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Show your Davis built bicycles

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Not understanding. What wrenches or who's spokes?

It looks like, from this article, that this was all taking part around the time that the Davis Sewing machine company was about to be liquidated anyway. The Huffman's were getting into manufacturing bicycle components and industrial machine supplies around that time and separating themselves from the Davis Sewing Machine Company. This looks like nothing more than Excelsior buying some of the machinery from the Huffman's and getting a guarantee to be without competition from them for 5 years. I guess I don't understand how this is supposed to throw a wrench in anything? What am I missing here?
 
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It looks like, from this article, that this was all taking part around the time that the Davis Sewing machine company was about to be liquidated anyway. The Huffman's were getting into manufacturing bicycle components and industrial machine supplies around that time and separating themselves from the Davis Sewing Machine Company. This looks like nothing more than Excelsior buying some of the machinery from the Huffman's and getting a guarantee to be without competition from them for 5 years. I guess I don't understand how this is supposed to throw a wrench in anything? What am I missing here?

I guess because I've never seen any documentation of Davis Sewing liquidating equipment to Shelby. I thought this was all just shell games & Huffman Mfg formed to liquidate Davis. Why would he agree not to manufacture bicycles if he was only making certain parts. The competition would have been through Davis Sewing machine using your presumption, but they were already liquidated. Do you have anything showing how a Shelby made Davis?


Horace Huffman had worked in the business since 1900 and by 1922 he was in charge of liquidating the assets of The Davis Sewing Machine Company. He used the profits from the liquidation to form the Huffman Manufacturing Company. The Davis Sewing Machine Company had survived 30 years in the bike industry, but were finished by 1922.

In 1924 Horace Huffman was put in charge of liquidating the companies machinery . At this time, the company employed 1,800 workers. Huffman used the funds to create the Huffman Manufacturing Company.

The Davis Company was purchased by the National Sewing Machine Company. The remaining Davis bike inventory was sold through 1925

View attachment 664812
1924 New York Times
Huffman Mfg. liquidated bicycle parts and machinery 1924 era and Shelby Bicycles bought the majority of them. I have noticed over the years Shelby Bicycles with with Davis Dayton,Ohio parts and Davis Dayton,Ohio bicycle with Shelby parts. Remember these folks were in business to sell bicycles not for us collectors to see if original catalog spec. correct.

So much of that innovation was during 1880 through the 1920's. Much of it because of the bicycle.[/QUOTE]
 
I guess because I've never seen any documentation of Davis Sewing liquidating equipment to Shelby. I thought this was all just shell games & Huffman Mfg formed to liquidate Davis. Why would he agree not to manufacture bicycles if he was only making certain parts. The competition would have been through Davis Sewing machine using your presumption, but they were already liquidated. Do you have anything showing how a Shelby made Davis?


I thought Davis wasn't totally liquidated until 1924? No I do not have any documentation on a Shelby made Davis? But it is widely speculated that Shelby was one of the many companies that purchased part of Davis during its liquidation. So I've always been under the assumption that Davis's bicycle line was liquidated to several different companies. It's not uncommon at all when a company is liquidated that the company(s) that purchase them make stipulations or demands that keep the previous proprietary from entering back into competition with them for X amount of time. It wouldn't shock me if some of the new proprietors had stipulations to keep Huffman from building bikes for nearly a decade. Might be why the Huffman's didn't build a bike again until the mid 1930's. Could have also been the depression. I don't know. It would be interesting to find all of the company's that did jump onboard the Davis liquidation bandwagon. I've also wandered what parts the Huffman's were allowed to still manufacture? That's a very interesting article either way.
 
Ok boys and girls! This isn't making any sense to me at all now. I hope someone can explain this one!! @chitown post an article he found stating Excelsior buys out Huffman manufacturing in August 1922. I just found and article from July 1922 from motorcycle and bicycle illustrated talking about Huffman manufacturing incorporating the month before the article chitown posted. ????????

Here's page 8 and 9 from that magazine.

Screenshot_2019-01-07-21-44-24.png


Screenshot_2019-01-07-21-45-45.png
 
I think there might have been some stock fraud, sicilian mob style going on. One of those two stocks listed by HW Dubiske & Co did well while the other not so much. Huffman family got out just in time.


I think he may have been hanging out at 220 South State Street a lot.

View attachment 526717

When did Davis file for bankruptcy? Because in Chicago they were being pushed as an investment as late as March of 1922.

Looks like the DiGiorgio Fruit Corporation did well with it's investments (some based in Sicily)

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/di-giorgio-corp-history/

By 1929 the company had the largest fruit-packing plant in the nation. A branch railway line serving Arvin was built to provide shipping facilities for Di Giorgio and other fruit growers. The end of prohibition in 1933 enabled Di Giorgio Fruit to expand grape production, and it took a sizable equity position in California wineries, including its own Del Vista Wine Co.
 
A Special THANK YOU to @chitown and @Dayton Vintage Speed
for supplying valuable input and insight to this thread. Also Special
THANK YOU to
@Balloontyre for posting some Killermonjaro Fotos.
It's members like you who keep Forums like the CABE alive and kicking.


Here's the BIG PICTURE of what I have gathered from YOUR recent entries ...
Excelsior Manuf. Co. received the machinery and tooling to manufacture
bicycles, from the Davis Factory .. AND .. Shelby Manuf. Co. received the
bicycle and frame components and raw tubing and so on, from Davis.


More of your stuff with my two cents added ....

Screenshot_2019-01-07-22 DAVIS   tim robbins source.png






late 1922 davis badge.jpg


Post 1923 Shelby-Built Dayton 01  davis.jpg



shelby built davis  member CeeBee.jpg
 
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