# Miami - LATONIA



## bentwoody66 (Aug 30, 2014)

That message I sent via 37 fleetwood? I noticed it was sold!


----------



## hoofhearted (Aug 31, 2014)

*Got the message, Ken ..... Thanks ... and thanks to Scott (37fleetwood) !!!*

I appreciate the head's - up.  Some very fortunate soul is now the happy-owner of
a Miami - Latonia frame !!! 


...............  patric


=====================
=====================


----------



## barracuda (Aug 31, 2014)

I bought that frame. It seemed like a great deal, and that short, raked head tube and Covington provenance was irresistible. My family lived nearabouts there for generations. Now all I need is a correct fork, bottom bracket, cranks, sprocket, and a few other minor details, like maybe an idea of what the Latonia brand of bicycle was, how old the frame is, and even a picture of what the bike looked like. Any assistance would be surely appreciated.






There seems to be lots of information on Merkels and Racycles, but very little on this marque.


----------



## hoofhearted (Sep 1, 2014)

barracuda said:


> I bought that frame. It seemed like a great deal, and that short, raked head tube and Covington provenance was irresistible. My family lived nearabouts there for generations. Now all I need is a correct fork, bottom bracket, cranks, sprocket, and a few other minor details, like maybe an idea of what the Latonia brand of bicycle was, how old the frame is, and even a picture of what the bike looked like. Any assistance would be surely appreciated.
> 
> View attachment 167046
> 
> There seems to be lots of information on Merkels and Racycles, but very little on this marque.






*Good morning, barracuda.  I'll take a poke at your query.  Look .. what I share with you is pure thought.
Nothing more - nothing less.  

The Miami - Latonia parallels the Davis - Daytonia in that those names have a similarity of pronunciation.  

Ads for either marque can be seen listed with other marques representing their respective companies. 

This typer has never seen an ad for the Latonia or the Daytonia listed alone.

While it is very possible the Latonia is named with respect to the Latonia Racetrack in KY ... as Miami Cycle &
Manuf. Co. is geographically-positioned in Middletown, OH (just up the road from Latonia, KY) ... this typer has 
no proof or evidence to make that claim.

Do I personally think the Miami - Latonia is named for the Latonia Racetrack in KY ?*

Am typing in whisper-mode, now ... _Yes .. I do think there may be a connection._

*However, much more research on this topic is indicated.*


..............  patric cafaro


===========================
===========================


----------



## sam (Sep 1, 2014)

This is the place to do your digging:
http://hjc.com/about.html


----------



## barracuda (Sep 1, 2014)

sam said:


> This is the place to do your digging:
> http://hjc.com/about.html




I don't believe this is a Boren bicycle. The badge pretty clearly states that it is a Middletown OH, Miami Latonia:





I think the use of the name "Latonia" by these two cycle companies is similar to the use of the "Daytona" name by car makers such as Dodge and Shelby: they are appropriating the public name of a well known race track to associate their product with the history, allure and excitement of that track.


----------



## hoofhearted (Sep 1, 2014)

barracuda said:


> I don't believe this is a Boren bicycle. The badge pretty clearly states that it is a Middletown OH, Miami Latonia:
> 
> View attachment 167069
> 
> I think the use of the name "Latonia" by these two cycle companies is similar to the use of the "Daytona" name by car makers such as Dodge and Shelby: they are appropriating the public name of a well known race track to associate their product with the history, allure and excitement of that track.






*I Agree with your thoughts - barracuda.*


...................  patric


============================
============================


----------



## barracuda (Sep 1, 2014)

I suspect there is a Boren connection to this bicycle, though not through the Boren Company per se. 







Edgar Boren was a bicycle racer in and around Dallas, and rode to much acclaim and local records in the early '90s on a Stearns Yellow Flyer, or Yellow Fellow.





Boren started his own bicycle shop in Dallas, and went on to work for Simmons Hardware in about 1900. At some point - not sure when yet - he went to work for Miami Cycle Company, eventually becoming a vice president, evidently _on the strength of his sales abilities._





The above copy is from 1922, and you can see that the Latonia name is no longer being used by Miami.

