Tricycle Fetish Blog

Q: I believe this is the authentic model of the horse/stallion/tricycle.  Every indication is that there is some age involved.  Since you cannot give me an idea of value, can you tell me if there is a market for this item and what the best way to sell it would be?

A: After looking at your photo for about 2 seconds, I am 100% sure that your tricycle is a reproduction. You need to see our page on Fake Horse Tricycles and compare the info and photos on there to the ones on our Authentic Horse Tricycles page….after doing so, it should be obvious why yours is not antique.

…but in case you still can’t see, I will provide a quick list of things that obviously make yours not an antique.

1. Wear – the wear on your tricycle is obviously stages. Why would there be chunks missing from the paint all over the thing, but not where it would be repeatedly worn from normal use?

2. Pedal – no antique tricycle used cheap plain pedals like that made of basically flat steel bars bent into a rectangle.

3. Tail – lots of “wear” but still retains a very very long tail, no, that should have fallen out or been pulled out long ago.

4. Wood rims – though there were tricycles with wood outer tread, they are so rare to find surviving today that you might as well assume that they never existed. In contrast, wood outer tread on reproductions is so common that if you have a horse tricycle without wood rims, you have a good shot of having a real antique, just based on that.

5. Forks – no, wrong type of forks, I’ll leave it at that.

6. The fact that you own one – probably the easiest way to tell that your tricycle is a fake (without even looking at it) is that you own one. I would guess that about one out of every questions we get like yours results in us telling the owner that they have an actual antique tricycle…..and most of those are later models from the 1930′s. Almost nobody ever emails with pictures of real antiques. They are rare, and valuable.

So on to your question of ways to market this tricycle. It’s a simple sell, however, you must have absolutely no ethics or morals. If you’re devoid of any conscience at all, you simply put the horse on eBay, in an auction, or at an antique store as if it were really 110 years old. Price it high, but not too high. Then you just wait for a decorator to come along and think that they are buying an antique piece and pay for it, thinking that they are getting a really good deal.

If, however, you have some scruples, you will need to price it lower at any of those same outlets and sell it for what it is…a reproduction tricycle that was artificially aged (badly) and hope someone thinks it would look good in their home.

Don’t feel bad for (I’m guessing) buying it thinking it was real. We get tons of emails just like yours. It shows that the job done in producing and aging the tricycle is sufficient to fool lots of people. Counterfeiters don’t have to fool the experts, just the people who are going to buy their goods, whether it be fake money, sunglasses, Rolex watches, paintings, etc.

Q: What is the brand of the tricycle in the Cadillac Shield TV commercial?

A: The tricycle in that advertisement looks to be a made up creation using a combination of new and vintage parts….that’s our guess anyway. If you do a Google search for Cadillac Shield Ad, you can find links to the Facebook page and YouTube channel of the actors in the commercial, possibly you could ask them if they know.

Our best guess is that they used a combination of Schwinn Roadster and Radio Flyer Tailspin, added vintage handlebars, mag wheels and some kind of odd pedals, and painted the whole thing yellow with flames. We could be way off though. It definitely isn’t stock, and if it is, we haven’t seen one.

Q: Hi ive an old tricycle made from iron and brass and want to try and find the maker. All the joints etc are cast brass as is the seat.

A: This tricycle looks like some type of Australian or English creation based on the frame angles. I’m going to venture a guess and say that is is circa 1920′s. The saddle and lugs probably aren’t brass, that just wasn’t done to my knowledge.  I’ll post the photo to the Tricyclefetish Facebook page as well, maybe someone will be able to help identify it.

We received this photo with an email request for age and maker. The maker was surely AMF (AMF company info). The tricycle is from around the mid-1960′s, though an exact year as well as brand and model would probably be pretty difficult to find.

AMF made a lot of tricycles for national chains and department stores, most of which rebranded the tricycles as something else. This looks like the type that were made for JC Penney stores. If you really wanted to dig, you could start in the early 1960′s and look through all the JC Penny catalogs until you found that paint scheme, which is about the only way to pinpoint a specific year or model name (or usually a meaningless model number) as most companies used the same designs for several years.

