Tricycle Fetish Blog

I purchased the Irish Mail Car in Stanley NC at a used furniture shop for $60.00. Had no idea what it was, but thought it would be fun to restore for my 2 year old grandson. Knew it was probably from the 20′s or 30′s because of wooden seat and cast iron gears. Brought it home and started taking it apart to see if I could find any markings to help identify it. Only marking found were on the drive gear, JR – 2 and the drive hub on the right rear wheel, IM 23J, which I figured were part numbers. The Mail Car was in operable condition with a slight bend in the frame near the drive gear which had misaligned the gears. All parts seemed to be original. Paint on the rims of all wheels under the tires was the same and matched the paint under the seat. Paint also original on the frame under the seat. Did color match to find paint available to restore to original. Biggest problem was the tires. All were dry rotten and falling off the rims. Did Internet search for solid rubber tires. Found www.speedwaymotors.com that had tires for Peddle cars. Wheels were different sizes front and rear. Rear tires from Speedwaymotors fit perfect on spoke rims. The solid wheel on the front was smaller so I had to cut and splice the tire from Speedwaymotors to fit. Used Zap-A Gap adhesive to glue the new tire together. Sets in 15 seconds worked great. Cleaned, degreased all metal parts and primed with Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer. Straightened slight bend in frame to align the gears. Cleaned and primed all wooden parts then painted with original color spray paint from local hobby store. Reassembled the Mail Car and it runs like a champ. Now I just have to teach a 2 year old how to use the push/pull handle bar.

This restoration project was done by TricycleFetish.com visitor, David Ballard. Below are some additional pictures that he took during the restoration process.

We get a lot of emails from companies promoting their products, most of them are only vaguely related to tricycles, but recently we got one with a brand new type of tricycle. The Dog Powered Trike is an adult tricycle that you can strap your dogs into and go for a ride. If you get tired of pedaling, you can just let your dogs pull you home. The company also has a line of three wheeled recumbent tricycles…that attach to your dogs, and a line of scooters.

One of the most common type of questions that we get here at TricycleFetish.com is concerning headbadge, decals and company stickers. When restoring an old tricycle, you might be able to get it to look like new with out too much trouble, but there’s always the issue of original decals and artwork. There is no simple solution to finding original headbadges and decals. They are brand specific and vary greatly between brands, and most companies changed their own designs several (or dozens) of times over the course of their existence.

Headbadges were made of tin, brass, transfer decals, stickers and paint. The easiest of these to find are the metal ones, as there is a collecting field for old bicycle headbadges and collectors and dealers of these sometimes have tricycle badges as well. Sometimes these can be found in online auctions, stores and classified ads, but they are still rare and finding them is difficult; finding the correct headbadge can be impossible. Another place to find headbadges is at bicycle swap meets.

If the tricycle that you’re restoring has a decal or sticker type headbadge, chances are that you’ll never find an old stock replacement. Over the past 10 years, I can count on one hand the times that I’ve seen headbadge stickers and all but one have been from newer tricycles. That isn’t to say they aren’t out there. There may be collectors who have some, but they are just not something that you can find, no matter how hard you look.

So what’s the solution? You have basically three options. First, you can just restore the tricycle and leave the headbadge with no decal or badge at all. Second, if your tricycle still has some of the headbadge decal, you can restore “around” it and leave the area around the headbadge on the steerer tube with the original paint. This option can turn out sort of funny looking depending on the type of decal and its condition. The final option is what we suggest to most visitors who pose this question….make your own decal.

If any of your decal remains, try to get a quality digital image of it. Import that into Photoshop or similar photo editing program, blow it up really big and do your best photo editing to make it look consistent and original. You can also try to find similar tricycle headbadge photos on our site or online and manipulate those photos. Once you are satisfied with your finished image, you can find a sticker company online (they’re everywhere and not difficult to find) and have a new sticker made for your tricycle. You can probably find someone online who can do the image restoration for a price if you think that it’s beyond your ability.

The easiest option is probably the one that requires making a new decal on your own. Though it requires some skills with photoshop and some time, it will be far easier than trying to find something that probably doesn’t exist.

The related question that always seems to be asked is how any of these options with affect the value. Ideally a tricycle would be in mint condition in the first place with the original head decal intact, but they rarely are. None of the options should hurt or help the value (nor really, the final look) of your tricycle more or less than any other option…as long as whatever you choose to do is done well. Antique tricycles that are missing their metal headbadges though, are obviously not quite as desirable as those with their original badges. Tricycles are not like classics cars, finding old stock original parts is very difficult, and there aren’t many options to newly made replacement parts, especially ones that are reproductions of the original parts.

A TricycleFetish.com visitor sent us this photo, asking for info. The visitor though it would date to about 1935. It would seem that that age is within reason. The velomobile type pedal vehicle has a horn, drum brakes, brake light, headlights. Velomobiles or Velo-cars came into use around the 1930′s and were popular during World War II when gasoline was hard to find, and afford. The model and brand of this unit are unknown. Many had bodies and fenders and some even had roofs.

