Davis-Rankin Building

Davis-Rankin Building, Arnold Schwinn & Co., Zimmerman Brush Company, Lake Street Lofts
Life Span: 1887-1888 Fire, rebuilt 1888-Present
Location: Northwest Corner Lake and Peoria Streets, 240-254 W. Lake Street, 900-912 W. Lake Street
Architect: Original architect unknown. Clarence L. Stiles (1888 rebuild), Stiles & Stone (1894 addition)

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1887
Davis & Rankin (Daniel J. Davis, and Thomas Rankin) dairy supplies 248 W. Lake

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1892
Davis & Rankin Building and Manufacturing Co. Daniel J. Davis, pres; James A. Woodbury, sec. dairy supplies 240 W. Lake

Chicago Tribune, May 1, 1886

Real Estate Transactions.
West Lake st. nw cor of Peoria, 75×100 ft., and 50×125 dated April 9 (E. V. and A. G. Throop to Davis & Rankin)…….. $15,500

Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1888

The hottest blaze the Fire Department has had to battle with for some time broke out at midnight in the Davis & Rankin Block, a five-story brick, 125×150 feet, located at the northwest corner of Lake and Peoria streets, and occupied half a dozen firms, the largest being Davis & Rankin, who deal in creamery supplies. In the building were also Zimmerman & Co., refrigerator manufacturers, Lane, Weaver & Co., oyster and fruit cans, the Gross Printing-Press Company, Lintholm, Picture-Frame Company, Chicago Egg-Condesing Company, and the Steele Key-Drive Chain Company.

It was just 12 o’clock when the watchman making his round of the building discovered the blaze, as he says, on the top floor. When he first saw it the fire had made considerable progress and was topo great to be put out by him. He hurried out and turned in an alarm at Halsted and Fulton streets. When the clatter of arriving engines awoke the people living in the neighborhood the upper two stories of the big block were ablaze from one end of the building to the other. The oils, butterine, and other highly inflammable materials stored in the building made the fire a furious one. No sooner had the engines arrived in response to the first alarm then a 4-11, calling out all the engines available, was turned in. In a few seconds a flood of water was being turned on the fire, but in a surprisingly short while the building became a total wreck.

The blazing building towered above a nest of closely huddled frame houses occupied mostly by workingmen. These little houses surrounded the big block, and every falling wall crashed a home. The fire was one of incidents, narrow escapes of firemen following each other in quick succession, and it was remarkable that no one was killed.

Marshall Murphy, with companies No. 17 and 34, made his way to the fourth floor as quickly as possible. Truck 2’s men were on the floor below. Suddenly there was a terrific explosion of hot air that knocked down every man on the fourth floor. All were badly bruised. They were:

Anderson and Kirkland were the most badly used up. All scrambled down the stairway and escaped. Most of them remained on duty, though it will be some days before they recover from the effects of the explosion.

Directly opposite the Lake street front of the building is the old Orpheus House, now occupied by a number of families, and half a dozen frame buildings. These houses felt the effects of the fire first. When the flames spread from the upper floors to the middle of the building the windows in the shanties opposite cracked and the pain melted off the walls. A few minutes later there was a flash throughout the lower portion of the block, and the entire building was a seething furnace. The flames poured out of the front of the building and surrounded the small buildings opposite.

Everything movable had been taken from these houses. When the buildings began to smoke the firemen turned their streams on them, and by the application of considerable water saved them.

The firemen turned their streams back on the fire just as a streak of oil-fed flame blazed through the front part of the building. The heat and wind were too powerful for the wall, and a moment later there was a loud shout from the immense crowd and a corner of the wall fell with a terrific crash. The members of Companies 21 and 17 had narrow escapes in getting away. The men stumbled, fell, and then turned about and pulled out comrades who had greater difficulty in extricating themselves from the hose and debris.

