The glory of our particular artifact may be faded, but the rust-speckled mint paint job, crusty handlebar tassels, blown-out balloon tires, busted headlight, and bent basket wires still have a beauty to them-carrying the ghosts of marvelous sock hops and soda fountains long since past.ĭespite the double-dose of royalty in the name, Monark Silver King was born out of the Great Depression, beginning as a side venture of the Monark Battery Company. But post-war, space-rocket tank models like the girls’ “Roadster” in our museum collection will occasionally turn up, usually cobweb-covered in someone’s shed. MSK’s early streamlined designs are scarcely seen out in the wild these days-many of them were broken down for scrap metal during World War II. of the 1890s, the Monark Silver King Company was a short-lived but innovative Chicago bicycle manufacturer that operated from the early 1930s through the 1950s. Not to be confused with the far more prominent Swedish bike maker of the same-ish name (Monark AB), nor Chicago’s earlier Monarch Cycle MFG Co. Gives faster speed, greater strength, and snappier appearance.” - advertisement for the first Monark Silver King bicycle, 1934 Aluminum alloy-much lighter than steel, but with 3 times the tensile strength, weight for weight.
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“Now-An Aluminum Bicycle! The same metal which made possible present-day high-speed trains and airplanes, makes the frame of the new-type SILVER KING bicycle. Made By: Monark Silver King, Inc., 6501 W.
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Museum Artifact: Monark Silver King “Roadster” Girls Bicycle, 1950s