My sister was lucky to borrow one from our Aunt Joy when we were about 13. It had belonged to our first cousin, Shirley. (We’d outgrown our 20 inch kids’ bikes and felt so grown up getting our three speeds in sixth grade. The only new bikes we ever received were our first ones, the tricycles pre-kindergarten.) Having used bikes didn’t bother us, but I would have preferred a girl’s bike considering my used 3 speed Schwinn was a boy’s bike, though I was happy to have it. Plus I enjoyed seeing Dad smile at having paid only $15 for it.

So I envied my sister’s acquisition of the Indian Princess. It was a girl’s bike. In 1976, my cousin decided to claim her Princess and took it home. Recently, I asked her about it, “Do you still have the Indian Princess Bicycle?” And she replied, “That, old thing! It’s long gone.”

I was crushed. How I wished I’d never answered the door the day she came and picked up the borrowed bike! For the last ten years I’ve been searching for an Indian Princess and this weekend after a long search I finally found my bicycle. I bought it used at a local flea market for $107.00. She wanted $125, but agreed to take the smaller amount since it was all the money I had.

Mine is not the elusive Indian Princess, but still I’m certain it is a Phillip’s bicycle and a twin to the Princess called “The Meteor”. It looks identical to the picture and is black with a white accented back fender. I consider it to be in perfect stored condition. So sometimes the things you desire come to you even though it may be a long time coming. And I plan on riding it!

If Skip is a true Indian Princess collector I have a bike he might be interested in purchasing. It is an all orininal Princess from the late 50′s and was purchased new by my aunt who is now 88. I have had it in my garage for the last 10 or so years. It is green with the tan seat..no rust and all the orininal decals and markings. Pass on the post and I will check back in the near future. My direct email is kellarocmd@aol.com

I recently found a mostly-dissolved Indian Princess bicycle in a creek on a project site I was working at in metro ATL. The only thing salvageable was the stamped logo plate on the head tube (like your 3rd photo above). It was pretty rusted, but the face and lettering are all there and we’ve removed the majority of the rust with vinegar and a tooth brush. Our restoration project is a bit smaller scale than the fellow who purchased the bike from you, but I’m hoping to polish it up and make a necklace out of this for my wife.

Not sure if you have any experience with restoring rusted metal, but if you have any tips that’d be great. The metal is pretty rough (matte) after the rust, so we need someway to polish it up.

Take care,

-Joel