Lieut. Hannon and Truckmen Lacy and Seller of Company No. 40, who were working on No. 3’s ladder, had a stream in front of the building just before the wall fell. The heat was intense, but the men stood at the top of the ladder until a heavy sheet of flame scorched them, when they got down. A moment later the wall fell. The falling of the front wall was followed by a section of the west wall on a two-story frame at No. 248 West Lake street. This house and that at No. 250 were used by John Wagner and wife as a boarding-house. At No. 252 lived Mrs. Secor, a widow, and a family named Smith. All of these people got out long before the wall fell. The three buildings, which were owned by Allan C. Story, were destroyed by falling walls or burned.

On the Peoria street side of the burning building were the houses if James Thomas, No. 44 Peoria, and Mrs. Devinney, No. 46. The Thomas and Devinney families moved all their effects across the street. The Thomas house was separated from the burning block by a narrow alley, and was the first to suffer. The firemen made no effort to save it when it began to burn, for water could not be wasted. The entire neighborhood was alarmed, and for a time it was feared that the conflagration would spread for blocks. Myriads of sparks and flying embers set fire to buildings within two blocks of the Rankin Block, and lively work alone saved them. The immense blaze brought out thousands of people, and it required extra police officers from all the precincts to keep the crowd from getting too close to the firemen.

James O’Brien of Truck No. 8 was struck on the leg by a piece of iron pipe when one of the walls fell and was slightly injured.

The total loss will probably reach $300,000. Davis & Rankin owned the building,. which cost them $116,000 two years ago. The building had no interior walls, and therefore was the more readily burned. The owners had over $60,000 worth of stock, machinery, and fixtures, the whole of which, including the building, is insured for $90,000 by E. M. Teall & Co. Gross & Co. lose $50,000; insured for $25,000. The firm had ready to ship presses for the Denver Times, Mobile Register, and Chicago Arbeiter-Zeitung. The losses of the various other firms will bring the figures up to about $300,000.

No one seemed to know what started the fire. The watchman is sure it started on the top floor. A man passing by when the fire broke out says he saw the first blaze in the rear of the third story.

While driving Marshal Petrie’s buggy to the fire Joseph O’Malley was spilled into the street by the overturning of the vehicle at the corner of Milwaukee avenue and Peoria street, and was seriously injured.

Just after the fire started, when the sky was aglow with the reflection of the flames, it was reported that the immense factory of Frazer & Chalmers was burning. This report gained wide circulation, but proved to be unfounded.

Inland Architect, Volume 12, No. 2, September, 1888

Architect Clarence L. Stiles: For Davis & Rankin, six-story brick and stoneware-house, 201 by 142 feet, corner of Lake and Peoria streets; cost $125,000.

The Inter Ocean, February 22, 1891

Real Estate Transactions.
The following transfer has been recorded:
Lake street, northwest corner of Peoria street, south front, 200×100 feet; also Peoria street, 100 feet north of Lake street, east front, 50×125 feet, in rear of same; dated Jan. 1. L. Davis & Rankin to Davis & Rankin Building and Manufacturing Co., $350,000.

Chicago Tribune, February 18, 1894

Real Estate Notes.
The Davis & Rankin Building and Manufacturing company has transferred to the Lake Street Manufacturing Block company the property at the northwest corner of Lake and Peoria streets, 201×150 feet, at a valuation of $350,000. The immediate corner, 125×150 feet, is improved with a fine six-story manufacturing block, occupied by the Davis & Rankin company, and it is now the intention to improve the seventy-five feet of vacant ground to the west with a six-story building to correspond with the present structure at a cost of $100,000. The improvement will be made the coming season.

Chicago Tribune, March 18, 1894

Stiles & Stone have designed for the Lake Street Manufacturing Block, of which Messrs. Davis & Rankin are the principal owners, a six-story addition, to be built on the west side and adjacent to their present six-story business block at the northwest corner of Lake and Peoria streets. It will front approximately seventy-five feet with a depth of 145, and will have an L, fifty by fifty feet. It will be constructed of pressed brick and stone and conform in appearance to the present structure. The interior will be of mill construction and will be arranged for the use of light manufacturers. It will cost $80,000. Work will be commenced immediately.

