Hiawatha or Western Flyer Doodle Bug Scooter ???

[W1046A]

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I recently rescued a vintage Doodle Bug scooter from my neighbors trash. It was buried in his garage for many years. He put it out with a bunch of miscellaneous scrap metal. It is far from complete, but I have the frame, fork, handlebars, front fender and floorboard. It appears to be solid and straight with no rot, only some minimal pitting here and there. It had been painted countless times which protected the metal. The headbadge and serial tag were painted as well. I carefully removed the outer layers of paint from both and what I found does not seem to make any sense. The headbadge is a Hiawatha chief badge, but the type is a W1046A (serial# 150745) which indicates Western Flyer. The rivets appear to be original. I'm confused - any ideas?

 

[70sVintageTrikes]

I had one but sold it . There are experts on these that should chime in, so stick around and be patient. ...

 

[Dick DeBuse]

Doodle Bug

The Beam Mfg name on the data plate indicates that it was sold thru a dealer other than Gambles or Western Auto. The serial number over 100,00 indicates that it was assembled and sold in the early 50s, well after the large production runs of the 40s, when they were assembled in batches of a dozen per order. Could have been they were using up old parts.

 

[W1046A]

Western Flyer or Hiawatha Doodle Bug ???

The Beam Mfg name on the data plate indicates that it was sold thru a dealer other than Gambles or Western Auto. The serial number over 100,00 indicates that it was assembled and sold in the early 50s, well after the large production runs of the 40s, when they were assembled in batches of a dozen per order. Could have been they were using up old parts.

I have a photo of another Western Flyer Model A Doodle Bug with a data tag similar to mine (Model: blank, Serial: 3398, Type: W1046A). My serial number is 150745. I'm thinking that the serial numbers are not necessarily sequential because I don't believe that they manufactured 150,000+ scooters. I wasn't aware that any were made in the 1950s. I'm thinking that maybe it was originally manufactured to be sold as a Western Flyer, and the headbadge was swapped out and sold as a Hiawatha instead.