Kidhood. Adolescence?Best times? Favorite times? Photos?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I am still in my adolescence and childhood......and every day is a new adventure.

[HONDO74]

The first bike I had was a 24 inch in the late 40s when we lived in Kansas City Mo. Not sure of the name but I think it came from Western Auto.

We moved to Tuscon Az in 1950 and I got a new Schwinn 26 inch bike. It was black and white in color. We lived at the edge of town so everything past us was mostly desert. I rode that bike to school and all through the desert. They had this sealant that you had to put into the tires because there were these stickers everywhere.

I had a rope lasso that I was pretty good with so that rope was always with me on the bike. The rope was tied to the seat post. As I was riding through the desert I would rope cactus limbs and jerk them off the bigger cactus. One day I roped what looked like a old dead cactus. It did not give and when the rope went tight it jerked the bike out from under me. The rope was no longer tied to the seat post.

From Tuscon we moved to Alhambra Calif, I had a paper route there. A friend and I would ride those bike's everywhere. Some areas of LA that you wouldn't step foot in today. But it was different in the 50s

From Alhambra we moved to Phoenix Az and from Phoenix to Santa Ana Calif. Had a paper route in Santa Ana.

From Santa Ana we moved to Hawthorne Calif. I got my last bike there. A Schwinn corvette. Only rode it one year to school. That would have been 8th grade. Nobody rode bikes to high school so the bike got sold.

For us younger children the bike was our first taste of freedom and independence. The same way the car was for us in our teenage years.

The Schwinn Corvette.

[HONDO74]

Part 2
Fast forward many years. Married with Children living in Garden Grove Calif. Not very far from Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm. We bought 2 Schwinn 10 speeds and both had child seat on the back. The kids go with us when we take the bikes out for a ride

On Saturdays we would ride over to Knotts Berry farm an have breakfast. The kids were always with us. At the time there were still some free areas at Knotts where the kids could play and have fun.

After the kids learned to ride bikes they each got a new one for Christmas. The daughter received a Schwinn 10 speed and the son received one of those 20 inch bikes that where real popular at the time.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I am still in my adolescence and childhood......and every day is a new adventure.

A good and a healthy attitude! May you never lose that vibrancy and optimism!
Murph

[MurphOnMillerAve]

The first bike I had was a 24 inch in the late 40s when we lived in Kansas City Mo. Not sure of the name but I think it came from Western Auto.

We moved to Tuscon Az in 1950 and I got a new Schwinn 26 inch bike. It was black and white in color. ...

From Santa Ana we moved to Hawthorne Calif. I got my last bike there. A Schwinn corvette. Only rode it one year to school. That would have been 8th grade. Nobody rode bikes to high school so the bike got sold.For us younger children the bike was our first taste of freedom and independence. The same way the car was for us in our teenage years.

The Schwinn Corvette....

Delightful personal history to read, HONDO, expanding one's view of who you are that speaks to us here.
And both good points to which I can really relate. No bike riding after 8th grade. We never rode them in hs. And the appearance of the much anticipated driver's license in hs made all the difference in expanding our horizons, sense of independence, and adventure, that's for sure!

He who had the wheels had the friends (all of whom, seen here, still are.)

[Rufus T. Firefly]

........the much anticipated driver's license in hs....

Not really. I was well past 17 before I had a license and never owned a car until after I was married.

I never wanted to be bothered with the cost of a license, the insurance issues to my family, and the costs of a car.

[rogruth]

Oh my! Weird. I got a drivers license when I was in college just before I married and got my first car when I got my first job.

Murph. You had a spring near the handlebars. That was probably a shock absorber, sometimes called knee action. Smoothed out the ride.
It was a problem when pumping hard uphill. I put an aftermarket one on my bike and devised a way to defeat it when hard pumping.
I sold my bike to my eighth grade principal. My paper route covered about four miles. There were some hills that I needed to push the bike
up but could ride down.

I think there were @ 10 high school kids that had cars they drove to school. There were @1000 students in our school and many, including
girls, rode bikes to school especially in good/nice weather. I even rode in the winter but not in snow.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...Murph. You had a spring near the handlebars. That was probably a shock absorber, sometimes called knee action. Smoothed out the ride.
It was a problem when pumping hard uphill.....