Chicago Tribune, September 22, 1895

New Corporations
Arnold, Schwinn & Co., at Chicago; capital stock, $75,000; to manufacture bicycles; incorporators, Adolph Arnold, Ignaz Schwinn, W. J. O’Connell.

The Bearings, October 3, 1895

TO BICYCLE AGENTS.
I have purchased an interest in the large bicycle manufacturing concern of Arnold, Schwinn & Co., of Chicago, who are making the finest line of high-grades in the world.—E.C.Bode.

The firm is composed of the following gentlemen: A. Arnold, president, senior member of Arnold Bros., bankers and packers; I.Schwinn, first vice-president, eighteen years a superintendent and maker of high-grade bicycles in Europe and America; W. O’Connell, secretary, late treasurer of the International Mfg. Co.; H. Arnold, treasurer, banker and packer; E. C. Bode, second vice-president, from A to Z.

The company will build 6,000 extremely high-grade machines for the swell American trade, and will start shipments November 15. Deliveries will be guaranteed.—Adv.

The Bearings, October 17, 1895

NEW COMERS IN CHICAGO.
Among the later entries in the cycling field is the firm of Arnold, Schwinn & Co., of Chicago, recently organized with a paid-in capital of $75,000. The office and factory are located at Peoria and Lake streets, and comprise some 25,000 square feet of well-lighted floor space, which is rapidly being filled with the latest improved automatic machinery. It is the intention of the new firm to produce from 5,000 to 7,000 strictly high-grade machines for the season of ’96, samples of which will be out between November 1 and 15. The new wheel has not yet been named. Specifications of the frame are as follows: Head, 1¼ inches; top and bottom stays and diagonal, 1? inches; upper rear forks, ¾ inch; lower rear forks, 13-16 inch, all of best German tubing.

The officers of the company are: President, Adolph Arnold, of Arnold Bros., packers, and senior member of the firm of Arnold Bros. & Baker, bankers; vice-president and business manager, Ignatz Schwinn. Mr. Schwinn, although a comparatively young man, has had a long experience in bicycle building, having been superintendent for several years in the establishment of Heinrich Kleyer, at Frankfort-on-Main, Germany. In this country he has been with the Moffat and Fowler companies, and more recently with the International Mfg. Co. in the capacity of superintendent. Secretary, W. J. O’Connell, has been identified with the trade for a year past as secretary-treasurer of the International Mfg. Co. The treasurer, H. F. Arnold, is a son of the president. E. C. Bode is second vice-president and superintendent of agencies.

The Bearings, October 17, 1895

NEW CHICAGO FACTORY.
Arnold, Schwinn & Co. have an immense plant, and if they wished they could secure enough floor space to build an unlimited number of bicycles. Their present plant at the corner of Peoria and Lake streets, Chicago, is filled with the latest automatic machinery. They will make between 8,000 and 10,000 machines, all of the highest grade and finish.

Davis & Rankin building after the 1888 rebuilt and the first Schwinn factory,

Inside the Lake/Peoria Schwinn Factory

Machine Shop

Paint Shop

Frame Shop

Assembly Shop

Chicago Tribune, March 4, 2007

What could be more “Chicago” than a converted West Loop factory with CTA Green line trains running just outside its front door? That’s what tenants find at Lake Street Lofts, a 121-year-old building at 910 W. Lake St.

Until seven years ago the home of Zimmerman Brush, this 89-unit, six-floor building began life as part of the city’s meatpacking district. Small manufacturing buildings to the north and west reflect that commercial heritage.

At street level 19th Century-style double doors lead to a lobby, where high ceilings, tile floors and walls, plus industrial style light fixtures, echo the building’s history.