By the way, the front wheel and fender (or the handlebars) are on backwards. The rounded part should be at the back. You can fix this problem by loosening the bolt on the handlebar stem collar and turning either the handlebar or wheel around.

Q: We bought this trike out of an old barn mostly to use as a yard ornament then it occurred to us that maybe it was something worth restoring.  Any info even just the brand would be appreciated – Jenny

A: Your tricycle is a 1940′s Junior Toy Co. trike. Probably won’t ever be able to narrow down the age to an exact year without original paint. From the pictures you sent, it looks like all it needs to be functional is a bit of oil and a pair of pedals. To fully restore it you’d need to spend hundreds of dollars. I’m sure there are some toy collectors out there who would cringe at the thought of using it for a lawn ornament. That said, it isn’t a real valuable tricycle, even in nice condition, and I’ve seen some pictures of some tricycles that are really valuable sitting in a flower bed.

Q: I just bought a tricycle for my son. I want to restore it so I need help with parts and identifying the make. Do you have a catalog for parts like the tires? thank you in advance for your help. (Answer below photo)

A: Looks like a 1930′s era balloon tire Colson. Check our Colson manufacturer page. It’s a neat looking trike for the most part an easy restoration. You will probably need to purchase new pedals, grips, tires and have the seat reupholstered. The frames on these tricycles is quite sturdy and with all the more rust there is, removing it shouldn’t be a problem.

You do have one small problem, actually it isn’t a small problem, and it isn’t really one….it’s the three balloon tires. Finding replacements is nearly impossible. When you can find a new old stock tire it is likely to cost hundreds of dollars, for one. Finding three matching ones will be near impossible. Unfortunately there is no one that is reproducing these either (that we know of, if anybody is doing so, or knows of a source for these tires, please let us know). So what you’ll probably have to do is get three new wheels with semi-pneumatic tires. It won’t be as authentic or look as cool, but there isn’t much else you can do, unless you don’t mind the restoration taking the next 20 years while you do daily searches on eBay hoping someone finds an old stock somewhere.

We do have some parts available, our catalog is online (link at the upper left of main site). Availability of the type of grips it takes and pedals is limited. Any re-upholstery shop should be able to redo your saddle without much effort and for a reasonable price.

Good luck and please send photos of the finished project.

Q: My father-in-law has had this trike since he was a kid.  would like more info about it.  what kind is it?  how old is it?  are parts still available?  should it be restored or is it worth more unrestored?

A: His tricycle is a Happi Time brand tricycle retailed by Sears stores across the country. There is a bit more info and some photos of other Happi Time trikes on our Happi Time manufacturer page. It looks to be from the 1950′s. Original parts are really hard to find. When we are able to find some we put them in our online tricycle parts catalog. We do have tires that would work for it as well as grips. We sometimes have pedals too.

We don’t give appraisals of value except to customers who purchase our online price guide and appraisal service, but I can tell you that it would be worth far more restored. That said, restoring it will cost you more than the final value will be once it’s restored. If you are trying to preserve it to stay in the family, new grips, tires, pedals and reupholstering the saddle will go a long way to making it usable. Home paint jobs also increase usability and life expectancy of tricycles and in your case, wouldn’t hurt the value.

If you decide to redo it in any way, please send pictures of the finished product.

Q: I have this antique tricycle and would like to know who made it and around what years.I attached an image. The handlebars are unique. You can’t see in the photo but the bars are in the shape of a complete oval like this “0″. Not the usual C shape. Thanks John

A: You have a late 1930′s Garton tricycle. Garton made this tricycle in various forms using basically the same frame. Some were in the configuration like yours, others had the batwing style handlebars, and others used the more conventional seat.

These two tricycles were found at a recent swap meet and the buyer emailed asking for identification.

The one on the left appears to be a Gresham Flyer made by the Aberdaler Bicycle Company in England. These tricycles were sometimes made with a rear trunk compartment and sometimes without. Probably made circa 1950, give or take.

