Who wouldn't want a bike like that?

Images from Mr. Columbia's bike site

Mr. Columbia has a page on his site with post-war baby boomer comic book advertising that is absolutely and totally delightful.  My darling husband was a child in the '50's and '60's and well remembers when Columbia bikes were the bike to have.

Actually, my Father-in-law mentioned to me that he also had a Columbia bike of his own about 70 years ago!

But, really, those post war Columbias are something else--don't you just love the optimism and the crazy jet-powered look of these mid-century bikes?

Come on, a bike with rocket-jet inspired form--how cool is that?

I love to think of my husband and kids like him roving the streets in packs of kids playing outdoors till the street-lights came on and peddling off to the ball fields, the lake, the store for treats--all summer long (and sure, it wasn't true for everyone, but my husband remembers this vividly and I can't believe he was the only one).

But, here we are in 2011 and I'm thinking about a "tween" who really, super-duper wants to peddle off on a 35 year-old Columbia bike (love that girl!). 

I'm long past being a middle-school girl myself, obviously, but I remember it in my life as a time when image was everything and having the wrong brand (or in my case, not having Calvin Klein jeans and Nike sneakers) was social suicide.  And that's before we even look at my embarrassing banana-seat bike (early '80's was not their hay-day!) that had had the handle bars stolen and replaced with rusty black BMX style bars since my dad found them free.

And I'm wondering how this Columbia Sport III fits 2011 in the suburbs.  It's 100% clear that A loves the bike and wants the bike.  Badly.  And I trust A to make that determination for herself.

Will the bike be a choice that will be the envy of all her friends (the way the "Jet Rider" was advertised to do--"Want to make the gang's eyes pop?")?  Maybe, or maybe not--but that's probably not really the point here, is it?  Plus, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what tweeners in our area think of vintage 3-speeds, that's the honest truth.

I love that A saw something she could have and personally loves and that's all she needs to make a decision, rather than holding a tribal council of others to tell her what she should like or do.  Don't know if that's just her, her generation, or actually something we accidentally did right in raising her, but I'll take it.

The town we live is, on average, quite a bit above our income level, so I also wonder if that alters the meaning--is vintage cool?  or is old even more un-cool in a town where many kids have lots of privilege?

Totally flying in the dark here!
 
Interesting note, and possible hint to myself--when we were driving the Columbia home through the neighboring town, we stopped at a crosswalk to let 3 young teen-ish girls, walking a bike, cross the street.  The bike looked new but was a cruiser and obviously vintage styled.

So, do I have a point?  Well, not a major one, just some musing and wondering about what it means to middle-school girls to ride a vintage 3-speed.  I'm not worried about A, I support her choice of awesomeness, she can hold her own (and I personally think the bike is excessively awesome), but I am a little bit curious.