Hollywood Goes Back on the Road
New for Christmas …
New for Christmas — The Liddle Kiddle Leslie Doll
Written Dec. 18, 2021
New for Christmas –
The Liddle Kiddle Leslie Doll — Comes with her own Schwinn Hollywood Bike.
That was the caption for the picture I sent to my sister Kim to show I had her childhood bike refurbished and ready to ride. The reference is to those Liddle Kiddle dolls we had in the 1960s. They always had great big hair and skinny little legs. And there I was with the big hair from the blustery wind and skinny little legs from the angle of the shot. Perfect.
Anyway, picking up my new bike for Christmas was pretty exciting, especially because it’s been hanging in my garage for more than 40 years, traveling from Iowa to Wyoming. Kim can’t remember the last time she rode it. Sometime in the 1970s, maybe. And neither of us can remember why I ended up with her bike, but think the explanation is simple – I am The Keeper of the Stuff and I’d probably crashed mine.
Yes, that’s my Liddle Kiddle doll. She’s on permanent display in my barrister bookcase with the rest of my childhood treasures.
I rode it pretty hard. I liked to go fast and was always trying new acrobatics (of course I was) like riding “no hands” as we’d always yell. (Which meant get the hell outta the way.) Or doing an arabesque standing on the seat or flipping around and riding backwards. That’s the one that probably did me in, along with the bike. What can I say? I was a dare devil.
‘No hands,’ as we’d always yell. (Which meant get the hell outta the way!’)
Over the years, though, that’s changed a bit. Well, just, a tad. I’ve given up the tricks, but still like goin’ fast. Daughter Jen, as a baby, remembers riding like the wind down the Elmhurst hill (my Fort Dodge friends will get that reference). I cringe thinking of it now. Me carrying my little baby girl in my front-pack and my little toddler boy Matthew in the child’s seat on back. And, none of us wearing helmets. Oh, my stars, am I glad we didn’t biff-out, speeding down that hill. What on earth was I thinking? I must have had so much confidence in my abilities the thought of crashing never entered my mind.
And, there’s my bicycle license plate in the same barrister bookcase, handed down to me from my grandmother. The book case, that is. Guess the plate will come off display now and take its proper place on my bike.
Ridiculous, I know. And believe me, even though I still have my moments of riding like the wind, I am more careful these days. That’s after having one too many times of tripping my wheel and landing in the dirt. So, that’s why I thought after all these years that old 1963 Hollywood might slow me down and be just my speed. I’d be like Angela Lansbury as the old sleuth Jessica Fletcher tooling around Cabot Cove.
Besides it was time to get the old girl back on the road. And, oh, is she pretty. Royal blue with shiny silver chrome trim. Why, she’s almost as pretty as a piece of jewelry. You see where my mind goes. I’m already thinking about accessories. Come to think of it, I’ve already got a wicker handlebar-basket (my little doggie seat), a blue helmet, and my Iowa license plate, No. 5130. All I’d need now is to bling them up a bit.
Yup. That’s it. That’ll work. It’s time to get out the old BeDazzler. Now, where’d I put that thing?
PS: And, “no,” just in case you’re wondering. She’s not getting it back. It’s mine, now! Kidding. It’s hers if she ever wants it back.