Even today kids look forward to having a bike, they don't all like skate boards. They start out as toddlers with three wheeled trikes the some will transfer to little bikes that you sit on, they have a seat but no pedal sort of like a scooter. Then comes the two wheeled bike with shinny fenders, pedals and chains. They come in different sizes, colors, multiple speeds and are designed for riding on roads, racing and mountains. All of this about covers bicycles of today but when I was a kid things were a little different.
Way back in the late 1940's every kid, boy or girl, had a bicycle. I was still too young so I had a tricycle when I was a toddler but eventually I outgrew it and had to hoof it wherever I wanted to go unless a friend would let me ride their bike. You didn't just go out and buy a bike, most kids didn't have any money or a means to earn any, the average bike cost around $35 which was almost a weeks pay. Writing letters to Santa Clause was cheaper so he was the go to guy for most deserving boys and girls. Christmas morning was quite the site when you walked into the room and there was a bright, shinny red new bicycle with tassels hanging from the handlebars, a head light mounted to the bright chrome fender and a squeeze horn attached to the handlebars. Boy what a sight that was, at least that was the sight in the toy catalog, my first bicycle was a little different.
It was the year I entered the second grade so that would have been Christmas of about 1954. I was 7 years old and I honestly don't remember what I wanted from Santa that year but what I got was a bicycle. Pretty much every kid had a bicycle back then, they were like a right of passage when leaving the toddler age and moving into the young kid age, it was preparation for the teenage years. Bicycles meant a newfound freedom for kids, there was nothing like the feel of wind blowing in your face as you coasted down the road, the known world just got bigger.
But back to my bike. Like I said, I don't remember asking Santa for a bike that year but there it was standing next to the tree on Christmas morning. It wasn't new but it had a new coat of paint, it wasn't bright red but it was a little darker red, it didn't have a light or horn or even tassels hanging from the handlebars, the shine wasn't as bright but it was mine.
There was a slight problem. The bike was just a little big for me, I guess Santa figured I would grow into it. I couldn't just step up on a pedal and throw my leg over the center bar and start pedaling, I was too short to just grab it and jump on to the seat and start pedaling, as a matter of fact I couldn't sit on the seat and pedal at all. These were minor issues and there had to be a way to overcome them. I don't remember how it came about but I learned to mount the bike by pulling it next to the porch steps, throw one leg over the frame push off and start pedaling, it worked fine until I had to stop then it was push to the nearest porch step, stump or upside down bucket. None of these issues mattered though because it was my bike.
I don't remember what happened to that bike, I know I didn't have it too long and I can't say that I think of it a lot as a matter of fact, I haven't thought of that bike since I was a kid. The other day I saw a neighbor boy of about three riding his two wheeled scooter bike and suddenly a mental picture appeared, memories are like that.
