Girls bike, no headbadge, Murray built

[marius.suiram]

I bought today a lot of bikes and between them is this one. No Head badge, built Murray.
Any idea of the model and year of fabrication?
Has new tires white wall Carlisle Lightning Dart , like new Messinger Deluxe saddle and some pedals with weird blocks. Even it is a repaint, looks cool..
The guy who sold me the bikes told me that he bought the bike from a Schwinn dealer store which was closing, back in 80's. This bike was hanging from the ceiling, and he asked to buy it . The bike was inside his house till today. The repaint looks professional and was made sometimes before he bought it.

 

[Archie Sturmer]

Maybe one of the last balloon tire bikes for Murray.
Looks 1950's.

 

[Mercian]

Hi, Marius

with no badge, and 'Blackout' parts, sometime between 1942 and 1944.

Are the pedal blocks rubber or wood?

Best Regards,

Adrian

 

[marius.suiram]

Hi, Marius

with no badge, and 'Blackout' parts, sometime between 1942 and 1944.

Are the pedal blocks rubber or wood?

Best Regards,

Adrian

The blocks are wood.
The coaster brake arm is Musselman.
I thought everything black is a repaint too.

 

[marius.suiram]

 

[Mercian]

Hi Marius,

The blocks are wood.
The coaster brake arm is Musselman.
I thought everything black is a repaint too.

The black parts may be repainted (impossible for me to tell from here! (-; ), but could have been black unplated wartime to start with. If you can see no plating under the paint, that's a strong possibility.

With those features, I'm thinking late 44, early 45.

I don't have much experience of Murray bikes, but my reasoning is this. From late 42 to late 44 only Westfield and Huffman were allowed to build bikes. From examples I've seen, Huffman were still building badgeless bikes with blackout parts in July 44, the Victory bikes program finished on Sept 23 1944, and presumably all manufacturers could make bikes after that. Westfield were building bikes with badges, but blackout parts, by February 1945. It will have taken other manufacturers different amounts of time to return to bike making, but I think it's a fair guess.

The wood blocks are nice, I've not seen that pattern before.

Overall, a nice example of a bike from a time when bike riding was seen as a patriotic support of the US in wartime.

Best Regards,

Adrian

 

[marius.suiram]

Hi Marius,



The black parts may be repainted (impossible for me to tell from here! (-; ), but could have been black unplated wartime to start with. If you can see no plating under the paint, that's a strong possibility.

With those features, I'm thinking late 44, early 45.

I don't have much experience of Murray bikes, but my reasoning is this. From late 42 to late 44 only Westfield and Huffman were allowed to build bikes. From examples I've seen, Huffman were still building badgeless bikes with blackout parts in July 44, the Victory bikes program finished on Sept 23 1944, and presumably all manufacturers could make bikes after that. Westfield were building bikes with badges, but blackout parts, by February 1945. It will have taken other manufacturers different amounts of time to return to bike making, but I think it's a fair guess.

The wood blocks are nice, I've not seen that pattern before.

Overall, a nice example of a bike from a time when bike riding was seen as a patriotic support of the US in wartime.

Best Regards,

Adrian

Thanks for your reply, very interesting.
I am not American, but I am trying to learn about American made bikes . I like them, that's it!!

 

[Mercian]

Hi Marius,

I am not an American either, being an Englishman living in France, working for an American company. But I enjoy learning, and am inclined towards older vehicles and bikes. (-:

Have a Good Weekend,

Adrian

 

[marius.suiram]

Thank you.
You have a nice weekend too.
Question: is any connection between your name and this brand of bikes:

 

[Mercian]

Hi Marius,

Good guess, most people assume it's for the bike company, but that's not the full story.

I chose Mercian for several reasons. I am a Mercian, I was a Mercian, and there is a bike company called Mercian.

I was born in what would have been the Kingdom of Mercia up to about 900 AD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercia

I served with the Mercian Regiment in the British Army for some years. (That is the badge of my Regiment, the double headed eagle (an even more ancient symbol)), on Robin Hood's Lincoln Green square.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercian_Regiment

When I needed a name for this site, Mercian was appropriate because of the bike connection too. They are based in Derby, also in the ancient kingdom of Mercia, so I assume the bikes are named after that.

https://www.merciancycles.co.uk/

Thanks for asking (-:

Best Regards,

Adrian