A TricycleFetish.com visitor recently sent us this photo wondering what she had and if it was worth anything. The tricycle is a late 1930′s Garton tot tricycle with a tractor type seat. The front wheel assembly is obviously not original and has been added at some point.  It’s pretty hard to tell the condition otherwise from the photo, but these are collectible. Not having a complete tricycle, not having original paint and having some visible wear and repairs will really hurt the value though.

Recently a TricycleFetish.com visitor sent us this picture of an old sulky type tricycle that he was looking to restore. Unsure of exact age, maker, origins, etc. Still a neat example.

Recently a visitor emailed this picture of a tricycle that was purchased at a flea market. It is marked Hausser on the headbadge and the pedals, appears to be a foreign make. If anyone has any info on the company, please let us know.

Q: got this old tricycle at a junk yard in va looking for car parts , haven’t been able to find out who made it , never seen one with the c shaped backbone like this . sure could use a little help thanks

A: You’ve found a vintage Murray Thunder Rod tricycle from the 1960′s. It’s pretty scarce. If you were thinking about fixing it up, you’ll probably wish you would have left it in the junkyard when you start pricing parts (there was an old stock unused motor in original box on eBay for $245). Below is photo of what your Thunder-Rod is supposed to look like.

Q: I’m trying to find information regarding a children’s tri-bike that I purchased many years ago at an estate sale. On the pedal are the words “Tri-Bike” and all that’s legible of the manufactures name is either “Mac C….” or “Mac G….”. There is a stamp on the underside of the frame that indicates “DALE 12-26-46″. I’m assuming this was an owners stamp perhaps with the date that a child received this bike as a Christmas gift.

A: You have a McClatchie Tri-Bike. This riding toy was a tricycle that you could convert into a bicycle as your child grew. It is very similar in design to the Anthony Brothers Convert-O Bike tricycle. Your tricycle (at least in the picture) is missing the rear step and one wheel. These are not really that uncommon, but information on the company seems to be non-existent. We’ve never found any information whatsoever and nobody seems to know anything about them. The date stamped on the tricycle is inline with when it would have been made. Below is a photo of a Tri-Bike with the rear plate.

Q: Hello, I have an unusual 3 wheeled bike–tricycle & I can’t seem to find anyone to help me identify it. It may be a v. rare early schwinn but I don’t know— Can you please take a glance at ebay item #xxxxxxxx & help me out with this thing. Thank You in advance for your time & expertise, Mike

A: First off, that’s almost a really cool picture. Take away whatever it is sitting on and get whatever is inside window out of the way and I think you have a great frame worthy shot of an old tricycle sitting on a porch with a great sunset in the background.

OK, now your tricycle…It’s not a Schwinn, it’s not rare and it will probably not sell on eBay. Sorry. You have a Colson chain driven tricycle from around 1940, give or take, they made virtually the same type of models for years. More Colson info & pics. The problem with this trike in particular is that it needs quite a bit of restoration for it to be usable. The problem with this type of tricycle in general is that they are heavier than heck and shipping them costs a fortune, and also, as far as collectors go, they take up a massive amount of room. What’s nice about them is that if they are in usable condition, it’s pretty hard to break one, short of running it over with a truck. Originally it probably had a little aluminum headbadge with the maker’s name on it.

Recently the “antique” horse tricycle pictured at the left sold on eBay for $700 with nearly $200 shipping…according to eBay’s completed listings anyway.  The seller posted the following description: You are bidding on a vintage/antique carved wood horse tricycle. Frame is metal as are the spokes and tires. Wheel is made of wood. Do to the holes on the bottom of the horse(pic#11) it seems that this might have came off a carousel? Not sure what else the holes could have been for. This was purchased at an estate auction and I am not sure of the age or if it’s an original or not. Please make your own judgement by looking closely at the many pictures and asking any/all questions. It is fully functional and can be used or displayed. Measurements: approx 31″ long X 31″ tall X 22″ wide(back wheel to wheel), wheels are 15″ Weighs almost 40lbs(unpacked).

So the seller does say he isn’t sure of the age…and I believe him. Because I am not sure of the tricycle’s age myself. Yet it is described as being “vintage/antique.” Vintage-slash-antique should be a real red flag to any potential buyers of tricycles like this. Vintage does not equal antique in any way, shape or form. A “vintage” 1980′s My Little Pony tricycle might 30 years old, but that doesn’t make it an 1890′s antique. As for the part about the holes in the bottom being for a carousel? That’s really stretching it. Have you ever seen a carousel with a post that small? And where is the hole coming out the top? Anyway, the horse is obviously nowhere near antique. I won’t break down all the flags that let us know that, but if you are interested in knowing more about how to spot a reproduction, you can visit our fake horse tricycle page.