The one on the right is anyone’s guess. We haven’t really developed any detailed identification system of the old tiller type velocipedes. Many, probably most, are unmarked and it seems that the ones that have headbadges are the later models by the largest manufacturers. This tricycle could have been made by numerous manufacturers and pinpointing the manufacturer really only serves to satisfy one’s curiosity. Knowing the maker’s name doesn’t really increase the value of a tricycle of this sort. It is made too late to be a significant historical piece and is basically an antique tricycle that would be mostly used for decorative purposes, collection filler or photo/film props. The tricycle on the right appears to be from 1900-1910, possibly into the teens.

Q: Hello, a few months ago I went to an antiques auction in Belgium, and there was this lovely tricycle. Unfortunatly, the biddings went too high for me, but I thought it would be a nice example to put on your website. The only thing is: I don’t know any makers name. Maybe you recognise it? I think it’s a lovely trike, the way the saddle and metal box are attached to the trike makes it really special, I’ve never seen one before like this. Hope you can tell me a makers name. Kind regards, Rinske van M., The Netherlands

A: We’ve never seen one like that. It’s really neat. Unfortunately we know very little about European manufacturers and any guess that we’d make as to who made it would be purely speculation. It looks to be circa about 1930. If anyone can help identify it, we’d appreciate it.

Q: Hola, I recently acquired this tricycle and can’t find it anywhere. I original saw one close to it on your fakes and reproduction page but its different from those and the quality seems much nicer. I bought a copy of your online guide and can’t find any thing close in there. I have taken it to an antique mall and between three people this is what they said.   1. Seat is some kind of wood plaster.   2. hubs seem to be brass or bronze I can’t remember.   3. wheels seem to be hand hammered, used to be painted gold but its worn off, no visible welds on spokes.   4 fittings are hand hammered pins. 5 seat might be later addition, has bolts w/ nuts  . 5. grips are wood but clawed up, maybe by a monkey or animal rider ?        6. very heavy and strong for its size.   7. if its a repro its an old one but something about the hubs and fittings made them think its old. I picked it up at goodwill so I don’t know any history. I will send a bunch of pics, if you need more of certain areas let me know and i’ll get em too ya. Any help with ID would be greatly appreciated, we are stumped.

A: I can tell you with 100% certainty, even with the small picture, that your tricycle is not antique. It is a modern decorative item. First, old tricycles did not have wood saddles, especially not ones covered in plaster. Also, hubs on old tricycles are never made of brass or bronze – too expensive to produce, too soft of metal. The wear on the tricycle is not right either – it’s unnatural for what something from the 1890′s should look like. Probably the easiest give away is the size. It would have to be one little bitty monkey.

You, as well as others, wrongly equate “heavy and strong” (or similar terms describing the metal) as being an indicator of antiquity, when in fact antique strap steel tricycles had actually quite light gauge metal frames. Think about how much your tricycle weighs, now imagine if it had a 20 inch front wheel (which is wider than your entire tricycle is long) and imagine how much that would weigh.

The elements that you describe are the things that are intentionally done to make it look old. There are a bunch of different tricycles similar to this, and you can probably find quite a few on eBay at any given time. In fact, here is one such tricycle that is on eBay right now, very similar, seller asking $700, says it’s decorative.

This one below can be found on eBay as well, very similar, asking price is $40 for the “antique folk art tricycle.” Not antique, not folk art, only a tricycle in that it has three wheels, pedals, handlebar and seat, much like a Matchbox car is not a real car.

Finally, two more easy giveaways that your tricycle is fake are the seat brace configuration and the pedals. Real tricycles never had pedals that were that simple. On your tricycle they are basically bent strap steel, in reality they would be intricate with more shape and texture as well as more dimension and likely some type of tread as well.  The seat brace configuration although it did exist in similar form on antique tricycles, it is extremely rare to find a real one with that type of brass that loops down from the steerer, yet it shows up everywhere in the reproductions.

