Information on Two-Seater Tricycle?
Q: [This is a question that we get quite often in various forms] Hi, I recently found a tricycle with two seats, one in front of the other, can you give me any information about them? Who made them? What are they worth? How old are they? etc. etc.
A: If you’ve never seen one before, at first glance you might think you have found a real find. The bright colors and two seat design have to be worth a fortune, especially since you’ve never seen one, right? Well, not usually. If the tricycle you’ve found has a second bench type seat in the back that doesn’t have another set of pedals attached, most likely it is a very cheap Asian made tricycle from the 1960′s or 1970′s.
They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and some have cartoons and character themes. Most have some type of disc wheels. They are all very cheaply made and the paint wears easily and the metal rusts quickly. Finding a perfect one is difficult, and a perfect one could be worth a bit, but not much.
Who made them? Who cares. They were made in numerous locations probably by companies whose names you cannot pronounce in industrial towns whose names you cannot pronounce in locations that you couldn’t find on a map…..or possibly Hong Kong. Either way, collectors are not yearning for these types of tricycles. They were made for mass market department stores and other outlets. Researching them on the internet is futile as no information exists on individual tricycles or the companies that made them.
If your tricycle has two sets of pedals, or the second seat is a side car, you may have something. Several American companies made such tricycles from the 1930′s through the 1950′s and they are much more desirable than the Asian two-seaters.
