The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 20, No 23
Articles in this issue
- A Syracuse bicycle manufacturer withdrew its agency from a leading dry goods house after secret shoppers discovered that salespeople were systematically steering bicycle customers away from the local brand toward the store's own cheaper house special.
- An exporter correspondent argued that American manufacturers could save hundreds of dollars in annual cable costs if the industry adopted a uniform cable code covering bicycle specifications, as existing commercial codes lacked bicycle-specific terminology.
- A Cincinnati bicycle auction by Ezekiel and Bernheim Co. attracted little interest and sold few machines, suggesting that the era of bicycle auction sales was drawing to a close in that city.
- Chicago manufacturers and dealers welcomed the brief wartime lull in orders as an opportunity to catch up on backlogged production, and expected the delayed buying season to extend demand well into the fall.
- Trade correspondents from multiple cities reported that the Spanish-American War had caused only a minor and likely temporary slowdown in bicycle sales, with the South showing the most hesitation and export business considered safe.
- Tommy Ryan pivots from cycling to wartime contracting, manufacturing chain-guards and shell components for the military effort.
- Smaller bicycle manufacturers found themselves particularly squeezed by the combination of war-related uncertainty and heavy competition from larger, better-capitalized rivals who had stocked up in anticipation of a strong season.
- Compilation of reported dealer cases where ignorance of product specifications and poor sales technique caused lost sales, arguing that a dealer who cannot accurately describe the goods he handles destroys customer confidence.
- A Toledo conference between Lozier Mfg. Co. representatives, organized labor, and AFL president Samuel Gompers settled the months-long boycott of Lozier bicycles, with the company agreeing to cease employing women and girls in their factories within sixty days.
- Masthead editorial arguing that the Spanish-American War is producing no genuine commercial alarm in the country's interior and that American bicycle business men have continued transacting work with complete equanimity since hostilities opened.
- The National Board of Trade of Cycle Manufacturers reviews local dealer boards in Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, and other cities, reporting exchange allowances for 1896-97 models, installment payment rules, and repair scale agreements across sixteen cities.
- A vigorous consular report examines the growing export prospects for American bicycles in Far Eastern markets, with analysis of local preferences and the challenges of reaching buyers in distant territories.
- A large bicycle factory's extended trial of immersion brazing for bicycle frame joints finds that anti-flux application proved impractical, head lugs could be dipped simultaneously to save time, and post-dipping filing requirements came close to equalizing any gains over conventional flame brazing.
- Extended report of an impromptu Hy Grade Club meeting discussing how systematic habits, prompt decision-making, economical use of time and materials, and ambidextrous training of operatives mark the difference between profitable and unprofitable manufacturing.
- Practical guide for dealers and repairmen on road-side tire repair methods when vulcanizing is unavailable, covering cold-applied cement patching for thread-construction tires and the relative merits of different patch materials.
- Summary of newly issued bicycle patents: an expanding eccentric for automatic chain adjustment, an automatic rear-hub band brake triggered by back-pedalling, two new self-rocking toe-clip designs, and a decorative convex tire-tread design.
- A continuing series on the technical and commercial challenges of the motor-cycle, covering the abolition of the constant-companion oil can through improved gasoline engine design.
- English Cyclist's account of Herbert Tanner's footrest-operated rim brake allowing safe coasting down steep gradients, followed by commentary on why the brake works better on wood rims, and a note on an electrolytic process for making tarnish-proof concave reflectors.
- New product notices for bicycle retailers: a specially designed multi-compartment floor-standing cabinet from Hamilton Mfg. Co. with bins, drawers, and door-studs for hanging parts, plus notes on the Light Cycle Co.'s options policy and a Frost Gear Case installation guide.
- Brief note urging cycle manufacturers to build tandems to heavier structural standards to match the actual loads they carry, followed by trade notes on the St. Louis Aluminum Casting Co.'s new deal with Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works.
- Weekly racing and sporting digest covering the departure of National Guardsmen from Chicago for war service, probable postponement of the Chicago Decoration Day Road Race, Tom Cooper's open challenge to race any American, and Jimmy Michael's contract list before his manager added three more $2,500 races.
- Chicago correspondent reports the completed national Century Road Club of America ballot: William Krietenstein president, with competitive races for first vice-president and secretary — the first time the secretaryship has left Chicago since the club's founding.
- Professional racing cyclist Jimmy Michael signed a new racing contract, with details of the agreement reported as a note of interest to the sporting and trade press.
- New York dispatch reporting that Dave Shafer signed Jimmy Michael for three additional $2,500 guaranteed races, making nine races totalling $22,500 — described as the largest deal in the history of professional cycling — and announces the formal alliance between the A.C.R.A. and the National Cycle Track Association.
- New York dispatch reporting that Senator Morgan's International Track Association will be formally organized at the Astor House, with eleven tracks already signed including Ambrose Park, Woodside Park, Waltham, and tracks in Baltimore, Washington, Providence, Toronto, Montreal, Cincinnati, Denver, and Omaha.
- Detroit dispatch reporting that Tom Cooper's trainer Mother Webb has issued an open challenge for Cooper to race any man in the world for three one-mile heats with a two-minute time limit on each heat, with all stake money to the winner.
- Washington dispatch reporting that a company has incorporated to build a third-mile banked track at International Athletic Park on the Conduit Road, with Georgia pine flooring, seven-foot banking on turns to allow 1:30 pace, and expanded grandstand capacity.