Bikes.
I think I had four or five bikes growing up as a kid in
the Burg. Not all at once of course. I would get them and
wear them down over time. I was not good at repairing bike
tire inner tubes. Remember the glue and the metal thing to
rub the area and the little rubber patch. When an inner tube
broke, for me it I knew it was time to go buy another.
Schwinn bikes were supposed to be the best in my 1970s
day.. and I had one Schwinn out of the bikes I owned.
I used it for my paper route and it even road on ice and
snow as it was a Schwinn Stingray and thus low to the ground.
Yes we would go to Bernies Bicycle Shop at times ( a local
legend). Bernies site says it sold the most Schwinn bikes
of all shops in the USA for many years. Bernies site also
says it was on Paul Avenue in North Trenton and then on
Rt 33 in Hamilton. I seem to think it located in another
place closer to the Burg at one time..but I may be mistaken.
The closest "hill" for bikes was near the cemeteries on
Cedar Lane. I often drove my 26 inch bike with a good radio
attached to it in the back to the Independence Mall for
a nice ride that wasnt too long or short...especially in the
summers of 1975 and 1976..going down libery to chambers to
south broad to the mall..passing the Quik Mack along the way.
Did you have bikes back in the day.
Note: The bike pictured here is a 1970s Schwinn Stingray like
I had.. it was and is very popular and still looks much like
this today:)
UPDATE:
SJBill adds...
Our starter bikes came from Mrs. Wirag, who lived across
the street from Pierce Van Lines. SHe picked bikes out of
the trash, painted rusted spokes and rims with aluminum paint,
and fixed everything else with bailing wire or masking tape.
She sold them to families for five or ten bucks. Her store
was one of the funkier ones in hte Burg. When you didn't
have the money for a new Schwinn, that's where you had to
go for "wheels". Now for Schwinns, we bought ours at Al
Cala's Schwinn Shop on S. Broad near Trenton Glass and
the "19th Hole". Doesn't look like the building is
around anymore, though it was a decent shop.
I add:
Mrs Wirags place was Pat Daddio's This & That Shop in
my Burg day...he ran for Mayor in the 90s once.
The Shop was on South Clinton Avenue near Hudson Street.
3 comments:
My first bike came from Bernies on Paul Ave. in North Trenton. All I remember was it was red.
Hi Joe:)
I had 1 yellow stingray, a black and a blue 26 inch models.
Bernies was known to me from an early age (newspaper/radio ads?).
The original "Bernie" and yep' I remember him well made a good dollar from us patching or selling new tubes. Big fellow with a blond hair and glasses.
The original shop was in "The Little Burg", the Italian section on the corner of Paul and Brunswick.
When Schwinn came out with a new bike it was like October for cars when the new models came out, we would gape and dream.
My dream was the Schwinn Corvette but for me any Schwinn was out of the question and all my bikes were hand me down "English Racers" that were faster with the three speeds and back then I was the only kid with a racer.
Bernie's is still out near you in Hamilton but I often wonder if the same family owns it?
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