NBHAA
National Bicycle History Archive of America
Hello...
I've been collecting and restoring Elgin Bluebird bicycles longer than anyone breathing. And I have owned more than anyone– no matter who says what or who does not like it or thinks this is "bragging." This is a FACT.
We introduced collectors to the Elgin Bluebird back in the 1970s and 1980s in Classic Bicycle & Whizzer News– the hobby's FIRST newsletter on classic bicycles. We even did a pictorial "How To" article on reproducing ACCURATE rings for the Bluebird grips. What? Folks don't remember?????
MOST of the "experts" on Bluebirds today are NOT experts. Just folks repeating and following the same silly stories and myths. So. We're gonna do a Christmas present here for everyone reading– including the "experts" and the folks who think they are.
Based on the photos posted, Here is some ACCURATE ELGIN BLUEBIRD HISTORY copyright © Leon Dixon 1975, 1985, 2024– no guesses, no "click this link"... and no myths and no "my buddy has a photocopy" schizznet!
1.) It is a complete MYTH that Bluebirds all came with finned hubs.
2.) It is a complete MYTH that Bluebirds all came with red paint on the fender ornament.
3.) It is a complete MYTH that Bluebirds all came with their pedal treads turned sideways.
4.) It is a complete MYTH that Bluebird saddles all came with metal wear studs on their sides.
5.) It is a complete MYTH that Bluebird saddles all came in light brown color.
• Unless someone has changed the toolbox door, the appearance here would make this Bluebird 1936. NOT 1937. Serial number or no serial number. The 1937 housing was very different and easily discernable. The 1935 door was DIFFERENT! After all these years, the hobby still has not learned these basic facts! By the way... the knob on the door appears to be wrong– as 99% are today– including the "reproductions"...
• The front hub on the Bluebird here... the front is totally incorrect. It should neither be a New Departure hub, nor should it be without an Alemite grease fitting. By the way, someone on the CABE only recently showed us a correct (they don't know this) front hub WITH Alemite fitting for a Bluebird. That hub should be available reasonably from this source.
• The rear hub is perfectly legitimate (WITH EXCEPTIONS) for 1935, but not 1936 or later. However, the proper 1935 and 1936 BLUEBIRD New Departure had a specially-bent brake arm (should kick out to lessen stress on the frame). This one does not. Now... for 1936... as suicidal as grease was for the New Departure Model D, the Bluebird version as of 1936 had an Alemite grease fitting. ALL Bluebirds as of 1936 came with Alemite grease fittings and a miniature Alemite grease gun was supplied with the bicycle. BOTH 1935 AND 1936 Bluebirds came optional with a SPECIAL Morrow rear coaster hub. The shell of this hub was a different design from other Morrows and the 1936 version came fitted with an Alemite grease fitting.
• ALL Bluebird rear hubs originally were fitted with an extra-long axle and FOUR (4) axle nuts (two per side). Why? To accommodate the very wide frame and to hold the legs of the rear carrier. One nut INSIDE the carrier to secure the wheel... one nut OUTSIDE of the carrier leg to secure the carrier. Of course this is not what we see here.
• The Lobdell "stepside" (that's what yours truly and many old bicycle dealers back in the day used to call them instead of all the multiple names the hobby has concocted in recent years) rims are correct for 1935 and 1936.
• Rear carrier here appears to be a modified Skylark unit with filler at the tops of the legs (never had that) where they join the top stamping. The tongue of the carrier is also missing the extra curve sweep at the forward end as a Bluebird carrier would normally have.
• See those pedals pointed up at the sky? Unmolested Bluebird pedals NEVER did this. Somewhere years ago a big collector got the bright idea to twist his Bluebird pedal rubber treads SIDEWAYS– a way HE thought they "looked better." He then told everyone "That's the way they are supposed to be!" Ever since then, collectors, museums, books, newsletters ALL adopted this same ding-dong-dopey idea. So? Now the pedals have ALL gone kittywhampus and point in any direction. The wise people who designed these pedals originally intended for them to hang LEVEL... to complete the look of STREAMLINING. Not to make them look clunky and kadiddly. The flat CHUNKS on the pedal treads of ORIGINAL Bluebird pedals contained WEIGHTS. WHY? To keep the pedals HORIZONTAL... LEVEL. So they REALLY looked better and functioned better. But nobody knows this today and the twisted tread "rule" is blindly followed. People will even argue this silliness into the ground!
• That fender ornament with the red paint... just plain WRONG. A few years ago... somebody repopped a 1936-1/2 or 1937 ornament from an "Opalescent Blue" Bluebird. It had red paint on it. IMMEDIATELY every Bluebird ornament since then turns up slathered in red paint. Sorry. The original 1935 and 1936 ornaments were trimmed in BLACK paint, not red.
• The butterscotch saddle. Original Bluebird saddles were dark brown– always. WITH NO METAL WEAR STUDS (these did not appear until 1936-1/2). Yours truly supplied the original "TROXEL" stamp to to Jim Bailey for his very first Bluebird/Twin-60 saddle recover job decades ago. We still have the original artwork for that stamp.
• Red trim on this bicycle: Whoever did it made the red tank spears wayyy too fat and completely forgot to do the little bulge outline pinstripes. They're not there!
There are other points that could be made and more unknown facts about the Bluebirds revealed. But we'll save those for another time.
Meanwhile, you're welcome.
Leon Dixon
National Bicycle History Archive of America
(NBHAA.com)
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