View attachment 1227492
Hello,
My name is Ryan and I am a local history enthusiast from Montpelier, Indiana. I am writing in the hopes that you might be able to help me track down a piece of Montpelier's past that has been lost. I realize that this is a longshot due to the massive number of bicycle collectors out there and the many, many private collections that no one has access to.....but, tracking down the history of my hometown has been a passion of mine for years and I thought it might be worth a shot.
The item is an antique bicycle display rack from the F.J. Schneider store of Montpelier, Indiana (I have attached a picture of the rack). The story goes like this: Schneider was harness maker from this town. He was a manufacturer of horse harnesses, a dealer in various horse items, buggies, road wagons, carriages, and farm wagons. And, bicycles. The display pictured is one that was discovered in the top story of a Main Street building probably 15-20 years ago. Unfortunately, the person who located the item was unaware of its local roots and sold it to another local guy, who then turned around and sold it to someone from Ohio. From what I've heard, this piece eventually ended up in a private collection of some big-time bicycle collector (possibly from the state of Ohio).
I've known about this for awhile but have never put much effort into tracking it down because I assumed it was lost forever. However, recently I was going through my photo albums, found this picture, and decided to try to track it down in the hopes of bringing it back home again.
If you have any information on this item or if you could potentially forward this to anyone who might be able to help, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for your time and any assistance you might be able to give!
Warm Regards,
Ryan