John Oliver

Back in 1938, 39, and 40 the bikes that kids used in our neighborhood were mostly made up from junked parts. They included a frame, handlebars, pedals, seat and two wheels. Most bikes had missing parts such as: chain guard, fenders, handle grips and baskets. All bikes had parts that were in poor condition, such as: tires and their tubes, worn seats, rusty handlebars, cut up handle grips, greasy chains, missing or bent spokes. Bikes were basically transportation for nearby places, nobody went far on his bike. It was not unusual to go over to a gang members house and see him working on his bike. The most usual repair was for a flat tire. When I was young I never saw a bicycle tube that did not have patches. Every kid knew how to patch a tube. A tube patch kit cost nine cents and included a tube of adhesive, some pre-cut patches, a sheet of patching material for larger problems. The cap had a rasp punched into it for scoring up the tube prior to patching. All bike owners had a wrench for removing a wheel in order to extract the tube for repair. The tricky part came when it was a rear wheel that was flat and the chain had to be removed to get at the tube. I was most impressed when I first witnessed a chain removed and later put on using the removable link. Bike culture included the swapping of handlebars, painting the frame, affixing a basket to the front, adding a bell, straightening out handlebars or fenders after a bike had fallen, replacing spokes that were broken, even applying the correct amount of oil or grease to a chain. Nobody had the money for a new bike and all kids were in the same boat trying to get more life out of their bike. Older brothers that moved away or went into the Army handed down their bikes to their younger brothers. Nothing went to waste. While playing football in Bennett school ground one day a new kid appeared and asked to play. As we played I noticed his shoes, they were very good shoes and they stood out in comparison to the sneakers and old shoes everyone else was wearing. This was my first meeting with John Oliver. As we played, I became aware of some kids exclaiming about a nice bike leaning along the brick wall. A small group had gathered around the bike which caused the game to halt and all went to investigate. John Oliver had come on this bike and it was a beauty. It looked freshly new with everything that could be added to it. The stir it caused can be likened to what would happen if a Lamborghini car had appeared at a Ford and Chevy rally. It even had a speedometer, something I did not know existed. It also had: a front light, two-tone painted fenders, large reflector in the rear, reflectors on the pedals, exquisite handle grips, a luggage carrier over the rear tire, a horn, wide seat with springs, two springs for a front wheel suspension, Xanadu. I think the game ended there as we kept admiring this bike. I noted an emblem on the bike, it was a Schwinn. I looked closer at John and noticed he had a collared shirt and his pants were pressed. He was playing in his good clothes. I always had to go home from school in order to change out of school clothes, and other kids did too. Yet, every time that we saw John he was wearing good clothes that always seemed pressed, as if he had no play clothes. He was a cool kid. He lived on the other side of Verner and I never saw his house but I felt it must be made of brick. He always had money for a drink after playing, which many of us did not. John Oliver always rode his bike when he came to play and every time he came we always admired his bike, it was a beauty. He only lived in the neighborhood for about a year and then moved away. He opened a window that I had never seen through before. Through that window I saw my first view of a different kind of life, affluence.