Pre '33 AS&CO Serial Number Project

[Archie Sturmer]

The Mead serial number examples that I have seen look to be those of the makers, Davis, Miami, Westfield, etc., as well as A&S. In the maker’s style and sequence.

We have seen some five-digits pre-1933 A&S serials, less than 100,000. The serial number closest to zero and the one closest to the 1-millionth would both be sometime in 1917?

Not sure how A&S might have batched work, or blocks of numbers, for different customers. In the pre-1933 timeframe, I would not expect any duplicate numbers.

 

[RustyHornet]

Let me dig up pics of my 1933 crank dated balloon tire frame as a reference. I recently discovered my frame is trashed and have hung it up in disappointment… Not sure what I’m going to do with it yet…

 

[RustyHornet]

500727 serial. 1933 crank date. Frame built for 26” wheels. Nothing else was original to the bike, so take it for what it is.

 

[dasberger]

@Archie Sturmer in reference to the bike below

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1923-schwinn-motobike-motorbike-1-500.199967/#post-1358001

@dave laidacker provided me with the correct serial number and some pics of the head tube. Story goes the original crank was damaged but was stamped '23. Given the serial I think the bike is indeed a 1923.

#257754

Here is the head tube with halo of badge outlined and hole spacing

Kind of reminds of this Schwinn built hawthorne @Xcelsior owns.

 

[dasberger]

Another one of mine... Electric Badged Moto. Haven't pulled the crank yet but It's my understanding its not dated.

Currently leaning '22/23. In the process of breaking it down so will double check the crank. The construction on this bike is different than most examples I have seen. It has a shorter head tube with down tube starting a t head tube. The others have down tube killing into the lower (straight) bar

#216730

 

[SKPC]

Here is a pre-33 moto frame found with no cranks and only headset cups and crank cups. 18-3/4" seatpost. 3-1/16th" badge spacing.

 

[Archie Sturmer]

Below is an earlier 2012 thread with pictures by @chitown about his 478,500 series A&S motorbike dated to 1931.

1931 Schwinn built | Antique Bicycles Pre-1933

Just picked up this Schwinn built Motobike with a beautiful Mesinger saddle. It was painted red with white stripe on the fender many years ago. I saw a little color underneath and put some citrus based paint remover on and found the oddest of color combinations. "AS 31" on the crank, so I'm...

thecabe.com

 

[Vicious Cycle]

Several times in this thread the "Patent date" is used as a reference. The Patent date is when an item was NOT made. It does put a floor on the date range (not made before then) but is not a good indication of year made. Patent dates are just that, the year a Patent was granted. The decal could be used for years afterwards.

 

[dasberger]

Several times in this thread the "Patent date" is used as a reference. The Patent date is when an item was NOT made. It does put a floor on the date range (not made before then) but is not a good indication of year made. Patent dates are just that, the year a Patent was granted. The decal could be used for years afterwards.

I think we are all in agreement the patent date does not indicate a date of manufacture. When that decal was referenced by @Archie Sturmer he said his example would have been manufactured later than the patent date.

It's still plausible to me that the Mead batched cycles had their own serial numbers. The tooling on the above referenced mead serial looks nothing like any of the other examples in the thread.

 

[Archie Sturmer]

When that decal was referenced by @Archie Sturmer he said his example would have been manufactured later than the patent date.

@dasberger has read correctly; and the patent date may indicate about when a bicycle was produced.

However, with the reproduction of decals, we might be especially careful when looking at those.

Bicycles with the decal listing the date of the A.D. Meiselbach patent 1,409,748 might not even possess that headset.