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A brief history of vintage bicycle swap meets

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Good question-time aside there are expenses. Yes-several years ago the IRS tried spying of the hobbies(car-bike-motorcycle) and was trying to generate revenue for the state-like we would knowingly not pay our fair share! (shame on them!) I can tell you based on a meet i threw in the early 90's.....Anyway printing posters and flyers, purchasing trophies(we charged nothing for the show entry), running ads in the local paper etc. Bonnie Simonian knew all the local news people and arranged for complete nightly coverage-interviews at the swap, local radios got our message out also. We passed out flyers at a few previous bike meets. Jerry Germeau of Washington was the roving reporter for the C.A.B.E. at the time and gave us a very generous plug in the then monthly Xerox copy of the C.A.B.E.! Then the Simonians had t-shirts made up and they went over/sold way bigger than planned-she made a ton of them-people gobbled them up the first year-before the swap happened-bought them at the end of the whizzer ride the first day-awesome! Although I get credit for putting on the meet the real hero's were the very generous Bonnie and Dennis Simonian(and his lovely daughters!)-your hosts at the meet. Wonderful people-backed me up at every hint of 'we need to do this/can we also do this'-unbelievable. They also arranged for a catered barbque guy(Charles-remember him?) both days-great food at a reasonable price put the icing on the cake. I'm not saying you need to have a pile of money to start a meet in your area-but it helps. Now with the internet and the C.A.B.E. being the pulse of the hobby-its a winning combination for a successful meet in your area!
 
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I think some clarification is needed.
The 1981 meet in Chicago was considered the first NATIONAL classic and antique bicycle meet.
I had been in to, and out of the balloon tire phase by 1981, when I got bit by the Campagnolo bug.
I spent most of the 80’s road riding, and the 90’s mountain biking.
There were plenty of small local parking lot meets here in Southern California in the late 1970’s.
Nothing on a national scale, that I remember, but plenty of local attendance at those swaps back then.
 
I think some clarification is needed.
The 1981 meet in Chicago was considered the first NATIONAL classic and antique bicycle meet.
I had been in to, and out of the balloon tire phase by 1981, when I got bit by the Campagnolo bug.
I spent most of the 80’s road riding, and the 90’s mountain biking.
There were plenty of small local parking lot meets here in Southern California in the late 1970’s.
Nothing on a national scale, that I remember, but plenty of local attendance at those swaps back then.


I went to plenty of those southern California meets-always had a great time!
 
Well ran into a few of those Socal pioneers yesterday at a Motorcycle meet ( 42nd annual ) including Doc Gibson & PeeWee who both had great show/swaps at their business in the 80's. I was going to post this picture in another section ( would have taken more pics if I knew about this thread ) of PeeWee ( who moved on from bikes to motorcycles & cars ) with his Wagner. there were many bike swaps around back then including Jim Baileys in Signal Hill and a few in HB, the bike shop on main & a old house on a big lot? ( Whizzin was still my favorite ) another at Anaheim Schwinn?, For a while they added a bike section to the Model T meet. I went to a few Frizzins ( Frensno Wizzin ) at a ranch house in the grape vineyards ( blew a head gasket in the 100 + degrees, Joey Kuge's maybe ?, and a couple of trips back to Ann Arbor back in the 80's also, Im sure more will come to mind, I have a bunch of flyers
DC3E8C83-94FB-43C9-9193-131523EFDC8B.jpeg
 
Great thread....I remember some of the very early (late 70's) meets in So Cal. One was in a parking lot
near the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington beach. Maybe 10 vendors max, first time I ever saw
an original paint B6, I think Kenny Blackburn had to 2 of them there, a black and cobalt, missing wheels
(projects) but were like 100 and something each. hooboy! Biggest mind blower of those early days
was folks showing up with SO much NOS boxes of great stuff. The entire nation was ripe for the
pickin' and there just weren't many people around the US giving an old balloon tire bike a 'second glance'..
All I wanted was a straight bar Schwinn back then...grail to me.
If anyone has any early swap days pix? Seems like a good thread to post em'!
 
Good question-time aside there are expenses. Anyway printing posters and flyers, purchasing trophies(we charged nothing for the show entry), running ads in the local paper etc. We passed out flyers at a few previous bike meets. Then the Simonians had t-shirts made up and they went over/sold way bigger than planned-she made a ton of them-people gobbled them up the first year-before the swap happened-bought them at the end of the whizzer ride the first day-awesome! They also arranged for a catered barbque guy(Charles-remember him?) both days-great food at a reasonable price put the icing on the cake. I'm not saying you need to have a pile of money to start a meet in your area-but it helps. Now with the internet and the C.A.B.E. being the pulse of the hobby-its a winning combination for a successful meet in your area!

So looks like time and suitable sized location with basic facilities are all that is needed today, no newspaper or radio ads to buy, no catering, flyers are easy and printable from home, trophys not a huge deal really, cool if available but get tossed after awhile. The reason I brought this all up is because of the "hobby is dying" thread. Shows generate outsider interest and "big" swaps keep people financially in the hobby so in my opinion, are very Important for the health of the hobby. Maybe to perform CPR on the hobby in your area, organize a show and swap...
 
For 'OLD HOTROD' and others thinking about a local bike swap/tire kicking get-together..... Follow the lead set by the C.A.B.E.'s own 'FAT TIRE TRADER' in San Rafael. Chris throws a monthly get together/swap at his shop. This is a truly grass roots effort-think globally/act locally! There is a pocket of collectors in that area and they get together and bring a few items-and who doesn't want to whittle away at the pile of bike parts in the garage! He's consistent and maybe an autocycle or an airflow isn't showing up every month-there's always something or the chance that something might show you just can't live without. The key is having a good location-a vintage bike friendly bicycle shop helps! But be consistent in having it every month-the word will get out. No need for printing flyers-use the C.A.B.E. to get the word out. I am amazed in talking with people on ebay or at swap meets that have never heard of the C.A.B.E. either-we need to get the word out there too! Good luck on the prospect of another bike swap meet!
 
I had a Dayton Daily Newspaper from 1985, showing a bicycle show and swap at Deed’s Carillon Historical Park. It is now long gone, but the park hosts a Concours d’ Elegance car show instead.

I gave the newspaper away, but I forget who I gave it away too. It was neat, but just more clutter I didn’t need. I may have a pic of it.
 
Bicycles and pedal cars are always a big hit at car shows! They provide a subtle distraction from the rows of restored autos. Even when not 'judged' are of interest to all age groups.
 
Nope. No pics, I have it away and didn’t look back. I think my friend in Celina has it.
 
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