Tricycle Fetish Blog

Q: I recently purchased a Gambles tricycle. The label has Gambles on it along with the name of the trike that I can’t quite make out. Any idea’s where I can find information on it?

A: Your tricycle is a circa 1950’s Hiawatha tricycle made for sale in Gambles Hardware Stores.  Your tricycle was made by Murray (you can even see that they used Murray hubcaps).    Hiawatha tricycles and bicycles were made by a number of different makers.  It was common with hardware and department stores to have manufacturers make tricycles and relabel them under their own brand name.  Western Auto is probably the most common company to do this, with their Western Flyer tricycles and bicycles being made by AMF, Murray and others.

Q: I hope that you can help us to identify this tricycle. It has been fully restored and is in excellent condition.  The ‘Batwing’ handlebars are reminiscent of the Junior Toy Co. style.  Any assistance will be greatly appreciated including a ballpark valuation.

A: Your tricycle was indeed made by the Junior Toy Co.  It is from the  late 1930’s Sky Line, which was a series of streamlined tricycles of which the Sky King was the top of the line.  Your tricycle is referred to as the Sky Knight due to the knight’s mask type head tube design.

As far as value goes, we only give values out to those who’ve purchased our online price guide for a number of reasons.  We also don’t really like to give valuations for restored tricycles.  It’s so hard to tell from the pictures what kind of job was done.  In a 600 pixel wide photo, the tricycle looks perfect, but it may or may not be in real life when you’re standing in front of it.  Basically most tricycles are worth more before restoration, unless done by an expert restorer who has used 100% all original parts.

Anyone know the maker of this horse sulky type tricycle?

Q: I’m sending you a pictures of my tricycle in hopes you can identify it for me.   This elderly lady (about 85 to 90) had in in her backyard in the hills of Camarillo, California.  I asked her for it and she gave it to me.  I think its from the 50’s but not sure.
A: Your tricycle indeed looks to be from the 1950’s.  Judging by the paint scheme it is most likely a Western Flyer that was sold in a Western Auto store, but manufactured by AMF.  Western Auto was one of many chain stores that resold tricycles and bicycles under a house-brand name but that were manufactured by another maker.   The condition is really rough and it looks like the old woman had the right idea using it for a lawn ornament.

Q: Let me know if you can or can’t identify the make of this tricycle and if it has any value. Thank you.

A: No, we don’t know the maker.  It looks like a bit like a Murray.  We’ve also never seen another one like it, and think that your tricycle is a bit of a thrown together toy from various parts.  The whole think looks like a pedal tractor with replaced rear wheels and handlebars, that is missing its tractor portion of the frame.  It also looks a bit like those 1950’s cast tricycles made by Murray in the shape of a Good Humor trike, police trike, etc. – the three small wheels are used on those as well.   ….but the seat would be wrong, as well as the handlebars.

Whatever it is, it isn’t original.  There’s no way a child could sit on the seat and fit to reach the pedals correctly and reach the handlebars.  It looks to be 1940’s era up to the early 1950’s.  Perhaps it was some type of themed tricycle that is now missing some of its parts.  It looks like it is too much of a mess with too many extra parts and missing parts to be worth much as a collectible.

Q: I have a tricycle that has a wooden seat and a hand brake on the handle bars, this puts a brake onto the front wheel. I know that this was purchased in the 1930’s but have not found any information. Hopefully you can answer my questions regarding the manufacturer and the time frame.

A: We’ve never seen one with that brake setup before.  It looks like it could very well possibly be from before the 1930’s, back into the 1920 era.  There were a lot of manufacturers that made very similar tricycles, Columbia being one of the largest.  Without markings, it is sometimes hard to identify them.  Your trike has very unique handlebars, but not any that we’ve seen attributed to a certain maker.

If you’re up for some research, you can do patent searches on Google (use the Google patent specific search – http://www.google.com/patents).  You can wade through the hundreds of tricycle brake mechanism patents, and maybe you might find yours.

Q: I have an old tricycle but don’t know the type it is. May I send you a photo and perhaps you can provide some info on it? Thank you.

A: Your tricycle is a very rough 1960’s era Murray tricycle.  The exact year of manufacture is unknown, but they would have used that design for a number of years.  It may have been branded as another type or tricycle, like Western Flyer, but without paint it would be impossible to tell.

Q: I have a tricycle horse that hinges in the middle. The horse is black and white with a strap on metal seat. The front tire is 18″ air king? and the back tires are air king? 10″. Beyond needing new tires, I don’t know anything about it, there are no marks, other than on the pedals.. On pedal says western flyer, the other says corrington? Can you help me out and provide some info about the bike, who makes it, value general, and parts.

A: We don’t know who made your tricycle.  Maybe one of our readers will know.  It looks to be from the 1930’s.  Probably made by a toy manufacturer, rather than a tricycle company.  As far as parts go, finding original parts will be hard.  Your best bet for finding replacement pedals of that era is by looking on classic bicycle sites.

Q: Can you please give us some info on this tricycle?

A: Your tricycle is a circa 1950 Mercury chain driven tricycle made by Murray.  It looks to be in quite a shambles.  If you’re looking to restore it, it’s going to cost you a fortune in that condition.  It’s bent, missing pieces, etc.  It’s probably just a parts tricycle or garden decoration at this point.

Q: thanks for allowing me to join your site i have an unknown rear steer tricycle from the late 50’s or early 60’s and have been unable to find anyone who knows what company produced it. i dont believe skyjet is the correct name. any help to identify it would be appreciated

A: You have a circa 1960, give or take Sky Jet X-II rear steering tricycle made by Hedstrom.  These tricycles were also produced under the model name Saf-Jet.  They are pretty scarce and hard to find, especially in the condition in which yours looks to be in.

