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Project Hawthorne De Luxe: Putting a 100 year old bicycle on the road for $100

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Massive update, thanks to the digital collections at the Strong Museum of Play, which include
more than 300 high-resolution bicycle trade catalogs!!!

Librarian / research geekiness:

So, being the librarian I am, I thought that, given there were millions of copies of the Montgomery Ward catalogs printed, I ought to be able to find them in a library. My own library didn't seem to have them for the period in question, nor did Ohiolink, which seems to have everything. Finally, I went to WorldCat, and came across occasional runs of the catalog here and there, but nothing major. Finally, the very last search result was for a gorgeous high resolution copy of this 1919 Hawthorne bicycle catalog at the Strong Museum of Play.

From there, I browsed the collection and came across three years that I had nothing for - 1926, 1927, and 1928 - as well as the lovely 1919 catalog, which will definitely be of considerable interest. Further, the wealth of high quality trade catalogs noted above do not appear to show up well in search engine results. It would be worthwhile for someone to link to them with the appropriate names and probably search keywords so that they would show up in results. I suspect that it would be better to do this in individual posts, for better search results, but I don't know the associated names of bicycles well enough to do so.

Pictures:
1919 Montgomery Ward bicycle catalog
1919 Hawthorne 1.jpg

1919 Catalog 2.jpeg


1926 Montgomery Ward
1926 Hawthorne Dolly Varden.jpg


1927 Montgomery Ward
1927 Hawthorne Dolly Varden.jpg


1928 Montgomery Ward
1928 Hawthorne Dolly Varden.jpg


1931 (or maybe 1933) Montgomery Ward
1931 Hawthorne Dolly Varden.jpg


Now, the updated spreadsheet! (data analysis follows)

CatalogYearFrame has two braces between top and bottom tubeSprocketColorColor "striped", etc.ForksFenders described as "wide", "deep", or "tall"Tall fenders shown on another modelTall fender model in blue and whiteSaddleTool RollNeckHandlebarsDrop stand clip illustratedChain on this or another modelHead badge with MercuryHead badge with Mercury on another modelFender hardwareFender hardware shown on another modelNotes
Montgomery Ward 841916YYYY?NNNYYYYNN?Y
Montgomery Ward 851916YYYY?Y?NNYYYNN??YY
Montgomery Ward bicycle1917YYYN?YYNNYYYN??YYY
Montgomery Ward bicycle1919NNNY?NYNYNNN??????
Montgomery Ward 931920NNYY?NYNYYNNY?NY?Y
Montgomery Ward unknown1920NNYY?NYNYYNNY??Y??
Montgomery Ward 951921NNY*Y?NYNYYNNY?YY??
Montgomery Ward 971922NNNY?NYNYNNNY?NY?Y
Montgomery Ward 1923 or 19241923N?NY?NYNYNNNY?NY?Y
Montgomery Ward 1051926NNYNMNYY?NNMY?NY??
Montgomery Ward 1061927NNYNMNYY?NNMY?NY??
Montgomery Ward 19281928YNYYMYYYNNYMNYYY??
Montgomery Ward 19311931YNYYMYYYNNYMY?YY??26 inch wheels on many other models
Montgomery Ward unknown1932Y?YY?YYN?Y?Y?????Paint includes red striping, fender shape different



Here's what I see:
None of these bicycles exactly matches the one that I have. I am assuming that all of the major parts are original to my bicycle. I have no reason to think otherwise, but in 90+ years, a lot of things can change.

All of the data between 1919 and 1927 shows a different frame from the one I have. While it's possible that a different supplier was used during said time, I am going to assume, lacking further data, that my bicycle was not produced during those years.

There are enough similarities in the 1916-17 lineup, as well as in the 1928 bicycle that it is hard to say whether it was built between 1916-1918 or 1928-1930. I want to believe that it was earlier, but either way, the basic concept of this restoration remains the same, as the issues with g

My next post is going to be of all of the images I have of dated Hawthorne women's bicycles, in chronological order, so that the differences may be seen.
 
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You are certainly one talented researcher. Amazing find. Explains it all doesn't it? I have been convinced.
 
You are certainly one talented researcher. Amazing find. Explains it all doesn't it? I have been convinced.
If only the letter were real. I do apologize if I mislead.

Fun piece of fiction, though, right?
 
Had me going!
Yay!

Trust that, under scrutiny, this would reveal itself pretty quickly to be what it is. My goal was to make it as close as possible without it actually holding up if one looked closely.
 
You could type it on my TOC Fox typewriter for more vintage mojo. ;) (mine does not look this nice, much more patina...)

1596513263994.png
 
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