Anyone ever figure out who sold the Schwinn "Mission" Bicycle?

[gkeep]

I was having a discussion with another Cabe member about this badge, and the possibility of its likeness to the Mission Inn, and Mt.San Antonio in the background. Here are a few comparison pictures to ponder.

View attachment 1771280
Bell tower on the Mission Inn, Riverside, California.
View attachment 1771281
Mt. San Antonio as seen from the Mission Inn.
View attachment 1771282
AS&Co. badge.
View attachment 1771283
Similar font style to what’s depicted on the badge.
View attachment 1771284
An early street scene from around the Mission Inn.
Nothing definitive, but it’s fun to imagine.

The font match between the sign and the headbadge is really telling. Maybe there is some documentation that would mention the Miision in pruchasing or renting bikes to guests? Maybe a stolen Mission badged bike?? This time period 1900-1920s, there was quite a craze about the Mission era, popular books, songs, movies and of course lots of Mission Revival architecture. Even the US Army built Mission Revival buildings, including buildings built for the US Military Disciplinary Barracks at Alcatraces, now of course well known as Alcatraz. (My wife and I both worked on Alcatraz as a ranger for 2 years in the early 1980s)

Wonderful photo! Looking at the license plates on the cars this has to have been taken in 1914 or 1915. What a great variety of bike frames, the double bar in the front! I wonder if these were bike messenger or delivery boy bikes? Check out the bike leaning against the palm tree with the handlbars reversed!

The type of license plates on the two cars nail the date of this photo to 1914 or 1915. Those were the only two years the porcelain plates had Cal on the left side and the date vertically on the right. You had to get a new plate each year until 1916 when they started issuing a metal tag to put on the plate for the year like the modern stickers. If this was taken after 1915 they would have the new plate design. I own a 1914 Cal License Plate.

From Wikipedia:

1914 to 1962​

In 1956, the United States, Canada, and Mexico came to an agreement with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Automobile Manufacturers Association and the National Safety Council that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles (except those for motorcycles) at 6 inches (15 cm) in height by 12 inches (30 cm) in width, with standardized mounting holes.[7] The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first California license plate that complied with these standards.

Image	Dates issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1914	white on red porcelain	123456	1 to 122375[8]	Replaced all 1905–13 plates.
	1915	black on yellow porcelain	123456	1 to 163557[9]	Brass Seal: Hexagon
	1916	blue on white porcelain	123456	1 to 234317[10]	Validation tab: 1916 Bear (Front) 1916 Bear (Rear)
1917	234318[11] to 357299[12]	Registered owners of plate numbers 1 to 234317 only received the Poppy tabs to place on their 1916 plates. Validation tab: Poppy
1918	357300[13] to 485000[14]	Registered owners of plate numbers 1 to 357299 only received the Bell tabs to place on their 1916 plates. Validation tab: Bell
1919	485001[15] to 599705[16]	Registered owners of plate numbers 1 to 485000 only received the Star tabs to place on their 1916 plates. Validation tab: Star
	1920	white on black	123-456	1 to 527-583
	1921	black on yellow	123-456	1 to 651-640[17]
	1922	blue on white	123456	1 to 2000; 70001 to 881909[18]

 

[cyclingday]

I took this picture today (1/20/23) from about 40 miles northwest of Riverside, California.
So, it’s a bit of a different vantage point from where the Mission Inn, is located.

But, I just thought it would be good, to show what Mt. San Antonio looks like with its cap of snow.

 

[cyclingday]

 

[cyclingday]

It was a nice day out yesterday, so I took a drive out to the Mission Inn, in Riverside, California.
I was able to meet up with a historian from their preservation foundation, and we had a good conversation.
He seemed to be very interested in what I showed him, and about the possibility of the hotel commissioning a fleet of bicycles for guests to ride.
He said that the hotel was very popular with wealthy guests from the colder climates, and that some would make extended stays for a few months or more.
Similar to the Snowbirds of today, but with a fatter bank account.
So, he didn’t think it was out of the realm of possibilities that some captains of industry, like Ignaz or Frank Schwinn came here from Chicago to stay, while drumming up business for the bicycle company back home.

I took a look around, at the surrounding mountain peaks in the area, and realized that from that vantage point none of them are clearly visable looking in the direction that is depicted on the badge.
I also realized that Mt. San Antonio is obscured from view by Ontario Peak from that angle.
The mountain that most resembles the image on the badge, is Mt. San Gorgonio.
It’s profile is very similar, but the only problem, is that it’s at your back when your looking at the bell tower.
So let’s just say, that some creative license was taken and that the image on the badge, was inspired by the many snow capped peaks in the surrounding mountains.

