My Family Bicycle Story
		Although it is poorly chronicled, my family began restoring and selling used bicycles sometime toward the end of the Great Depression and throughout WWII in Chicago, Illinois. When I was a boy, my father told me a little about this period.  I think he thought I may be interested as I was constantly tinkering with, building and re-building my Schwinn, ultimately turning it into a chopper.  I remember him telling me how he took the streetcar to the Maxwell Street Market with his mother and father where they would barter and trade for bicycle frames, wheels and other parts.  They would also scour the streets, even trash heaps, gleaning the raw materials of their livelihood.
			Back home, they would build from the parts they found.  This was how they survived the intervening years by selling to people in their neighborhood during a period when a shiny, new bicycle could not be found in the shops. Such manufacturing was suspended as factories had turned to support the war effort.  I was told that they built a good deal of skill in creating and repairing bicycles.  My grandmother, being known for her precision as a wheelbuilder, seemed to have an innate ability to lace spokes and true a wheel.  My grandfather was known for his pinstriping skill.  When the War ended, it must have put them out of business when bicycle manufacturing geared-up again.  As they turned to other interests, they prospered and the bicycle business that had sustained them became a closed chapter of their lives.  The above photograph is what remains of that time.  It depicts my grandmother, Pearl Ida McFarlane on the left, standing on the rail of the bicycle rack smiling proudly.  Standing next to her is her sister-in-law Laverne Khuans. We think she may have lettered the new sign.   My grandfather, James Bernard McFarlane, I imagine him behind the camera taking the photo. My mother, Marylee McFarlane, found the photo and sent it to me a couple of years ago.   She thought I might be interested.  My father, James Michael McFarlane, passed away in 2002.  I wish I could now ask him to tell me more.  This time, I would listen more closely and would ask a lot of questions.   John McFarlane, Owner   www.GreatUsedBikes.com