probably a comet?


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## RMS37 (Jan 29, 2009)

As your bike is later than the catalog model it may have been equipped differently than the bike in the catalog.

That considered, The crank, chain ring, chain guard, and handle bars shown in the catalog are all easy to find in the hobby or on eBay. The rack turns up but there are several racks that look similar so be careful you get the correct one (again your bike may have used a later version). The headlight turns up occasionally but is hard to find in good shape. The tank is uncommon and looks very similar to a tank that was used on Snyder built bicycles, they _do not_ interchange.

The name Comet was used for several years to denote a mid range bike in the Hawthorne line. Over that time it was applied to several different bicycles,
Technically, a Hawthorne ordered from the catalog would be what MW named the model in that catalog, A similar bike that was produced in a different year and not cataloged (perhaps bought directly from a MW store) might have been labeled differently or not at all.  Accurately, I would refer to the bike as a 1939 MW Hawthorne built on a CWC double bar roadster frame, realistically I would call it a 1939 Cleveland Welding Hawthorne Comet.

The examples of this bike I have seen have all been dark red/maroon but it was not uncommon that bikes were produced in colors outside the range depicted or noted in the catalogs. It does look like you might have original blue paint under the black but I have also noticed that generally the background color of the Hawthorne badge was chosed to match the color of the bike.


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## JLarkin (Jan 29, 2009)

What is up with the maroon?  My boys bike is maroon where paint was still intact.


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## RMS37 (Jan 29, 2009)

Some of the Hawthorne literature refers to Indian Red which I think may explain some of the Maroon. For the CWC supplied bikes, Maroon was sort of CWC?s signature color so they may have felt it was closer to Snyders dark red than their standard red was.

Outside of that Hawthornes do turn up in unlisted colors, My CWC 38-39 Comet is also Maroon, I have a 38 CWC Zep in blue with red darts, and Jerry Germeau had a Snyder 5-Bar Zep in Blue.

Phil


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## AntonyR (Feb 1, 2009)

Also, assuming that those are the original fenders, those fender braces are '40s style, so along with the truss rods, It's most likely a '40 model. '41 at the latest,  late '39 at the oldest. But I suppose all we can do is get close, since we'll never really know for sure...


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## letutt (Feb 1, 2009)

yea, its too bad that we can't have a better serial number system to tell us when our bikes were built.  i'm pretty excited to get this bike apart and really find out what parts i'm going to need to get it rolling again.  i've got a couple of fixed gear projects to finish up first but this bike is for sure a priority.


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## Benjamin (Feb 2, 2009)

Hi all, Im Newbie here

My bike's looks like with yours Mr Letutt, Same Shape. The different is, are on the fork model, mine looks like Schwinn model, gear and rear hub. 
Please anyone can also identifying my bike?  visit posted "Hawthorne Indonesia" before. Thanks


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## RMS37 (Feb 2, 2009)

Hi Benjamin, your bike does have the same frame as the bike in this post. Another example was just listed on ebay. I posted additional information regarding your bike with your original inquiry.

Phil


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