I love that Varsity article on Sheldon's site, and the electroforge page with the little illustrations is also an excellent read there. The only addition I would suggest is a note that there was also a "Varsity" known also more fully as the "World Varsity" produced by Schwinn starting around 1952, and running for several years in the 1950s. The first "Varsity" was actually a 3 speed "lightweight" (light compared to a balloon tire cruiser) type bike akin to the Raleigh Sports, before the 10-speed "Varsity" that everyone is familiar with. Schwinn had been trying to popularize adult biking again in the US since the late 1930s (the article is correct that Schwinn persisted, yet never seemed to have a lot of success with this). I've always wanted a pristine, black, blue or dark green 3-speed Varsity from that 1950s series of bikes.
1952 Schwinn World Varsity - Dave's Vintage Bicycles