On the third floor a long hallway with exposed brick walls and pipes leads to 3-S, a two-bedroom, one-bath unit with 12-foot ceilings and Berber carpeting. In the apartment, giant wooden beams and support columns, exposed heating and air conditioning ducts, exposed pipes, enormous cast-iron trusses and windows with deep sills and traditional green-painted frames add to the atmosphere.

The front door opens on a coat closet and a 10-by-10-foot bedroom immediately to the right. The bedroom has a closet and a huge window facing north. The wall dividing the room from the hallway ends 4 feet below the ceiling, giving the space an airy feeling.

This also allows light from the bedroom window to brighten the hallway from the front door to the 15-by-16-foot living/dining area.

Laminated wood flooring distinguishes the kitchen. Gray laminate covers the kitchen counter and a large island with bar level seating. White cabinets, track lighting and white appliances including a dishwasher, complete the room.

An exposed brick wall surrounds three huge windows facing north in the living/dining area. There is wiring in the ceiling for a fan or light fixture. A gas fireplace is built into one corner of the room and could be a focus for furniture arrangement. The unit’s heating/air conditioning equipment is in a closet on the far left.

At the end of the living/dining area doors open to the bathroom, a linen closet and a 11-by-13-foot bedroom. The bathroom, done in white, is unadorned. The bedroom, with one large window, exposed brick walls and a closet with two sets of double doors has plenty of room for a king-size bed plus dressers. The walls for this room reach to the ceiling.

The building has commercial space on the ground floor. Management and maintenance are on site, along with bicycle storage space and laundry facilities.

There are numerous restaurants in nearby Greektown and Randolph Street. A grocery store is at Halsted and Madison Streets and the neighborhood has several convenience stores.

Though elevated tracks run down Lake Street, the nearest CTA Green and Blue Line station is about six blocks east. There is bus service on Washington Boulevard.

The Bearings, October 17, 1895

E. C. BODE’S CHANGE.
For years the public has been familiar with the name of E. C. Bode. He first made his bow as a “prominent Chicago wheelman,” and then as a racing man. He was quite successful on the path, but concluded that he could make more money in the trade, and so he started out as an advertising man on The Bearings. From this paper he went to the Moffatt Cycle Co., and later with the Hill Cycle Mfg. Co. After making a decided hit on the road selling Fowlers, he resigned his position to go with the Sterling Cycle Works. After spending one summer selling Sterlings he transferred his allegiance to the Peerless Mfg. Co. Now he has left that concern to accept the position of second vice-president and traveling representative of the new firm of Arnold, Schwinn & Co. Bode is perhaps one of the best known traveling men in the trade. He is a convincing talker and never lets go of a man until he sells him wheels. In his new capacity as an official of a company he will no doubt uphold his reputation and make the name of Arnold, Schwinn & Co. famous throughout the land.

The Wheel—Cycling Trade Review, October 18, 1895

The debut of Arnold, Schwinn & Co. as cycle manufacturers is more than ordinarily interesting to Chicago business folk. This firm is an old business concern who have been watch- ing bicycling for some time and who have for several months past prepared for this depart- ure. The factory will be located at No. 254 West Lake street, right in the business centre of Chicago’s West Side, where they will have 25,000 square feet of space. To this factory machinery of the latest pattern is now being moved.

The capital stock is $75,000. The president, Adolph Arnold, is a prominent Chicago banker. The vice-president and business manager, Ignatz Schwinn, will be the mechanical man of the company. His experience in bicycle manufacturing was gained in Germany years ago. In 1891 he came to America and went with the Fowler Manufacturing Company, leaving it to become a factor in the launching of the Inter- national Manufacturing Company, with which concern he has remained until the present time- The secretary, W. J. O’Connell, has had a banking experience, and was until recently secretary of the International Manufacturing Company. The treasurer is Hugo Arnold. The chief business of selling will rest entirely on the shoulders of E. C. Bode, the suave, the smiling and the genial, a man who needs no introduction to WHEEL readers.