I'm sure you're right about that being a shock-absorber. And yes, now that I think of it, thanks to you, it did make pumping uphill seem more laborious.
I enjoy reminiscing like this, from time to time. I guess that's what old men do - recall the past. I like visitng the past (place and time) to take a look, but I would not want to return. It sure was great starting out there, though. When I realize how much of me is constructed of the values and customs, beliefs, outlooks, and people around me then, including the later years in Ohio at Wittenberg U., I sure am grateful.
Murph (the "Murphy's 5&10" kid)

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Oh my! Weird. I got a drivers license when I was in college just before I married and got my first car when I got my first job.

I walked to my 1st job after school (~1/2 mile) and then walked home (~2.5 miles). Every penny I earned was saved for what I wanted or needed, and for college.

A car was an expense put too much stress on the finances; later I was able to use a family car for the next job...and then during my 3rd year in college.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Oh my! Weird. I got a drivers license when I was in college just before I married and got my first car when I got my first job.

I walked to my 1st job after school (~1/2 mile) and then walked home (~2.5 miles). Every penny I earned was saved for what I wanted or needed, and for college.

A car was an expense put too much stress on the finances; later I was able to use a family car for the next job...and then during my 3rd year in college.

That's the one place I didn't dare have access to a car. It would have ruined me. I took buses ("unique experiences" in themselves, including those stations) to and from visits home to Pittsburgh, several times a year.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Oh my! Weird. I got a drivers license when I was in college just before I married and got my first car when I got my first job.

I walked to my 1st job after school (~1/2 mile) and then walked home (~2.5 miles). Every penny I earned was saved for what I wanted or needed, and for college.

A car was an expense put too much stress on the finances; later I was able to use a family car for the next job...and then during my 3rd year in college.

That's the one place I didn't dare have access to a car. It would have ruined me. I took buses ("unique experiences" in themselves, including those stations) to and from visits home to Pittsburgh, several times a year.

I was 3 hours from home and an hour from the grandparents. I drove very little otherwise except to buy food; cheaper to cook for myself in the dorm.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Food at Wittenberg's campus was fabulous. And there was a "Student Union" building wherein students could go for snacks and meals at just about anytime. Later, when I was part of a fraternity (yes, Rufus, somehow you knew that of me, huh) we had excellent meals all the time there too. I didn't know of anybody who cooked in their dorm room - it may have been forbidden, although I do recall some guys putting some sort of curled metal handheld plugged-in device into their cups of coffee or chocolate to heat them up.

My freshman's dorm room was just to the left of the portico, 4th floor; my frat house is in the left background in this broad photo.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I didn't know of anybody who cooked in their dorm room....

We had kitchens in the upperclass dorms....that were rarely used. Wasteful...but not for me.

[up148]

[quoteNo bike riding after 8th grade. We never rode them in hs. And the appearance of the much anticipated driver's license in hs made all the difference in expanding our horizons, sense of independence, and adventure, that's for sure! ][/quote]

Pretty much parallels my pre-teen and teenage years. Bicycles = freedom, but not something you road in HS unless absolutely critical. I shoveled snow and mowed lawns from about 9 or 10 years old on. Became a grocery store sack boy starting my 8th grade summer and coming from a catholic grade school and going to a public HS, it was a way to meet some of my soon to be schoolmates. Worked at an old fashion fast food burger joint (Zarda's Drive-In) from 15 until 17 and then went to work in a local small town pharmacy/drug store to finish out my HS years and into college. Always saved as I had to pay for everything.

I was car crazy too and got my license in 1965 on my 16th birthday and purchased (with some of my savings) a 1956 Chevy 2 dr. post with 265 V/8 engine from the back row in the used car lot of a factory dealer, for $295.00. Obviously no warranty, but cosmetically it was in nice condition. Broke one leaf spring on the way home from the dealer and the other broke a few weeks later. Ever try to change rusted on leaf springs with open end wrenches and pliers? I learned a great deal about car maintenance in a very short period and became a great catalog customer of Montgomery Ward, Sears and J.C Whitney for my parts. Also learned about the real cost of operating a car. But, I wouldn't trade a minute of it away.

BH

[Roy]

...I got a Schwinn with fat tires, njce sprung seat and a coaster brake. It cost @ $50.00 in 1946. My grandfather showed me how to take care of it. I later put a three speed
hub on it and a front wheel brake and actually putseveral thousand miles on it. A three speed Schwinn at that time was in the hundreds of dollars. I sold that bike in 1952 when I went to college for $75.00.

Roger, did your three speed hub have a coaster brake? I was under the impression that only single speed bikes had coaster brakes.

My first bike was a single speed Schwinn Stingray. We lived at the top of a hill, though - which sucked, for bike riding.