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That Cabe thread is the bane of my existence! The pre-'65 dates were 'guesstimates' by the Murray Eliminator site guys. A few years later, someone discovered a 1959 Western Auto parts catalog, with a serial list. The WA bikes were stamped "MO", and then the year letter date. Sears bikes were...

That's a tough one! Most Elgins were built by Westfield, 1920s-1938. But, they didn't use J in their serial #s during those years. And, if it was originally a balloon tire bike, it'd be 1933 or later. Elgins used that badge through '35-6. -Adam

JCH was the name of Sears' sporting goods line, so it was used on a bunch of different items, including luggage! Same thing with Montgomery Ward and the Hawthorne line. -Adam

Yep, it was a blast! I hung out with Pedal Junky and JD for a while! -Adam

I couldn't ever find anything about a strike. I did discover Murray, Sears' main supplier at the time, was building a new factory that year. -Adam

If it says JCH on the chain ring, it's from a diamond frame lightweight. -Adam

I believe they used the Shelby name through '62. Usually seen with some leftover Shelby parts. This one looks to me like an early 50s CWC w/a badge swap, as it looks all CWC. One never knows for sure though! -Adam

Looks early postwar, 46-7ish, after that, they began stamping "Cw" after the serial #. -Adam

A 74K number generally dates to 1940, before the ID tags. A 740K number would indicate 1950, more likely. Monark numbers are known to vary from the norm though. -Adam

It's a '56 import model, should have either a 'Made in Austria' or 'Made in W. Germany' decal. Value under $100. -Adam

I've been hanging them up for years. -Adam

I wouldn't cut low, considering it's a stress point. If you ran into something, there's where it's likely to fail. I'd go center of the head tube. -Adam

I don't know, but 9 times out of 10, completely different. I'd look at all the Spaceliner pics I could find in the galleries and online to compare. Usually it's the angle of the tank that makes the difference. -Adam

Could be original. It's a '50ish CWC frame, great rat potential! -Adam

That last one definitely looks like Schwinn's radiant green, used from the mid 50s - early 60s. -Adam

Murray frames don't have holes in the head tube though, pretty much only Ross did in the 60s. There were plenty of CBC/Ross built Coast Kings though, as well as Huffy. -Adam

Stelber was a NY company, they imported bikes from Steyr/Daimler/Puch in Europe. As far as I've been able to figure, Murray was building a new factory in 1956, so Sears needed a fill in supplier. So they ended up with these odd Euro cruisers. Stelber also had their own badge, and later created...

AMF built bikes for many different stores, including Hiawathas for Gambles. -Adam

Kinda like pre ripped jeans... -Adam

The proper answer is, they're too tall when you have to check the height signs on underpasses! -Adam