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Ca. 1896 Schwinn "The World" Men's

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Jesse McCauley

McCauley Cycle Works
Exciting start to the week-
Monday night I got a message from a guy I sold an old project bike to locally about a old Schwinn on craigslist just inside the border of WV .
Two photos and a brief description of indeed an "Old Schwinn" -

I called with no semblance of poker-voice, I told him what I thought it was, how much I wanted to be the next steward, and asked him when/where.
His price was modest, he was kind enough to pull it down from CL immediately after only a couple hours of being listed.
I was happy to give him over asking and he was happy to see this bicycle go out into the collectors community.

So the backstory on the bike as I have it:
Owned last by a now deceased sign maker / motorcycle builder / antiques dealer / renaissance man in Martinsville, WV.
From the story I was told his collection was impressive.

Apparently a flood some decades ago claimed an outbuilding where this bicycle had lived for many years prior.
His neighbor and apprentice was cleaning up his yard and found it in a mud pit, he was told to toss it.
Instead he snuck it in a broke down box truck next door they used for runoff storage.

Flash forward 30 years:
The original owner has passed, his collection dispersed; The now veteran sign builder apprentice owns the properties his predecessor once owned and is in the process of selling all of it so he can take to the road in his oversized Mercedes van.

The CL photos are from inside the box truck that sheltered it from the elements for the last lifetime, still there when I went to pick it up.

Perhaps the dirtiest bicycle I've ever handled. Caked with flood mud, every exposed tube that could have been filled with mud was, fortunately just a couple areas.
Shown is a closeup of the block chain to get an impression of how this whole bike looked when I got it.

This machine sports a 24" seat tube - Serial No. 1016
Placeholder wheelset just to get it off the ground while I clean the the gear.
More pictures to follow as I get some work done on it, just going to clean in this stage.

Schwinn World2.jpg


Schwinn World1.jpg


Schwinn World cleaned with wheels.jpg


Schwinn World Serial.jpg


World Gear pre clean.jpg


World chain.jpg
 
The World serial number references:

From 1896 issues of The Referee:

World SN 2709 was stolen during the week ending June 16, 1896
World SN 1984 was stolen during the week ending July 14, 1896
World SN 1980 was stolen during the week ending October 27, 1896
World SN 2242 was stolen during the week ending October 27, 1896

From October 17, 1895 issue of The Bearings, Schwinn planned to build 6000 bicycles for 1896.
1338377
 
The World serial number references:

From 1896 issues of The Referee:

World SN 2709 was stolen during the week ending June 16, 1896
World SN 1984 was stolen during the week ending July 14, 1896
World SN 1980 was stolen during the week ending October 27, 1896
World SN 2242 was stolen during the week ending October 27, 1896

From October 17, 1895 issue of The Bearings, Schwinn planned to build 6000 bicycles for 1896.
View attachment 1338377
Yes, of course, I did not mean to imply that, this is, like, thee oldest, but at "Serial No. 1016" it is "Possibly" the oldest Model 2. Light Roadster known to still exist. ;)

schwinn-world-serial-jpg.jpg
 
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