bobcycles
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
At the time I acquired this catalog, I spent some considerable time and effort to determine
if in fact this was an 1895 Intro to the industry and earliest effort by Schwinn in printed form,
there was no date on the catalog anywhere to be found.
The research revealed no comps, no other copies known, and not even an image or facimile
of the catalog to be found anywhere. And when I reached out to auction houses like Sothebys
and Bonhams they used the terminology "unique item" in that no other issues were known at
this time.
Thanks to a Caber here with some friends in high places,
namely the Library of Congress, they confirmed a copy of an 1897 Catalog exists in their records,
which made a mention of '20 years practical bicycle experience', thus confirming the similar
statement made in my catalog only with "18 years of experience". My initial reaction when
viewing the catalog I obtained was, yep, this has to be 1895 and as early as possible since it was an
"Advance" copy, but confirmation was still in order. Just as I imagined it 5 years ago..
the pride of my collection focusing on Schwinn collecting/restoring etc for the last 45 years or so.
I would love to know if another copy exists? Anybody? or do I have the Magna Carta? 😙
if in fact this was an 1895 Intro to the industry and earliest effort by Schwinn in printed form,
there was no date on the catalog anywhere to be found.
The research revealed no comps, no other copies known, and not even an image or facimile
of the catalog to be found anywhere. And when I reached out to auction houses like Sothebys
and Bonhams they used the terminology "unique item" in that no other issues were known at
this time.
Thanks to a Caber here with some friends in high places,
namely the Library of Congress, they confirmed a copy of an 1897 Catalog exists in their records,
which made a mention of '20 years practical bicycle experience', thus confirming the similar
statement made in my catalog only with "18 years of experience". My initial reaction when
viewing the catalog I obtained was, yep, this has to be 1895 and as early as possible since it was an
"Advance" copy, but confirmation was still in order. Just as I imagined it 5 years ago..
the pride of my collection focusing on Schwinn collecting/restoring etc for the last 45 years or so.
I would love to know if another copy exists? Anybody? or do I have the Magna Carta? 😙
