As a kid summer wouldn't have been the same without a bicycle. Summer meant freedom from school. Each morning meant freedom to have an adventure.
A ride up the road to the pear orchards to where the new houses were being built, pilfering wayward nails from the building site, back home to work on the tree house.
Click on image to see it larger.
Or maybe it was a ride into town to check out what was new at the toy store and a stop at the deli for a sandwich.
Maybe just a ride up to the school grounds to see if anyone was hanging around the basketball courts.
Riding with friends. No helmets. No handbrakes. Just bandaids on our knees covering up the scratches that had just been sprayed with Bactine. Apparently Bactine is still made, but I haven't seen any in decades. I'd like to smell it again. It's one of those smells from childhood that I sort of miss.
This is my submission for Sepia Saturday and a wish that all fellow Sepians remember the good times a bicycle gave them.
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Posts
Maybe some Mercurochrome on those scrapes?
ReplyDeleteDid your folks ever draw things on your with the mercurochrome? I remember my dad drew a large picture on my leg. That took awhile to wear off.
DeleteWe didn't use bactine, we used iodine and merchuricome. My granddaughter was telling me iodine is poison. I guess it was poison then too, but luckily we made it through alive.
ReplyDeleteYes, mercurochrome and iodine. We had a small bottle of iodine but never opened it because my mother was allergic to it. I wonder if either is still used today. I think people use Neosporin which can have some very serious complications. The dermatologist constantly says not to use it.
DeleteOh yes, having a bike did add freedom to a life that could be SO BORING in the summertime. I think I read my way through many a summer growing up, thus I grew a big head/brain, and it was a good thing to get on the bicycle and get some exercise!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, reading books was a huge deal in the summer. Some books I pick up and they bring back the memories of warmth, sun, swimming, and reading.
DeleteIt looks like a Hawthorne, the house brand of Montgomery Ward.
ReplyDeleteHadn't heard of that brand. I had Huffy's until I was in college when I bought a Schwinn. I did however wear Skips that Montgomery Wards sold because they were cheaper than Keds. Good ol' Mongomerywards.
DeleteI think the smaller boy has the smug look of a proud owner and the larger kid's grin says, "I want to get one of these too!" I remember bicycle envy as the first youthful test of Thou Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor's Bike.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Bactine does have that a powerfully evocative aroma. The scent of mother's magical healing salves.
That's it! Mother's magical healing salve. I used to have a bottle up at my folks cabin and I was like a junkie taking it out just to smell it. Same with Noxzema. A smell from the past.
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