The Pedal ClinicA Pawnee City couple's obsession with antique pedal-powered cars and tractors. Story and photographs by Steve and Bobbi Olson |
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THERE ARE SOME HAND-ME-DOWNS that
kids don’t gripe about. Bobbi and her younger siblings couldn’t
wait until their legs were long enough to reach the pedals of their older brother’s
silver-blue Kidallac pedal car.
Like any used car, it had its faults.
The working mechanism beneath the metal chassis was bent or rusty, so the car
got better speed with a sibling pushing at the rear. The turning radius was
decidedly wide. Reverse was Fred Flintstone style – use your feet or pick
it up and turn it around. Inevitably, bicycles took over as the preferred mode
of transportation, but they never had the distinctive style of that kid-sized
1950s coupe that disappeared long ago.
Bill and Elsie Sunneberg’s story
also begins with a missing pedal tractor. Their re-discovery of their children’s
long-lost toy led to their creation of the Pedal Clinic in Pawnee City, a nostalgic
retreat full of pedal toys of every shape and size.
Pawnee City, population 922, sits
in Nebraska’s southeast corner, about 40 miles southeast of Beatrice and
only eight miles from the Kansas border. A series of less-traveled, two-lane
highways took us through rolling hills covered with cornfields and pastures
defined by steep-banked creeks lined with thick stands of trees.
Approaching downtown, we could see
the Pawnee County Courthouse prominently on the town square. The Pedal Clinic
occupies a former church on Hwyy 50 a couple blocks off the business district.
We had no trouble finding it.
The museum is open by appointment
only, and the Sunnebergs were already inside when we pulled up at the prearranged
time. As we stepped into the foyer of the museum, our eyes hardly knew where
to look first. Rows of pedal cars and tractors on shelves lined the walls. Glass
display cabinets held smaller collectible and antique toys. Additional displays
of dolls and pedal toys filled the floor space.
From the smiles on the Sunnebergs’
faces, they were well acquainted with our looks of appreciation. We were gazing
into our childhood, and into American culture as well.