Q: Can you help identify this tricycle I got from my neighbor.  I think she told me it was hers in the 30′s.   The wheels are painted black with a white stripe on sides.  Unfortunately it has been painted and there is no faceplate.

A: Your tricycle is a 1930′s era Colson chain driven tricycle. From the pictures it looks to be in pretty nice condition, though paint jobs are hard to judge in photos. Though not favored by collectors because of their large size, these things were built like tanks and really stand up  to use. An adult can ride these tricycles with no problems….other than being cramped.

Q:Hi,  wondering  what information you may be able to share about this bike. It was purchased new in 1955, (my 4th birthday). The original colour was red with a little white basket attached to the front handle bars and a bag on the back. It has hard tyres the basket and bag have been lost over the years and the seat replaced,  (still have it)  apart from the colour the rest is original. Although it was purchased in New Zealand,  I doubt it was make here as at that time most goods were imported from UK or USA.

A: I looks like a Tri-Ang trike from around 1955 as you said. Tri-Ang, although an English company had factories in other countries including Canada, Australia and New Zealand (in Auckland, I believe).  I don’t know if there is a way to tell where a particular Tri-Ang tricycle was made, we don’t see too many of them in the US and the photos we do see seem to have the same basic design in England as they do in Australia, for example.

Q: Can you help me to identify this tricycle?  I estimate it is between 96-100 years old, but I can find any collectors who have seen one like it before.  It was given to me by the original owner who now would be over 100 years old.  It is in good condition, but missing the original paint and rubber on the back wheels.  I am interested in selling, but I don’t know where to start.

A: Identifying antique strap steel tricycles is pretty difficult; they all look pretty much the same and very few had any type of identifying marks. They were made by a bunch of different manufacturers and sold mostly as unbranded tricycles or velocipedes in department stores and mail order catalogs. Most of the catalog that they appeared in did not have actual photos, but rather approximations based on the original and etched onto a printing block for printing of the catalog.

About the only way to determine the exact maker is to have one of their catalogs. These catalogs were produced and sent to the buyers (department stores) rather than to individuals, so they were made in very limited numbers and are very rare. When you consider that there were scores of makers, determining the maker is virtually impossible. There might be someone that knows the maker of most of them simply by looking at them, but we don’t know of such a person.

Your age estimation seems to be right on. As far as selling it goes, you can always try eBay, Craig’s List, etc., or you can call local antique dealers. Your type of tricycle is more suited for sales to decorators or individuals who want a nice decoration rather than tricycle collectors who tend to favor more Art Deco or Streamlined Modern type of tricycles. You can also post a picture of it to the TricycleFetish.com Facebook page with your asking price.

It seems a bit odd that a toy made 70 years ago and sold at a major retail chain would be a mystery, but that’s what the Rockett tricycles seem to be. So what company actually manufactured the Rockett rear steering tricycle? We still don’t know and have yet to find anyone who does, despite it being one of the most popular models for collectors. I’m sure that there is someone out there that knows, but none of the collector’s that I’ve talked to seem to know.

Rockett branded tricycles were only made for a few years. They were originally sold at Montgomery Wards stores in 1938. They came in three sizes, 12, 16 and 20 inch models ranging in price from $8.98 to $10.98.  They were designed to allow the child to be able to pedal while turning and while still being able to pedal normally and not have the wheel rub their legs or clothing. It’s unclear why they didn’t catch on, because they are one of the most sought after tricycles by collectors today.

I have yet to find out who manufactured them. Montgomery Ward stores only sold tricycles that were made by other maker’s and labeled as their house brands. All department stores did this, and still do this to some degree today. Hawthorne and Rolfast made tricycles for Wards, but I don’t believe either of those made Rocketts. The general consensus seems to be that they were made by Colson, but nobody seems to know for sure.

Today we received an email with a link to an eBay auction for a rare 1930′s era Rocket bicycle, spelled with one ‘T’. The bike, pictured below was made by the Alexander Specialty Manufacturing Co. in Paris, Texas.