Now I'm gonna spitball.

As a vice-president of Miami Cycle Company, Edgar Boren _may have_ had great input into the design and marketing of the marques under their banner. If he did, then he _may have_ had some responsibility in the naming of the Latonia marque. And when he began badging "Boren" bicycles in the early 1930's, he may have revived the Latonia name for his Schwinn- and other- built bicycles. Maybe.

Boren died in 1935.

Questions would be - were bicycles ever raced at Latonia? Were they raced there during Boren's formative period as a racer? And - most importantly for me - *WHAT DID THE DARN BIKE'S FORK LOOK LIKE?*

Sorry about that outburst. More to come.


----------



## Larmo63 (Sep 1, 2014)

When and WHY did Miami go kaput? I've never gotten a clear answer to this question.

I know they sold to Westfield, but why? Weird.


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Larmo, I think I can give you a partial answer to that question. To begin with, you have to remember that Miami was making more than bicycles and motorcycles. For instance, they also manufactured bathroom cabinets:





"Miami Pure White Cabinets" catalogue here.





So after 1917, they quit production of the Merkel motorcycle line as a result of the war and increased competition from the automotive industry. But by 1921 they were heavily capitalizing the company by issuing shares.


1921:






Obviously, someone in the upper management had overestimated the ability of the company to live up to the promise of 2.5 million in outstanding debt, and in 1923 the debt was called by the largest holder of these shares, The Empire Trust Company of New York (eventually the Bank of New York).

1923:





After the company went into receivership, its various parts were sold off: the cycling interest to Westfield, the cabinet company spun off to someone else, etc. 

In other words, it would seem a case of poor management or deliberate asset stripping by the board, as they overcapitalized a company that was already seeing decreased sales as seen by the loss of the motorcycle business. I suspect malfeasance, myself.


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

If I were to be more charitable to the members of the Miami board, I might presume that they simply were attempting to meet payroll and other expenses for a rather large concern of some 10,000 employees, while blinded to the facts as we now know them - that bicycles were, in the early 1920s, in the process of of transitioning from a legitimate form of adult transportation to the realm of a children's toy, and that their attempts to expand into other markets which fit the capacities of their existing plant were going to be limited.I think you'd have to be privy to their later annual reports to be sure. But this being the Roaring 20s, I am inclined to view this matter as a failed stock play.


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Losing money hand over fist, year-to-year 1920-21:






From here.


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

March 7, 1922, the Cincinnati Enquirer:





So according to the company president, J.W. Ash, the stock issuance was made to address liability problems, and the Empire Trust Company saw this moment as an opportunity to cash out their shares. No faith.


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Sued left and right. Hamilton Evening Journal, August 1923:


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Aha! Here we go! Matthews Department Store, Matthews Corner, Brooklyn, NY, advertisement in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 1915:


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Belle Plaine News, Belle Plaine, Kansas, June of 1898:


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 1915:


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Anybody recognize that crank and sprocket?


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

The sell-off, August 29, 1923:


----------



## hoofhearted (Sep 2, 2014)

barracuda said:


> Anybody recognize that crank and sprocket?





*barracuda ... first ... you have done a remarkable job of researching 
much, superb information regarding the Miami-Built Latonia.

Thank You for presenting it here on The CABE.  There are not many of us 
who have been fortunate to peep these ads, until now (myself included).

Now ... the Fork .. Crank and Sprocket ........* .... Go To The Illustrations, Below.

Good Form - barracuda !!!

...........  patric cafaro

*post script .... every Latonia I've ever seen (maybe 5 or 6 ) has had a 1-inch pitch, 24-T .. or .. 26-T chainring.*










 *^^^ Possibly Showing Miami-Built Sweetheart Sprocket ^^^*
For Spacing Purposes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>











*^^^ Possibly Used This Crank Assembly In The Latonia Bicycle
For Spacing Purposes>>( In Ad From ''Matthews Dept. Store'' )  ^^^*
For Spacing Purposes


=======================================================
=======================================================


----------



## bentwoody66 (Sep 2, 2014)

This has turned into one of the most informative and interesting blogs on this site. The cabe is back!


