Just A Car Guy: The Wright brothers were running a bicycle shop (like most inventors of vehicles) in 1900, and here is what their bike sales booklet looked like! (thanks Steve!)

Tuesday, August 06, 2019

The Wright brothers were running a bicycle shop (like most inventors of vehicles) in 1900, and here is what their bike sales booklet looked like! (thanks Steve!)

The Van Cleves, ancestors of the Wrights, had been among Dayton's first settlers, arriving in 1796. Dayton was about to celebrate its centennial in 1896 and historical awareness was high – it was a good choice for a brand name. Later in the year, the Wrights introduced a second, less expensive model called the "St. Clair." Again, the name was drawn from local history; Arthur St. Clair had been the first president of the Northwest Territory, which later became Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

The Van Cleve was mostly hand made with a choice of handlebars, metal or wood rims, and single tube or double-tube pneumatic tires. It sold for $65 when introduced. The St. Clair was largely built up from high-quality parts that were available through many sources such as the Davis Sewing Machine Company of Dayton, OH (which later became the Huffy Corporation) and Pope Manufacturing of Boston, MA. It was priced at $42.50. During their peak years of production, between 1896 and 1900, the Wrights manufactured about 300 bicycles.