Hey, I'm new to this site. I resently picked up a beat up but in tacked mongomery ward Hawthorne bicycle, I love to restore old things like this as well as cars but I have never had such a hard time figuring out what exactly this year is. The serial number on the bottom of the crank case is 01953. I took the bike down to bear metal and found lots of brass welding and a tonof it on the front fork which has the three fins. The front emblem is also brass. The chain gaurd is rather big/chrome and the sprocket is in the shape of a star. The bike has two middle bars the top on has a direct bend in it down to the back wheel. Last clue the guy I bought it from had no idea what it was but he was told it was an early forties bike.... Please help I just need to know my mind is going crazy
Decoding a Montgomery ward Hawthorne
- Thread starter Steven 1992
- Start date
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if it looks similar to this one its a 1941! 
yeah, i second the "picture of the frame" idea, and maybe include a pict of the chainring and tank if so equipt. without anything to go on all i can say its probably either hy snyder built or a cwc made bike.
Are you using Imageshack???If you are just copy the dircet link :wink:
Steven 1992 said:
Almost there! :wink:
Either choose the image code that begins with and ends with[/img ] or click on the Img button above and paste your image code into the middle.
Here is what it should look like (without the *s)
[img*]http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc437/Steven19922/IMG_0189.jpg[/img*]
And here is the result
[img]http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc437/Steven19922/IMG_0189.jpg
The star chainring would indicate it's a Snyder built bike (who made the lion's share of Hawthornes). The frame design is an earlier style updated for balloon tires, if it has spacers on the fenders it could have had either balloons or sew up 28" rims. It's a mid to late 30s bike, this style was on its way out by 38 or so. -Adam
The All American (AA-1) was designed by Walter Dorwin Teague supposedly from the responses to a survey of American boy’s on what constituted a “good looking bike”. The bike was not offered as a Roadmaster but was sold by Montgomery Ward (though apparently not exclusively as I have a frame badged as a Western Flyer.) Interestingly there are CWC All American Badges but I have not seen one used on an All American frame. The frame itself is an odd blend of various models. It has the early straight stay rear end coupled with a unique bent down tube and uses a straight bar tank also unique to the model.
I read this online and was wondering if it matched my bike. This would be a unique find if so
I read this online and was wondering if it matched my bike. This would be a unique find if so
I caught myself in a deja vu moment reading the excerpt from the internet…you stumbled into a piece I put together on Cleveland Welding bicycles that I never, technically speaking, published. The piece is condensed with lots of internal referencing and because I never gathered photos or diagrams to illustrate it I never promoted it. The fact that the All American description seemed similar to your bike illustrates the piece needs photographs as the two are chalk and cheese.
Back in the present it appears you have a bike that was produced by H. P. Snyder. At the time it was made, Snyder was one of the American “Big Three” and may have been the largest of those companies in output (Westfield and Schwinn were the other two)
The general style of your bike is referred to as a Moto-Balloon today and was produced by several manufacturers between 1933 and as late as 1940+ but really lost favor after about 1936 when it was replaced by more streamlined designs. It is always hard to be sure which company produced a Moto-Balloon frame because the style is the most generic style of balloon bike built but the style of the plate crown coupled with other small details (noted by others in this thread) makes it very likely it is a Snyder product.
As a Snyder it most likely dates to 1934 or 1935. Earlier versions would have used 28” single tube wheels and in 1936 the seat binder arrangement was substantially changed to a collet design. The style soldiered on for a while after 1936 but the seat binder was again changed to a raised clamp rather than the stay end pinch bolt design like yours.
I'm looking forward to more pictures after you finish your rebuild.
Back in the present it appears you have a bike that was produced by H. P. Snyder. At the time it was made, Snyder was one of the American “Big Three” and may have been the largest of those companies in output (Westfield and Schwinn were the other two)
The general style of your bike is referred to as a Moto-Balloon today and was produced by several manufacturers between 1933 and as late as 1940+ but really lost favor after about 1936 when it was replaced by more streamlined designs. It is always hard to be sure which company produced a Moto-Balloon frame because the style is the most generic style of balloon bike built but the style of the plate crown coupled with other small details (noted by others in this thread) makes it very likely it is a Snyder product.
As a Snyder it most likely dates to 1934 or 1935. Earlier versions would have used 28” single tube wheels and in 1936 the seat binder arrangement was substantially changed to a collet design. The style soldiered on for a while after 1936 but the seat binder was again changed to a raised clamp rather than the stay end pinch bolt design like yours.
I'm looking forward to more pictures after you finish your rebuild.
