Doodle Bug scooter

The Doodle Bug was a motor scooter built from 1946 to 1948[1] by the Beam Manufacturing Company[2] of Webster City, Iowa.[1] They were sold through the Gambles store chain to compete against Cushman scooters being sold under the Allstate brand by Sears.[2] Gambles sold the Doodle Bug under the "Hiawatha" name.[3]

Doodle Bugs were powered by 1½ hp engines from Briggs & Stratton or Clinton.[1][2] The Doodle Bug Standard Model B was the only Doodle Bug series powered by Clinton engines; one thousand or less of these were built, all during the first production run of ten thousand scooters. All other Doodle Bug scooters, including the Standard Model A that was produced alongside the Model B during the first production run, used variants of the Briggs & Stratton NP engine. Four production runs of ten thousand scooters each were built.[1]

An annual reunion of Doodle Bug owners and restorers is held in Webster City.[4][5]

References
  1. "Yesterday's Rides Metalworks, Inc. - Original Doodle Bug". Yesterday's Rides Metalworks, Inc. Newberg, Oregon, USA. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 2010-10-24. There were 40,000 Doodle Bugs manufactured from the spring of 1946 through the fall of 1948 by Beam Mfg. of Webster City, Iowa.
  2. Wilson, Hugo (1995). "The Directory of Motorcycles". The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 270. ISBN 0-7513-0206-6.
  3. "Briggs NP Antique Scooter Engine". Retrieved 2010-10-24. The Doodle Bug scooters were manufactured by the Beam Manufacturing Company of Webster City, Iowa from 1946-1948 and were sold by Gambles under the name "Hiawatha"
  4. Dar Danielson; Pat Powers (September 14, 2012). "Webster City celebrates Doodlebugs". Des Moines, Iowa, US: Radio Iowa. Retrieved 2012-10-09. It’s the 26th annual convention of people from across the U.S. who fix up and ride the Doodlebug brand of motor scooter.
  5. Jim Krajewski (September 14, 2012). "Annual Doodle Bug event returns to W.C." Messenger News. Fort Dodge, IA US. Retrieved 2012-10-09. The familiar sputtering of Doodle Bug scooters filled the air at The Executive Inn in Webster City as a caravan of riders pulled in to celebrate the 26th annual Doodle Bug reunion.
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