A TricycleFetish visitor recently sent us this photo of a circa 1940 chain driven tricycle. The owner reports that it is marked Scala Manufacturing Co. We have no info on that company and Google doesn’t help much either with a search for the company name turning up only Italian and Asian companies with that name. Any info or insight that anyone has would be appreciated.

Kevin B. sent us the above photo of a completed restoration of a 1950′s era Midwest tricycle that had been passed down in his family for the past 50 years. Kevin did the restoration to pass the tricycle down to his own son. Below are the before and during photos of his project.

TricycleFetish.com visitor Donald R. recently sent us this photo of his restoration of a 1961 Evans Defender tricycle, which he did as a baby gift for someone. The before picture is below.

One of the most popular questions we receive is whether or not to restore a particular tricycle. We recently received the photo at the left of a vintage Colson tricycle, and the owner was wondering whether a restoration was in his best interest. This is a question that has no real specific yes or no, right or wrong answer, and depends on many factors including: intent for tricycle, age, maker, design/model, condition and budget. The first thing anyone with a tricycle has to realize is that nobody ever gets rich, or in fact, makes much money at all “flipping” a tricycle by restoring it an reselling it for more. Someone doing professional restorations can make some money doing them, but you won’t likely be able to sell a restored tricycle for much, if any, more than the cost of the tricycle and the restoration.

If you want to keep the tricycle for nostalgic or decorative reasons, it’s best to decide for yourself if you want to restore it. A lot of readers on our site want to restore their tricycle for their kids or grandchildren to actually ride. Others just want to use it as a decorative object. A professional restoration shouldn’t hurt the value of most tricycles, if you choose to have it restored to original condition.

When a tricycle is older and retains much of its original paint, it’s usually just left as it is. If it is really beat or rusty, then it might be better to do a restoration. You also can consider something short of a full-blown restoration project. With a bit of clean-up of the chrome and rust and the addition of parts such as grips and new tires, many old tricycles can be improved significantly in both their appearance and utility without having to remortgage your house to pay for the restoration.

Q: Can you identify the tricycle in the photo. That is me about 1959 in Chattanooga TN. I believe that my dad bought most of my toys at  Western Auto and the brand name is Western Flyer. I have yet to even find another photo of such a trike. Thanks, Bob

A: Hmm? Don’t know if I’ve ever seen that one before. Pretty hard to tell from the photo. Could be a Western Flyer, since that’s what the wagon and tractor appear to be. The logo on the forks looks like the type of thing that Midwest tricycles had. It may have been made and branded for Western Auto by Midwest. We’ll post it to our Facebook page too and maybe someone will be able to help.

Q: I have this tricycle. It has a metal badge on front with Mercury in large letters and murray ohio and other things that I will tell you about. could you please help me with info on when made, cost at time and value today? i would really like to know about it.

A: Your tricycle is a Mercury that was made circa 1930 by Murray Manufacturing. Murray made a number of different brands of tricycles, including the Mercury line. We don’t give values, but originally it probably cost around $15 retail. To find the exact year, you’d have to have the exact year’s catalog to match the size and paint scheme, and even then you wouldn’t know if the same style/model was made for more than that year.

Q: I found a picture of me from 1967 ( I was 1! ) on some sort of AMF riding toy. It has a seat like a tricycle, but there are four wheels instead of three — two on each side — and no pedals. I’d like to know just what this thing is called. I’ve been racking my brain with every combination of terms (scooter, quad, kiddycar, etc.) to use on Google, but nothing matches what this toy looks like.

A: Hmmm, that’s a good question. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen one in a catalog or print ad to verify the actual name of the thing. It would probably be technically classified as a ride-on, rather than a tricycle or scooter. It was made by AMF and branded under their Junior Toy line. I’ve seen it called a Wee Wheeler, a Sit and Scoot, and a Wee Rider.  We’ve got one of these in stock, but it is far from being in mint condition. These were made for a number of years, and like AMF/Junior tricycles, they have different headbadges and those badges can be used to help determine the age.

Q: Hello, I have an antique tricycle and I am trying to identify the maker, year, and possible value of it. Can you help? I have attached a photo. Thank you for your consideration. Shannon

A: I’m sorry Shannon, but your tricycle is far from being an antique. We don’t want to make an example of you, but your question is very similar to ones we get constantly, and hopefully our answer will help others trying to date their tricycles.

The basic rule of thumb to go by is that if a tricycle has two steps, it was made after 1960.

We’re unsure of the first appearance of the single rear step plate, but it’s safe to say that if you have a tricycle with a single rear step, the tricycle was probably made after the 1920′s.  Prior to this there would have only been an axle or steel tube across the back. Some of the earliest steps that may have been around as far back as the 1920′s were the foot pad type, that used small cast iron step pads, rather than a step that stretched across the back.

As far as your tricycle goes, it’s probably a mid-1960′s AMF that probably originally had a paint with a metallic finish and some space age decals on the fender.