in 1960 $30 was a lot and not a cheap bike
It was a J.C. Higgins middleweight new circa 1958. I thought it was was a POS by 1962 but very pretty; lots of bling, fenders, saddlebags, giant seat. Poor tires and tubes barely kept 20# psi. Hard to pedal over ten miles. I'm now certain my Dad overpaid for it. Must have weighed 40 pounds.
I later bought used lightweight and put together a 2 speed bike that weighed 16 pounds. No fenders on it, it was only good for no-rain days or I had a skunk striped back from water spray. With aluminum ram horn handlebars, derailleur, second rear gear, skeleton pedals, investment of about $60 over the years.
Thinking it over, you are right. A neighbor moved away. He told his son to get whatever he could for his 20" heavyweight because the movers charged 40 cents per pound to ship item. Thirty pound bike ~$12. to move. I offered $2 and he took it. I bought wanted new rear fender for $3. from Del Lamb bikes, still painted on side of building wall. Now a store-front church on Center Street. I used it around the nearby blocks on rainy days.
Thank you for the post. It prompted me to look again for Del Lamb. I drove by his store in 2009, the last year I was in Milwaukee.
I never found out what Del did to be famous until today. Once we honored our heroes.
Lamb was two-time Olympic skater
By Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel
Published on: 9/25/2010
Delbert Lamb, a two-time Winter Olympian and member of the National Speedskating Hall of Fame, died Saturday at his home in Franklin.
He was 95 and had Alzheimer's disease.
"Our Del just passed away," said his wife of 43 years, Joanne Lamb. "The Lord was good to him."
In February, in the midst of the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Journal Sentinel wrote about
the life and times of Lamb, who rose from races on the frozen lagoon at Washington Park to representing the United States at the 1936 and 1948 Winter Olympics.
"The Olympics meant everything to him," Joanne Lamb said. "That was the holy grail of skating."
His specialty was the 500 meters - he finished fifth in the event in 1936 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany and sixth in 1948 at St. Moritz, Switzerland. In those days, teams traveled to Europe by ship, and Lamb was taken ill before his big races.
His second Olympic berth also cost him his job with the Milwaukee Fire Department. He had arranged time off to compete in the Olympic trials in late 1947 in St. Paul, Minn. But before the trials began, a big snowstorm was nearing Milwaukee. Lamb was warned not to leave his post. He went to the trials and was later fired. His appeal was turned down by the Fire and Police Commission.
Lamb told the commission: "Olympic winners receive no rich awards; they compete for love of the sport and the glory of their countries. I set the Olympics as my goal 14 years ago. I made the team in 1936 and qualified in 1939 but the (1940) games were canceled because of the war (World War II).
"I have been training for eight years: riding a bicycle, running and skating in bad weather and good. Skating is in my blood. My heart is on skates. If I can make the Olympic team I want to go."
After his competitive career ended, Lamb served for many years as a skating official. He also owned and operated Del Lamb's Sport and Cycle shop in Milwaukee.
Sponsor says bill to repeal Alabama pistol permit requirement dead.
Posted on May 17, 2017 at 6:01 PM
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/sponsor_says_bill_to_repeal_al.html