The historian at the museum, did say, that the bell tower was inspired by the bell tower at the Carmel Mission on the central coast of California.
He also said, that it was very likely that the hotel did have a fleet of bicycles for guests, as they had horses and touring cars that they used for excursions in the area.
With the popularity of cycling back then, it seems likely, that bicycles were available.
One thing he said that makes sense, is that if they had commissioned a fleet of bicycles for the hotel, he thought they would’ve have used their company logo, The “Rain Cross.”
It was synonymous with the Mission Inn.
I tend to agree with that.
Here is an example of the logo;

This image became so iconic with the area, that the City of Riverside has now adopted it, and you see it just about everywhere you go, when you’re in town.
But, who knows, when decisions like that are made.
I just think the badge design was meant to evoke a feeling of Old California, which it most definitely does.

The historian had said, that the hotel has been bought and sold a few times throughout its history, and unfortunately a lot of the furnishings had been discarded.
He said the place had originally been full of Stickley furniture, and that it had all been tossed when the first new owners took over.
He thought, that if they did have a fleet of bicycles back in the day, then, that was probably when they were sold or discarded.
So, nothing definitive, but it sure made for a nice day, while searching for the soul behind the badge.

 

[cyclingday]

Here’s a recent find, out of Minnesota.

Photo’s courtesy of; @GoodJunk

 

[GTs58]

Quite a few years ago I was doing some research on old buildings in the Phoenix Metro area. Like Wrigley's mansion and his other digs along with Frank Lloyd Wright's work. Now I can't remember which one it was but most like Wrigley where Ignaz Schwinn and his wife were pictured at some special celebration ceremony in Phoenix during the early 40's. Ignaz did have some wealthy friends and he did get out and about, so I thought that maybe he could have been a snowbird at the Mission and then had that badge made.

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Let me toss my hat into this subject.

My take is that the MIssion Inn, as cool as it is today, as popular as it was in the old days, would never have been able to purchase enough bikes to justify Schwinn to tool up and press out a custom badge. This is a nicely done name plate, not a cheap sticker or water transfer.

I agree the artist likely used the Inn, the mountain, the bear, etc, to build a story when designing the artwork.

Until the 1950's Schwinn did not have much of a marketing program. Ray Burch (a former Whizzer employee) set up a Schwinn dealer network and developed Schwinn's Franchise Program, which later changed into an Authorized dealer program in the 1960's. In the early days they needed to keep production high, and costs low they needed to build lots of bikes. One way was to privet label brands. Bicycle dealers used to be located really close together. When Woody Woodward the Harry Wilson Sales agency salesmen that covered Phoenix, AZ came into to town on a train from Los Angeles, then each dealer dropped him off at the next call. He did not even rent a car. The dealerships were no more than a mile or two apart. Dealers would sell the same bike with a different name plate to avoid price comparison. It's still done today in appliances, automobiles/trucks, etc. Just a thought.

I have no idea for certain which of Schwinn's sales agency's sold the mission label. But keep in mind they had a lot of independent sales companies in the nation, there was two "just in California".

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Quite a few years ago I was doing some research on old buildings in the Phoenix Metro area. Like Wrigley's mansion and his other digs along with Frank Lloyd Wright's work. Now I can't remember which one it was but most like Wrigley where Ignaz Schwinn and his wife were pictured at some special celebration ceremony in Phoenix during the early 40's. Ignaz did have some wealthy friends and he did get out and about, so I thought that maybe he could have been a snowbird at the Mission and then had that badge made.

The Schwinn Family had a lot of history in Arizona. After being diagnosed with tuberculous (1930's ?) Frank Schwinn as a young man lived in Arizona for several years to get better. Ignaz "Brownie" Schwinn II spent the winters in Arizona playing golf and the summers on his ranch in Montana. For those that don't know, Brownie had only "one arm" and he made a lot of bar money gambling on the golf course. He was a really great golfer. He would have fit right in with the Wrigley's as they are both Chicago Old Money Families.

Brownie Schwinn's sister, Betty Dembeci lived in Payson, AZ for years.

It's fun speculating about the history of the Mission label. Everyone that was around during the time is no longer here.

John

 

[mrg]

Considering Schwinn made ( or had made ) hundred's of different badges for even a small Mom & Pop's Hardware and even Small dealers making up their own and instaling them after receiving their bikes ( like Hank & Franks and Mohowald ) I don't think it would be a big deal to have a limited run of badges.

 

[kevin x]

I think that if the Mission Inn commissioned or was gifted bikes, the badge would say "Mission Inn" the original owners were very keen on hotel promotion.
The "Mission And Co." text makes me think there was a hardware store, bike shop or other retail store in California and/or beyond that sold the bikes.