----------



## hoofhearted (Sep 2, 2014)

*Hey Patric hope you got "it"*



> Quote From ... bentwoody66 ..... That message I sent via 37 fleetwood? I noticed it was sold!





*Well .. You Started It, KEN !!!*

.......... patric



=============
=============


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Thank you, Ken, and thanks Patric for pointing out the fork and sprocket clues, though it's a bit disheartening to think I'll have to be on the look out for a Merkel crank assembly! Sounds like a long journey ahead. I better re-read the Merkel thread looking for a similar oval-crowned fork.

Regarding the business problems of the Miami Cycle and Manufacturing Company - they were the subject of considerable litigation prior even to the dissolution of the firm. A sampling:

_Lester D. Pickett v Miami Cycle and Manufacturing Company_, a suit over a motorcycle lubricator which was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum in 1920.






_Miami Cycle and Manufacturing Company v Herbert Allen_, a patent infringement on a coaster brake design in 1918.





The Coaster Brake Trust violation of the Sherman Law, 1913.





And my personal favorite, a copyright infringement suit brought by Scribner's Magazine over the apparently unauthorized use of the likenesses of well-known "STAGE BEAUTIES", in 1896.


----------



## barracuda (Sep 2, 2014)

Here's a shot of the lovely stage beauties, Ms. Marie Burroughs, and below, Ms. Pauline Hall, referenced in the above article, in the interests of those readers for whom no amount of Miami minutia can be too much.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Burroughs






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Hall


----------



## Wcben (Sep 7, 2014)

Thanks for the outstanding information!  There was at least one page on the Latonia in the Racycle catalog from 1904 as seen on Howie Cohens site;


----------



## barracuda (Sep 20, 2014)

Photos of the Latonia frame, looks like it may have been a red bike once:


----------



## fordsnake (Sep 20, 2014)

*Another rock to look under...*

I’ll have to dig into my files, but I recall reading somewhere Latonia was made by the  Bean - Chamberlin Mfg. Co of Hudson, Mass…the maker of Lenawee, Noxall and Hudson bikes, which eventually became Hudson Mfg. Co.  I do know Miami Cycles purchased the Hudson Mfg. Co., and all its badge assets including D&J; makers of the Racycle, Merkel and Hudson chain rings 

Ken, (bentwoody66) can I suggest you change the title of this thread to something more relevant to Latonia…just to help later when searching the CABE archives?


----------



## 37fleetwood (Sep 20, 2014)

I knew a girl named LaTonya once...


----------



## bentwoody66 (Sep 20, 2014)

I couldn't figure out how to change the title. If one of the moderators could change the title to Miami- Latonia frame I would appreciate it, thanks


----------



## hoofhearted (Oct 19, 2015)

*BOOM-Shacka-Lacka-Lacka .....*


----------



## Goldenindian (Oct 19, 2015)

Barracuda 

Nice frame! This thread is pretty awesome. POST MORE LATONIA PICTUREs HERE! Love the Miami Diamond frame look. All finished up they will have the sweet lines. Good luck with that one.


----------



## bentwoody66 (Dec 31, 2016)

Just curious if this frame ever became ridable? Any updates? For sale?


----------



## barracuda (Dec 31, 2016)

bentwoody66 said:


> Just curious if this frame ever became ridable? Any updates? For sale?




Bentwoody, since the inception of this thread, I have purchased this complete Latonia:







...and a Flying Merkel as well. And I have discovered, to no one's surprise, that finding parts for these Miami machines is... well, to put it mildly, a long-term endeavor, if you want to do it right. Which is fine, because I am a patient man, with far too many project bikes to get busy with. So the answer to your question is that the frame sits in my garage unfinished, basking in my intermittent admiration, and taking the occasional oil bath.


----------



## bentwoody66 (Dec 31, 2016)

Let me know if it ever comes up for sale, would love to own one someday. Have a fondness for Miami products living in the birthplace and all.


----------

