History of middleweight and Stingray style bikes

[Rivnut]

Gentlemen,

I'm trying to help the curator of a small local museum determine when middleweight bikes and stingray style bicycles came into being. She's wanting to set up a display of 50's era toys. Right now she has a Stingray bike that she wants to use as part of her exhibit and I'm thinking it's more of a mid 60's era bike. I told her that I would try to find out if a Stingray would be appropriate for her 1955 era setting. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't have to be down to the nitty gritty - company, models, etc, just a good idea of the time period within a year or so. The bike should either be in a 20" or 24" size, no "adult" sized bikes.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[ricobike]

For middleweights, Schwinn's first middleweight was the Tiger and I believe from looking at Schwinn Reporters it was introduced in May of 1954 followed by the Corvette. Not sure when the other brands introduced their middleweight models but probably around the same time. As far as Stingray's, I'm out of my element there but I would guess that they were first introduced in the early 60's.

 

[partsguy]

The most quintessential 1950’s bicycles include:

Schwinn Phantom
Schwinn Corvette
Huffy Radiobike
Huffy Dial-A-Ride
Western Flyer X-53

 

[GTs58]

The brand new Sting Rays hit Pat's Schwinn shop in Mesa early Summer 1963. I was one of the first in town to test ride a new Lime Sting Ray. So nope on the Sting Ray being in a 1955 setting.

 

[Rivnut]

The most quintessential 1950’s bicycles include:

Schwinn Phantom
Schwinn Corvette
Huffy Radiobike
Huffy Dial-A-Ride
Western Flyer X-53

On those I agree with you. But the setting she's trying to establish is a kids play area. She has a pedal car and baby carriage so she wants a bike that an 8 to 10 year old would be comfortable on. That's why I'm thinking 20 or 24 inch. In my own mind, I see a balloon tire bike in one of the two tire sizes I mentioned.

What bike would have been in a kid's letter to Santa around 52 - 54?

Wiz - Thanks for the dates on the Stingray. That's the era that I had in mind.

Ed

 

[AndyA]

Kid's bikes... 1954 Columbia 24-inchers.