I could go either way with sidewalls. White letters were cool even though other manufacturers were already using them, both front and back, which is why Schwinns decision to only offer a rear option was not all that great at the time.
Redline tires on automobiles were usually only seen on exotics like XKE’s, and the like, so having a colorline tire on a bike was somewhat prestigious. You would also occasionally see redlines on the early musclecars, not just the GTO’s. And, of course, Hot Wheels cars had redlines on them so that pretty much said it all.
The decision to offer paint matching colorlines was a stroke of genius, it was completely unique at the time although I seem to recall Sears offering full color tires In the late 60’s. I don’t remember if they were Grasshoppers or some other brand. Again, only the rears, and they just weren’t as nice looking as the colorlines were.
The two Krate changes we didn’t like were the change from a straight Slik to the Gripper Slik, and the addition of the front fender in 69.
Slicks were simply more dragsteresque. The addition of the siping perplexed us kids.
The worst was that front fender addition though. Rails didn’t have fenders on their front wheels, the rears either, but it wasn’t as noticeable.
The 68 Krate had the rail dragster look.
We got used to the front fender but that didn’t make it better. It actually detracted from the chopped look of that small front tire setup.
Of course if you really wanted to screw up the look of your Krate the addition of one of those old fashioned, expensive, garish bulb horns did the trick. Whoever the marketing executive for those was, he should have been fired alongside Ed Schwinn himself.
My aplologies to those of you who have put horns on your Krates.
Our tastes differ, and I bet your couches still look good from having those plastic slip covers on them for all these years.