Q: Do know what this is?

A: Steve B. sent in this question and photo of some type of contraption that vaguely resembles a tricycle.  Our guess is that it was once an early motor powered scooter, like those Rascal type things you see at Wal-Mart, usually with someone riding them that shouldn’t be.

Q: Not long ago a friend gave us this tricycle. It is in use by our grandkids. The front had to have a little welding done on it to get it operational again. I looked all over for any identifying marks but found none. Can you identify this for me?

A: This is a common type of two seater tricycle made for a period of time in some Asian locale, probably Hong Kong.  This is a common type of tricycle that we’re ask about, but really don’t have much info on.  We’ll post your picture to the FAQ page about these types of tricycles.

Q: Your site has been very helpful and I’m hoping you can help me even more. Attached is a picture of an old surrey tricycle that I uncovered while cleaning out an elderly relative’s barn. I was told it had been in the family since the late 50’s/ early 60’s. I couldn’t find a manufacturer’s name anywhere but it appears that the bike had been repainted at one point and the bonnet is definitely not original. If your able to view the picture and can share some history of this type of tricycle, I would greatly appreciate any assistance. I’m hoping to restore it over the winter and then pass it on to the next generation in my family.
Thank you so much.

A: Can’t say that we’ve ever seen one like that before.  It probably dates to a little earlier than your 50-60’s estimate, probably to the 1940’s, though that could be wrong since I’ve never seen one.  We’ll post this to our blog and Facebook page and see if anyone can help.

Q: Just wondering what this is (see attached pictures). Friend seems to think it might be worth some $$?  Thanks in advance for any info you have on this trike… Manny

Q: I was wondering if you could help ID a tricycle I picked up with a lot of older beach cruisers?

A: Your tricycle looks to be a 1940’s era Garton tricycle.  You can view more information about Garton and see other similar Garton tricycles on our Garton manufacturers page.

Q: I I found this old tricycle in an old house in the 1960’s it did not have the back wheels .everything else is original.I  wonder if anyone could tell me how old it is and what it would sell for as is.
thank you    Jim G.

A: Your tricycle looks to have been made around the 19-teens.  You can purchase our online price guide and appraisal service for a value estimate…but seeing the condition and the amount of rust, I wouldn’t get my hopes up for a high value.

A reader recently sent us this photo of a tricycle that was found in her grandmother’s attic.  It is a strap steel tricycle with a wooden seat.  It dates to the early 1900’s, but seems to be unmarked.  Anyone with any thoughts as to what brand this might be or who the maker might be is asked to leave a comment with your theory.

Q: Can you tell me the name of the manufacturer and style name of this tricycle, and its approximate value? We may wish to sell it, can you suggest where (website/publication, etc.) we could advertise it for sale?  I have done searches on the internet, but have not found a picture of any other tricycles that look like this one.  Teresa

A: You have a late 1950’s era Murray Supersonic Jet ride-on pedal plane.  This type of toy isn’t normally considered a tricycle.  It’s more of a pedal plane or a ride-on toy in general.  It’s sort of built the same way as a pedal tractor with its chain drive.  This was a toy designed by Viktor Schreckengost and over the years there were some changes.  The exact year is unknown.  If you had catalogs from each year around the late 1950’s, you might be able to pinpoint it based on design and paint scheme, but the exact year really isn’t important.

As far as selling it goes…  I would think that there are some pedal car sites that would have classified ads.  Probably the easiest way would be Craigslist.  It’s free and a lot of collectors search for items there.  If that doesn’t work there’s always eBay, you just have to pay pretty high fees and deal with all of the eBay hassles.

A reader recently sent in this picture of a streamlined modern triple fendered tricycle and asked for information about its maker.  We’ve never seen a tricycle of this model before, but a toy collector has told us that the chrome accents on the fenders match those on Metal Craft wagons of that era.  Any additional info or photos that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: Originally we had said this tricycle was cast aluminum.  That was based on the appearance of the frame and handlebars.  The tricycle is steel, including the frame.

Q: Hi, Attached are photos of an old Tricycle that I am trying to identify. The headplate reads “One of the Badger Line”. It makes no reference to a maker or year made. I would greatly appreciate any help you could give me. This one has me stumped. Thanks, Randy

A: Ah, you’ve got us stumped too.  Your tricycle was made in the 19-teens or 1920’s era.  It is very similar to a lot of tricycles made during this time period.  It has a heavy tube and lug design and seems to have generic parts such as handlebars, saddle etc.  Some company must have provided these generic parts and lugs during that time period, because we see a lot of oddball brands, such as yours, in questions from our readers.

There are two possible sources for tricycles such as yours that seem to be one-of-a-kind rare.  Both ways were used by different companies.  One is that a larger manufacturer made the tricycles for a retailer or distributor of some sort and custom headbadges were applied to give the trike the branding of the retailer.  The other source is that small manufacturing or retail companies (anything from hardware stores to toy makers to car makers) bought tricycle parts, tubing and lugs and made their own tricycles.

Both ways are still happening today, mostly in the bicycle industry.  For example, all of Wal-Mart’s inventory is essentially made by one big manufacturer and labeled with different “brand” names.  And tubing and lugs are readily available for any welder to make their own bikes at home.

Sorry we couldn’t be more help, maybe another reader will know something and help out in the comments section.  Also when researching your tricycle, you might want to focus on Wisconsin and toy, bike and auto manufacturing companies there during the 19teens.  Unfortunately your searches online will probably be clogged with Trek bicycle results, so omit the word Trek.