The design of the tricycle is obviously very similar to the bicycle from Alexander Specialty, but no connection could be found with the Alexander and Montgomery Ward or even the word “Tricycle” for that matter.

To be continued…

Q: This is a picture of my tricycle I had when I was young some 50+ years ago! I was hoping you could shed some light on who the manufacturer was and the model (if any). The Tires say Swan on them. There are no other markings.

A: You have a 1950′s era Junior Toy Company tricycle. The company was purchased by AMF in the early 50′s, but production continued of the Junior line for years (while the company also produced other lines). Eventually the tricycles were branded as AMF Junior. By the looks of it, your tricycle was probably made before the AMF takeover. There was likely a model number associated with it in the Junior catalog, but knowing it doesn’t really do anything, because nobody that I know of has any knowledge of those numbers to any extent.

Q: I am interested on who made it, year and if and where I could/should get it restored? Thanks, Jennifer

A: Your tricycle is a circa 1960 Evans Police tricycle. You can find a bit more info on Evans tricycles on our Evans manufacturer page.

As far as getting it restored…it all depends on how much the tricycle means to you. The condition that it is in would not be worth restoring it to try to sell and make a profit, because the restoration would cost more than the tricycle was worth. If you want the tricycle to be restored for nostalgic reasons you’ll likely spend quite a bit of money, but it would look like new once you were done.

We have a couple of individuals listed on our Tricycle Services page that do tricycle restorations. You might also have luck with general bicycle or pedal car restorers. There are more people that do those than specifically tricycles. If you are looking for a way to make it look better without spending a fortune, there are things you can do yourself that will make it look much better. There are some tips in this article about refurbishing.

Q: Can anyone give me any information on this Road Runner by Warner Bros. Inc. tricycle?

A: Your tricycle is a 1970′s Murray trike. They made quite a few different models of this type of pressed steel tricycle with hollow hard plastic tires. Some of them had themes like Road Runner and CAT and some where plain with built on trailers/beds. Check out our Murray manufacturer’s page for a bit more info and some pictures of similar tricycles.

Q: Thank you.  I recently acquired the tricycle you see in the pictures.  I can find no marks to identify it.  I also can’t find any similar tricycle on your site or on other sites.  It is 15″ high and 22″ long.   I would appreciate any information you can share.

A: Your tricycle is a streamline Garton tot trike from circa 1937-40 era. Garton made this design for a number of years. The 1930′s tricycles seem to have the batwing type handlebars, which were later switched to a metal bar type handlebar with wooden grips. You can find other pictures of similar tricycles on our Garton manufacturers page.

Q: Hi Kool site! Can anyone identify this trike? all different kindss of wood. Soda can on seat for size reference value?

A: Well, this type of tricycle really falls outside of what we deal with on this site, but I’ll try to help. I have no idea who made it, there are lots of independent crafters across the country making this sort of thing. They were really popular ten years ago, and there are still people making them now.

I noticed by your email address that you’re probably located in Connecticut. Perhaps the best way to find out who made it would be to attend a craft show regionally or locally and take photos, someone may have seen this work before. As far as I know these type of things have never been factory made and have not yet been made in China and are always done by crafters and wood workers.

There used to be a man in Western PA that made scale model replicas of Harley Davidsons out of wood. They really weren’t my cup of tea and really the only type of person who is going to like it is someone who is into motorcycles. That said, they were very well done and the detail was amazing. He used copper wire for wiring, brake lines, etc. He put every little thing that you can see on a motorcycle from the outside out of numerous types of wood…all the engine parts where there. The time it took to make one was insane.

We normally only provide values to customers who’ve purchased our price guide, but since this isn’t really a tricycle, I’ll give you a bit of info. The resale price (depending on where you sell it) would be at least a couple hundred dollars. I can’t remember what the local man was charging for his scale Harley models, but it was something like $700 or something. And the only reason he could do them for that price was that when making each part, he would make about 20 of each at the same time, sort of a little mass production assembly line for one person.