MY BICYCLE SHOP

MY BICYCLE SHOP ABOUT 1938

When I was a youngster I acquired my first bicycle.  It was a small 24 inch bike that had belonged to a neighbor who had outgrown it.  I soon found that I had outgrown it too.  Somehow I found a boy who rebuilt wrecked bicycles.  He had for sale a full-sized bicycle which he had welded in several places and painted a bright red.  I don't remember what I paid for it, but it was not a bargain since it gave me nothing but trouble.  It did, however, whet an interest in rebuilding bicycles myself.  I did not have the equipment to do welding, but I became knowledgeable about bicycle mechanics via trial and error, and was able to spread a lot of red paint.

In our back yard there was a large barn which was originally built as a multipurpose shed for wagons, cows, horses and feed storage for the animals.  By the time I came along, it housed two automobiles. The second automobile was usually housed in a shed built on the side of the barn. After it was sold, the shed was no longer needed for a car.  Sometime in the 30s, I latched on to the shed and created a bicycle shop.  I hauled in scrap lumber and a window that were given to me by my Cousin John McArthur, who specialized in house renovation.  He was very generous to me and allowed me to take anything I could use.

This was in the midst of he Great Depression and I got the idea that I needed to make money for myself.  I tried selling magazine to neighbors and did have a few customers.  I had a regular job of milking the cows after my older brothers left home. I also milked occaionally for Aunt Chad and Aunt Annie. For milking our cows I was paid $1 per week as long as Papa was able.  After Papa lost his health and work, he had to stop paying me, but he carefully recorded in his records that he was indebted to me for $1 per week. After he died in 1939, the children agreed that none of us would file a claim against the estate!

Although Papa was handicapped with loss of mobility, he approved of my business venture as long as I made it clear that it was the Irvin McArthur Bicycle Shop.  He did not want anyone to think that he was in the bicycle business.  If I was to have business, however, Papa wanted it to be legal and run right.  He researched for me the legal requirements and found that I needed a county license to run a business.  Soon I had a license in hand.  He then began to teach me double entry bookkeeping, which I liked so much that I later studied bookkeeping and accounting in high school and junior college.  I am not sure that I ever made as much as $100 in the bicycle shop, but I did get a lot of pleasure and training. It also helped me to acquire new friends throughout the neighborhood.  I did some repair on a bicycle owned by the nearby grocery store that was used for home delivery. The delivery boy, Eugene Hardy,  became a frequent visitor to the shop although Papa asked me why he was hanging around.  I never was sure whether the reason for his question was that the boy was supposed to be working or whether it was because he was  black. I only knew that I enjoyed visiting with him.

Eugene Hardy

Another frequent visitor was Beth,  the adopted daughter of my  cousin Bessie White who spent the summers with her grandmother, my Aunt Annie

Beth White

I bought bicycle parts from a local Western Auto Store, from a neighbor who had formerly owned a bicycle shop, and by mail from a wholesaler in Atlanta.  I even dreamed at times of being a wholesaler myself and manufacturing parts. My choice purchase was large parts cabinet filled with New Departure spare parts.  I kept the bicycle shop going throughout my high school and junior college years.  It was only after I was ready for my junior year at Maryville College, TN that I closed the shop.  Sometime later, my brother Johnny tore down the barn and shed and built a garage out of the scraps. I will always be grateful for that enjoyable experience.