The Bearings, November 21, 1895

ARNOLD, SCHWINN & CO.’S “WORLD.”
The “World” is the name at last chosen for the wheel to be manufactured by Arnold, Schwinn & Co., of West Lake and Peoria streets. The line will be a complete one embracing the several models that are likely to be called for from almost every maker the coming year. There will be a standard road wheel weighing 22 pounds and a light roadster that will scale 20. Both these models will be furnished in three stock heights of frame, 24, 25, and 26 inch, and to order with 22, 23, 27, or 28 inch frames. The ladies’ wheel will weigh 21 pounds and comes in two heights of frames, 21 and 23 inches. A ladies’ diamond-frame machine will be made with 20-inch frame and either 26 or 28 inch wheels. In addition to the light roadster a track racer will be built that will weigh from 16½ to 18 pounds according to tires, height, and equipment. Three tandems are promised, a full track machine weighing under 32 pounds, a double diamond at 37, and a combination a pound heavier. The specifications in general cover all the models and call for the highest grade of materials and fittings on the market. The frames will be made of Mannesmann tubing with drop forged connections throughout; hubs from solid bar steel, turned down; cups, cones, and spindles turned from tool steel, ground and polished to l-1000th of an inch. The cranks and crank shaft are in one piece and are forged from a low carbon tool steel, which permits the shaft portion to be oil tempered, leaving the cranks tough yet milder than the shaft.

The thin strong metal, all in one piece, and best wood rims and the Excelsior Needle Co.’s spokes will be used. Simonds Rolling Machine Co.’s balls go into the machines, 3-16 front, 5-16 in the crank box, and ¼ in the rear hub. The World will be regularly equipped with American Dunlops for a detachable tire, Morgan & Wright for inner tube, and Palmer and Vim for single tube, although any high-grade tire on the market will be furnished to order. A choice is offered of three styles of tubular seat-posts—direct, T, and L shaped. Handle-bars will come adjustable for the stock wheels or in five styles of bent bars.

For a departure from the well-known methods, the fitting of the one-piece crank shaft and cranks is to be commended. It is made with a right- hand thread on the right side and a left thread on the left side. The bearing cones engage with these, the stationary cone being on the chain side and being tapped with a larger opening than the adjusting cone, so that in putting it on the shaft or in taking it off no trouble is experienced by the interference of the crossed thread. The stationary cone sets close against a spider which is riveted with five countersunk rivets to a boss which is part of the crank. The spider is dished inward so that the tread, 4-7/8 inches, is not made so narrow at a sacrifice of width between ball races, the chain pull coming directly over and in line with the balls. The ball cases screw into the hanger with right and left hand thread, and are easily removable if it is desired to remove the cranks and shaft, which can be easily done by first taking down the set nut, washer, and adjusting cone, and then removing in both cases. To keep the balls in place and to prevent their loss or misplacement there is a retaining rim set in each case. The name-plate for the World will be of metal, embossed and gold plated. The design will be suggestive of the name of the wheel. For standard finish, black and maroon will be used, lined with gold or plain; other colored enamels to order. All striped frames will have a top coat of hard coach varnish, which is transparent and adds luster to the finish. The company’s strongest claim is that they will put out a bicycle more carefully assembled and more highly finished in detail than anything that has yet been put on the market and they invite comparison with the best.

