Nice Hawthorne Comet thread! I owned the yellow 1941 Cleveland Welding Company-built Hawthorne Comet on that website. It was rusty, and I ended up selling it to Dave at nostalgic.net, where it was restored, which was nice. I've been following its location in hopes I might one day buy it back, but I think it's just a dream. I am glad it got restored. It was really rusty when I had it and in dire need.
I missed the bicycle, and after working for a summer at an airport doing janitorial work and fueling airplanes (yes, I was driving a fuel tanker truck at 13 years old--that's small towns for you), I saw another 1941 Hawthorne Comet for sale by a guy named Zack on musclebike.net. I bought it for $600. It had the shockmaster fork and was slightly different. Everything was original, down to the paint, pedals, and Wards Riverside Mate whitewall tires and heavy duty tubes. The seat was missing and the handlebars, stem, and grips were from a women's bicycle. When the bicycle arrived, the tank was missing, but that showed up a week later. I bought a seat from Jerry Peters and installed some men's handlebars. I rode the bicycle daily and have lots of great memories of it.
The shockmaster fork worked so well and the headlight was extremely bright. I took great care of it and don't think I put a scratch on it the whole time. I also didn't let people ride it, except for one time I let a friend use it. He immediately rode it through a puddle, and I told him to get off.
I spotted a 1958 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 limousine in someone's back yard, and wanted to have it as my first car (I already had a 1923 Model T Ford that the farmer next door gave me, but it was far from being drivable). So, I asked about buying it, and the old lady at the door said I could take it and all of the other cars on the property for free. Then an old gentleman came to the door and said, "No, no, she is just joking. I think I would take $2,000 for it." I told him that I had an old bicycle that was probably worth about $1,200, so I would sell it to try to come up with the money, but the man accepted the Hawthorne Comet as a trade. The man ended up owning most of the city, with his family's name of dealerships, gas stations, and hotels in the town. He wanted the bicycle for the front window of the auto dealership that had been in his family since 1903, which was now full of vintage cars and memorabilia from the 1930s and 1940s. So, I got the Cadillac, and he got the Hawthorne.
My father wasn't too happy about the Cadillac, and ultimately talked me into selling it, saying it would never run without a full engine rebuild. The person who bought the Cadillac put a battery in it and drove it away. The power divider window still worked, and the rear seat still had the plastic over it. As for the Hawthorne, the last I know it was still in the window of that dealership, but the owner passed away in 2004 and it looks like the place was boarded up for a while and then renovated (with tinted windows, so I can't see inside on Google Maps). I've been wanting to see the bicycle again and hopefully someday buy it back because it has great sentimental value.
The bicycle was in Utah, and I moved to Washington, and then to Arizona. But sadly, I don't know if it's still around or if I could afford to buy it back. That's one bicycle I wish I still had. That and a Monark Hi-Lo collapsible bicycle with 16" wheels that I never should have sold. One day I would like to buy another Comet just like it, only with the taillights on the side of the rear rack, possibly coupled with a New Departure 2-speed rear hub and front brake. I loved, loved that maroon color with the white pinstriping. I am considering painting one up in brown and tan with red pinstriping sometime in the future. The 1941 Cleveland Welding Company-built Hawthorne Comet is my favorite bicycle, though other bicycles of the era are fascinating to me as well.