Freak Bikes from 1948

Bedstead Bike

Bedstead Bike was dreamed up by Joe Steinlauf, who got the idea while lying around in bed one morning

In 1948, the Chicago chapter of the National Bicycle Dealers’ Association built freak bikes for a LIFE feature

By artfully applying welders’ torches to metal tubing, the chapter’s members transform ordinary, utilitarian bicycles into traveling monstrosities. By far the most outlandish ideas have come from the Steinlauf family, who produced from their bicycle repair shop most of the oddities [shown in the article]. They are hazardous; generally at least one member of the clan is to be found in the hospital.

Photos: Wallace Kirkland—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

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