The Bearings, December 19, 1895

The World.
The line of World bicycles manufactured by Arnold, Schwinn & Co., Chicago., is complete, and embraces seven distinct models, with various heights of frame in the singles. The standard roadster will be known as Model 1, and will be built after the following specifications: Main frame, 1-1/8 inch, 20 gauge tubing; rear stays, ¾ inch, 21 gauge; top, 13-16; bottom, 18 gauge on the chain side and 20 on the off. The head will be ¼ inch 21 gauge, and the fork-crown of the double open type with 1¼ inch forks. Frames will come in four heights, 20, 22, 24, and 26 inches, and the weights will be 22 and 23 pounds, according to fittings. Model 2 will be the light road wheel, and will follow the lines of Model 1 with the necessary lighten- ingoftires, saddles, pedals, etc., to bring the weight down to 20 and 21 pounds. Model 3 is a track racer built after the same lines with lighter gauge tubing, 24 being used in the main frame instead of 20, will weigh from 16 to 18 pounds according to height of frame and fittings. The ladies’ drop frame will be known as Model 4, and will be made with 21-inch frame, and will weigh 23 pounds. Model 5 is a double diamond tandem for road use, and will weigh from 36 to 38 pounds, according to fittings. Model 6 is a combination tandem, with drop frame in front, and will scale 38 pounds. The last of the string is Model 7, a racing tandem, single steering, and built throughout of light gauge tubing. The weight will be under 32 pounds, which will make it one of the lightest tandems on the market.

A novel construction will be seen in the tandem framing. The lower main tube is topped with a bracing of a tube of the same diameter, and the construction is said to be stronger than the usual framing. It is certainly very effective in appearance and looks strong. A single-piece crank-shaft and cranks will be used in all wheels of the line and the tread will be kept under 5 inches—in the racer it will measure 4-7/8 from outside to outside of cranks. The tandems will follow the measurements in tread of the singles and will be 4-7/8 for the road machines and 4-7/8 for the track. All the connections are drop forged, set inside of the tubes of the frame, making flush joints. Black and maroon enamel, striped or plain, will be the standard finish. Other color enamels will be furnished to order.

The Bearings, January 16, 1896

When introduced, the Schwinn World Record ranged in price from $100 to a $125.

The Bearings, January 16, 1896

The World.
The line of World bicycles manufactured by Arnold, Schwinn & Co., Chicago., is complete, and embraces seven distinct models, with various heights of frame in the singles. The standard roadster will be known as Model 1, and will be built after the following specifications: Main frame, 1-1/8 inch, 20 gauge tubing; rear stays, ¼ inch, 21 gauge; top, 13-16; bottom, 18 gauge on the chain side and 20 on the off. The head will be 1¼ inch 21 gauge, and the fork-crown of the double open type with 1¼ inch forks. Frames will come in four heights, 20, 22, 24, and 26 inches, and the weights will be 22 and 23 pounds, according to fittings. Model 2 will be the light road wheel, and will follow the lines of Model 1 with the necessary lightening of tires, saddles, pedals, etc., to bring the weight down to 20 and 21 pounds. Model 3 is a track racer built after the same lines with lighter gauge tubing, 24 being used in the main frame instead of 20, will weigh from 16 to 18 pounds according to height of frame and fittings. The ladies’ drop frame will be known as Model 4, and will be made with 21-inch frame, and will weigh 23 pounds. Model5 is a double diamond tandem for road use, and will weigh from 36 to 38 pounds, according to fittings. Model 6 is a combination tandem, with drop frame in front, and will scale 38 pounds. The last of the string is Model 7, a racing tandem, single steering, and built throughout of light gauge tubing. The weight will be under 32 pounds, which will make it one of the lightest tandems on the market.

A novel construction will be seen in the tandem framing. The lower main tube is topped with a bracing of a tube of the same diameter, and the construction is said to be stronger than the usual framing. It is certainly very effective in appearance and looks strong. A single-piece crank-shaft and cranks will be used in all wheels of the line and the tread will be kept under 5 inches — in the racer it will measure 4-7/8 from outside to outside of cranks. The tandems will follow the measurements in tread of the singles and will be 4-7/8 for the road machines and 4-7/8 for the track. All the connections are drop forged, set inside of the tubes of the frame, making flush joints. Black and maroon enamel, striped or plain, will be the standard finish. Other color enamels will be furnished to order.

