afternoon rat (need help with an i.d.)

[icyuod2]

so as some of you have probably seen i was at the branford vintage bicycle show this morning.
while i was there, this one spoke to me (something to the effect of ) "ah what do you need a girlfriend for anyhoo. buy me buy me buy me!" surprizingly enough the girl expected me to come home with a few bikes and showed more interest than usual.
paid $75 and bought a pair of schwalbe 28x1.40 tires.
much to my dismay, the tires dont fit.

(must be 28x13/8) i should have known with the ultra low profile rim.
lucky for me i have a set of ccm28" rims with an old perry b-100 coaster brake.

due to the age, i'm hoping i can just unthread/thread on the skip tooth. (until i relace the new departure hubs/rims and find tires i like.)
seats in great shape, specially considering the condition of the bike.
so heres the bike. any help identifing it would be fantastic!

i think this bike might have been in a fire

figure i'll change out the rims/tires grease it up and have a rat by the end of the day.
thought it was a prefect platform to practice some striping on, but i'm a little concerned about the sandpaper like texture of the paint.
so any idea's? the owner did mention an american company, but i'm totally drawing a blank!

 

[Ratfink1962]

Sweet bike!

Is it locked up, or does everything still move?

 

[icyuod2]

not only does everything still move, but the bars and seat jiggle around as ya move the bike. (not tightened) seat post is free and loose, stem and bars are free and loose
bearings seem to be in good shape (loose bearings)ridable fo sure!

 

[Ratfink1962]

Awesome!

If you think it was in a fire, keep an eye out for fatigued steel. If it was in a fire it will anneal the metal and take the temper out of it. look out for the joints to make sure they stay tight, and nothing is flexing.

nice score, good price too.

 

[icyuod2]

foiled by the rain!

 

[HotRodRob]

I think the guy said it might be a Mead Ranger made in Chicago. That sucks those tire don't fit :x

 

[stretch]

nice score! awesome patina, hope it wasnt a fire though that made it look that way.

 

[yewhi]

Probably not a Mead Ranger. More likely an Hawthorne or an Elgin. These motobike style frames where mass produced by a number of companies and were sold under a number of different brands making it difficult to absolutely identify it. The New departure model C rear hub will help date the bike to the late teens/early 20's ( I think, but am not positive).

Below is an image of a Hawthorne Trail blazer I am currently restoring and you'll see the details are very similar although not identical. Also attached are some cool old ads from Nostalgic.net. Regardless, It's a great old bike!

Tim

And a Picture of a Mead Pathfinder that sold recently on Ebay. Note the difference in Geometry.

 

[Rustinkerer]

Icy, it might be a Westfield (Columbia) bike. Compare the joint of the second bar to seat tube to this one:

It's a Westfield built Davega Sporting Goods 'Reggie McNamara Roadster'. Here's a full view pic, the bike is sitting on balloon rims, but was made for 28" rims.

Looks like the blue Hawthorne Flyer has the same "Coffin" chainring, Westfield did make some Hawthornes in that era, and most Elgins up to 1938. -Adam

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Looks just like my Westfield built Elgin