There’s a bumper sticker proclaiming: You’re never too old to have a happy childhood.

Robert Feliciano can vouch for that statement.The 57-year-old Walker Township man maintains a youthful fascination with his collection of vintage bicycles and is particularly enthralled by the design trends and innovations of examples from the 1940s to ’70s.“I like the desirable bikes,” he says.Those bikes, which also coincided with the days of his youth, reflected the dreams and desires of an ambitious baby boom generation.For instance, he owns a novelty Donald Duck bike. The horn quacks and the eyes light up.He also is proud of his 1952 Phantom, an early attempt at a theft-proof bicycle.“It was top of the line for Schwinn,” he says.“It has a locking fork so that people wouldn’t walk off with it. It also has a ball bearing that rolls backward and lights the rear light.”He proudly owns a Sears Screamer with butterfly handlebars and dual rear brakes. Adding to that line are his pristine, museum-quality examples of the famous Schwinn Krate series of 1968-73, with such names as Orange Krate, Cotton Picker, Manta-Ray and Lemon Peeler.They were the most expensive machines of the day and quite too often represented an elusive dream for many kids of that era, says Feliciano.“In the 1970s, kids wanted muscle cars,” he says.As a result, bikes were made with gears and stick shifts, rubber tires resembling those on a drag car, and even sprockets designed to look like Cragar mag wheels.It was a different time and bikes appealed to a child’s desires.A perfect example would be Feliciano’s favorite — the Rollfast Hopalong Cassidy bike.“The Hopalong” was essentially a horse on wheels. But for a kid of the 1950s, it also was the cat’s meow, the pinnacle of dreaming.The bike came in black with white with chrome trim. It featured a pair of built-in pistols with jeweled holsters, horsehair grained saddle, fringed rear carrier, “Hopalong Cassidy” medallions on the tank, chrome studs on the Rocket Ray light, chain guard and fenders and a head badge in the shape of an upside-down horseshoe.And guns. Yes, guns!The Hopalong featured shooting irons in the form of 50-shot repeater cap guns.“Kids back then were allowed to play with guns,” recalls Feliciano with a smile.“We watched Westerns but I didn’t become violent.”Today’s “PC” crowd likely would be horrified to know that the Hopalong also could be accessorized with a two-bladed trail knife, spurs and a trick rope.“Any youngster from 3 up can spin it like an expert,” claimed the ads. In actuality, the rope was a 12-inch cutout.Rollfast advertised the bike with the slogan “Make every youngster happy with a Hoppy.”Today, a restored Hopalong runs several thousand dollars.Even years ago, the Hoppy was too costly for many, says Feliciano, and that includes him. Like many others, he says he wasn’t in a financial position as a child to own the creme de la creme of bikes.“I grew up in Puerto Rico,” he says, “then we moved to Reading in 1969.”Feliciano, owner of a Tamaqua hair salon, has spent the past 20 years perfecting a childhood that eluded him.He says he caught the bike bug from his brother Felix and has embraced the pastime ever since. Fortunately, his wife agrees.It’s a great hobby,” says Vicki, the former Vicki Wagner of Wagner’s Dairy, Valley Road.“I’m proud of what he’s done. We go to shows together and I’ve learned a lot.”In fact, Feliciano loaned eight bikes to the AACA Museum for a show in Hershey in 2015.Feliciano also enjoys watching the expressions of wonder on grandchildren Gavin Shannon, 5, and Evan, 3, whenever they catch a glimpse of the bikes in his man cave.Invariably, the kids are dazzled by the shining chrome, sparkling spokes and whitewall tires. They ask questions. When that happens, the hobby becomes something special, something that can unite the family. Something that can be handed down.The unique beauty of vintage bikes gives Feliciano a sense of peace.“So this is where I come to relax,” he says, eyes gleaming like a boy at play.We must never lose touch with our inner child, and vintage bikes can make a child happy at any age.