The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 23, No 101
Articles in this issue
- Long-awaited official policy statement from the American Bicycle Company confirming that all existing brand names will be retained, dealers may buy varied lines, and nine selling branch groups have been established with prices set at twenty-five to seventy-five dollars. The A.B.C. structure comprised five departments — legal, patent, manufacturing and purchasing, financial, and general sales — and the company announced plans to vigorously enforce over nine hundred patents including the Owen-Smith bottom bracket patent while offering licenses to outside makers. One large factory was set aside exclusively for automobile production. Export data showed bicycles were the single largest American manufactured export in 1897-98, while the public bond sale raised under four hundred thousand dollars with the underwriting syndicate carrying the remainder.
- Report of a rumor that the A.B.C. could not make payments to manufacturers on schedule, officially denied by the company, with confirmation that payments proceeded the following day.
- The American Bicycle Company had halted supply of bottom brackets from its factories to independent makers, responding only with 'waiting for instructions from New York' and refusing new orders while stopping shipments on existing contracts. Independent manufacturers took the move as a clear signal of forthcoming patent aggression, strengthening their resolve to support the Cycle Trades Protective Association, which identified multiple alternative suppliers including Crosby & Mayer, Standard Welding Co., Ferrite Steel Cycle Fittings Co., and several drop forging firms to ensure an abundant independent supply.
- Editorial praising the rapid growth of the Cycle Trades Protective Association, which had become enormously popular in a short time with the only complaint being that too few manufacturers were notified of the original Buffalo meeting. The committee was actively recruiting new members, finding widespread enthusiasm, and a larger follow-up meeting at Buffalo in November was expected to draw representatives from across the trade.
- Report on bicycle dealers' advertising practices and the value of carrying sideline goods in the fall and winter. Dealers spent an average of $1.25 per bicycle sold on advertising — roughly $250 to $500 annually each, totalling $1,500,000 across the trade — and the most successful kept their businesses and names before customers year-round by stocking related goods rather than going dormant after the cycling season.
- Connecticut dealers reported that while the bicycle season was not especially profitable due to close price-cutting among the seven firms controlling the Norwich market, late-season sales cleared most stock. One hardware firm was considering dropping bicycles as unprofitable, while the Plant-Cadden Company's R.C. Plant criticised manufacturers for expecting dealers to fit tires and supplies at current tight margins.
- Weekly trade round-up including plans for a cycle show in Minneapolis by the Flour City Cyclists' Association, the assignment of Hill & Lyster of Philadelphia with $1,893 available for creditors, a report that sixty Pittsburgh houses engaged in parts and repairs spent $300,000 a year, and the organisation of the Improvement Manufacturing Co. in New Jersey with $300,000 capital to make bicycles and sewing machines.
- Report from Philadelphia's National Export Exposition observing that the automobile exhibit was the only section not full to overflowing, partly due to exhibitors' inability to arrange space in time. The article covered motor vehicle demonstrations at the show and a doctor's account of finding an automobile carriage practical for professional calls.
- Club and racing news including Boston Mayor Quincy's acceptance of the chief consul nomination for the Massachusetts division of the L.A.W., to take effect December 1, noted as a valuable acquisition by the league.