Show your Davis built bicycles

[hoofhearted]

CHITOWN (Chris) ... in light of these newly-revealed factoids, this news does not suprize me at all !! Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum in
Gatlinburg, Tenn, (sometime in the mid-seventies) had a Bible, hand-printed in what is believed to be an archaiac form of what many would
call the Celtic language. Now get this ... this book, the pages of which are now forensically-proven to be made out of a mixture of haggis,
mead, licorice root and rice flour ... has a new book .. that is not contained in contemporary Bibles ... The Book of Eefooviums !!!

The Book of Eefooviums reveals that God has a last name ... a last name He handed down to Adam (and therefore, Eve) ... The Name Is MEAD !!

The name, Mead, has been found to be associated with everything under the Sun .. and a few shady items ... like those Moving Rocks in
Death Valley National Park.

And so, gentle reader ... the Mead association with ALL THINGS ... is something this writer is just gonna have to learn to live with ... especially
since i have witnessed a filmed-reading of this Archaic-Celtic Book ... the film shows many, randomly-chosen readers, reading from the
Book of Eefooviums ... and when they do ... their voices sound remarkably like Sean Connery.

 

[chitown]

Founder of Pragmatism

"the individual mind can exist only in relation to other minds with shared meanings" (George Herbert Mead).

Then I'm sure you're familiar with James Mead's other cousin George Herbert Mead. An American philosopher, sociologist and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. He is regarded as one of the founders of social psychology and the American sociological tradition in general.

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

Patrick, I've been doing way too much research into this Mead connection and in that time I've come to believe Mead wasn't building their own frames for much of the teens. James Mead did start a separate company called Mead Manufacturing in the teens, but I'm having some trouble nailing down the dates and scope of that endeavor. I'm also open to the idea that Mead bought frames from Davis Sewing at some point. The question I want to know is when... where and from who etc. The Harley trail has been leading me to Excelsior Cycle Co as being more suspect than Mead as a manufacturer of the teen Harley's and Sears Motobikes. Another suspect is M&G Manufacturing co formed in Chicago by A. J. Musselman and D. W. Gould ** (Lyman Gould's brother). In 1910 they were formed to manufacturer and supply bicycle and motorcycle/auto parts (basically a supply house) Perfect timing because Excelsior was having the sale of the century having to liquidate all their overstock and materials in 1910-11.

** D. W. Gould was previously in Chicago Sales Office of the Davis Sewing Machine Co and before that he was a purchasing agent for Sears Roebuck & Co.

 

[hoofhearted]

CHITOWN (Chris) ... i realize that doing research in the antique-bicycle arena is very important to you. And rightly so. Too many
of us collectors refrain from doing any research about the historic-nature of the prize .. choosing instead to focus on the cash value
of the bicycle ... what to buy and the realized profit from a sale. This hobby has room for collectors of all-imagined motivations.

BUT KNOW THIS, CHRIS ... the real joy of the bicycle to me is the steel .. the stampings .. the castings .. the drop forgings ... the manner and
design of how the tubes are not only arranged ... but how those tubes are attached to one another. Because of where i live, i have been privy to
get my peepers on Davis .. Sear's .. Harley-Davidson .. and hardware-store, privately-badged Davis-Built rides. I study these marques to the
point my behavior may be considered sinful in some regions of our country. I also answer my fone, when i can. Since maybe 1990 .. have
taken two to three fone calls a week ... many of the calls are for clarification and information within the Davis-Bicycle arena. The questions
posed to me may range from, "What does the dropstand on a 1913 Master look like ??" ... "Should my bicycle sport the 3-edge or the 4-edge
pierced dropstand earset ??" ... What does that late 1922 Davis dropstand look like ??" ... "When was the last year Davis built a tall-frame
Harley-Davidson??" .. "Can I build me a Harley-Davidson Bicycle using a Dayton frame and fork ??" These are the good calls.

THE BAD AND THE UGLY ... "I just got me an old Dayton bicycle ... it says "SCHNELL" on the front plaque ... did they have candy-apple
paint in the twenties ??" .. "How can I tell a Schwinn Autocycle from a Mumford and Sons Auto-Byke .. with wood wheels, from St. Louis ??"
... "I just bought an Elgin ... how can I tell if it is a Dayton .. a Schwinn ... or one of those aluminum bikes ??" ... "No, really ... I can't send
you a picture .. but what do you realy think of my green, Black Phantom ??"

ANYHOW, CHRIS ... keep up the good research work that you do .... at this point in my life .. i am out of horsepower to contine debating whether
or not Davis bicycles .. Sears's teen's bicycles .. H-D bicycles .. or private-label, hardware store, Davis bicycles were made by Davis or by Mead.

WITH MY HEARTFELT RESPECT for your documentation and literature ... all future reveals from this writer will focus on Davis Built Bicycles ...
primarily, real-steel artifacts .. and a wee bit of literature.

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

 

[wspeid]

Model A 172 Dayton motor bike

Anyone know what the A denotes in this serial stamping? Based on reading here mine looks like a 1919 model with some of the optional black coloration... pictures to follow shortly

 

[hoofhearted]

wspeid ... show us pics of your bicycle when you can ........ please !!!

Thanks ....... patric cafaro

 

[sam]

did they have candy-apple
paint in the twenties ??" ..

Even better---Plastic Paints.

I once has an old Mead Crusader frame---smallish screw in BB cups(one piece or two piece crank type) and all the tubing had been rolled from flat sheets and the seems were brazed---the frame was lighter than other mead frames I had--ornate badge lead me to beleave it was teens or older.

 

[wspeid]

For Hoofhearted

I posted pictures in an album here... I've since fixed the kick stand being on backwards.

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/album.php?albumid=1285

 

[hoofhearted]

A Very-Complete 1917 And Later Dayton Motorbike

wspeid ... thank you for posting those many pics of your Dayton motorbike. Was hoping a vision of the bicycle
would surrender a wee bit of insight as to the meaning of that letter "A" and other "extra numbers" on the bottom
of the crank hanger, but i find myself still fogged by the presentation. Your pictoral-documentation of "Dayton-Only"
traits ... the fork .. the frame architecture .. tube joins .. badge and chainring will serve well as models of reference
for years to come. One frame-trait that is found on 1917 and later Dayton bicycles (and some Yale bicycles) is the
"pinching-in" on the seat stays, just above the fender bridge. Sorry i could not be more helpful with the meaning
of the letter/number configuration.

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

 

[facair55]

Can anyone help with identifying bike

All I know so far is that the chainring is not original for this bike. Missing head badge, and that the rear fender is off a gir's bike. I'm guessing 1920's.

Thanks for any help
Rodger Armbrust

 

[hoofhearted]

MY DEAR facair55 ... do not cry .. do not weep .. do not mourn ...... while your bicycle is not a Davis-Built .. it does
have many good parts attached to it ... tiller bars .. those pedals .. clean chain .. a non-Davis, non-bayonet crank ..
that saddle .. a very-stout Davis-Dayton chainring .. those wheels .. tiller bars .. half-inch dropside girl's fender in rear
.. interesting fender in front .. a fork that many collectors may be able to identify, but i cannot .. and don't forget those
tiller bars !!! Let's take this message to a more-positive view ... the very land that this mystery ride is standing on may
be owned by you .. and you either paid cash .. or, owe less than fifty percent on the mortgage. This is still a good day !!
However, if you are renting, like many folks .. you may want to deep-six some, if not, all of this entire message.

TILLER BARS .. that's a good thing !!

......... patric cafaro