The Schwinn Quintet

The Bearings, January 16, 1896

“ME AND JOHNNY” ABROAD.
Tom Eck has made his plans for the trip abroad and will start the last week in February. Johnson will ride a World wheel. Weinig and Pat O’Connor will accompany him. A quint is being made under their directions in the factory of Arnold, Schwinn & Co., and it is claimed that this machine will be the best of its kind ever turned out of any factory, light and compact and having many new features. Eck claims that Johnson has never had the proper pacemaking machines and that he has yet to find a machine that can run away from him. Eck claims that Johnson would now have the records, had he had the proper machines with which to get them. Eck has been abroad with racing teams on two past occasions, but this late trip will be a novel one with him, as his man will enter only in the principal events, and will go more for track and world’s records whenever he appears. In England he will be sent for a paced mile under two minutes on any track that the Englishmen may select, and the officials will be the men whom the Englishmen appoint officially every season.

Chicago Chronicle, May 10, 1896

QUINTET TO PACE JOHNSON.
Will Be Shipped Tomorrow.
The quintet that is to pace John S. Johnson, the champion cyclist, for all existing European records, will be shipped to Paris tomorrow morning by Arnold Schwinn & Co. This morning it will be ridden around the city by the members of the “Kindergarten” team, as follows: John Lund, steersman; H. Van Heuk, No. 2; Fred Rau, No. 3; H. Vogt, No. 4; W. Bainbridge, No.5.

The “quint” will be in competition first in Europe on the Seine track at Paris, where it will pace the match races arranged between Johnson and Morin, the champion of France. It will then be taken to the Catford circuit in England, where “Johnnie” will atempt the European mile record of 1:52 2-5. The prince of Wales will give the word “go,” and Johnson, if successful, will receive $1,000.

The meet at which the trial will be made is for charity and the members of the royal family have promised to attend.

After this trial Johnson will go into strict training for matches with Michol, “the boy wonder,” who has so far never been defeated in a paced distance event. Johnson has never been shaken by pacemakers and has ridden miles repeatedly faster by seconds than his Welsh competitor.

This “quint” is said to be the fastest type of a pacemaking machine ever built and back of it Johnson feels confident of upholding the stars and stripes u=in all of the European events. The accompanying team, with the “quint,” will appear at Louisville at the L.A.W. meet Aug. 10 to 15.

Johnson has signified his willingness to go for the world’s mile record now held at 1:39. A special sanction has been asked from the chairman of the board.

The “quint” will then make a tour of the large cities, where it will be used on the national circuit to pace open events and competitive record trials and races.

1897 Schwinn Catalog

The cycling public now, more than ever before, appreciates the degree of perfection in designs, mechanical skill, materials and workmanship necessary in the production of an up-to-date modern bicycle. The season of 1897 finds “World” bicycles in undisputed possession of an established and recognized reputation for true worth, superiority, and perfection of modern cycle construction, judgment having been passed by a most critical and exacting cycling public from Klondike’s glacial realms to South America’s Horn; from Iceland’s icy shores to Africa’s end of Hope; from Siberia’s snowy fields over China’s Wall of Stone; under Japan’s balmy skies to the Land of the Kangaroo—North, South, East and West, wherever man may roam, “WORLD Cycles” have found a home and are synonym with BEST.

1899 Schwinn Catalog

The Referee & Cycle Trade Journal, November 12, 1896

NEW “WORLD” IS OUT.
Arnold, Schwinn & Co. Exhibit Their Sample 1897 Model—Many Improvements.
Arnold, Schwinn & Co , makers of the World, have alieady put out their 1897 sample machine and it is now on its way east to be shown to the ade. There are, of course, a number of decided improvements over the 1896 model, though the design has been altered very little. The illustra- tion will give a good idea of the appearance of the machine. The use of flush joints gives the wheel an extremely fine appearance, permitting a much nicer finish than if otherwise. Single forged cranks and shaft are to be found on the 1897 World.

The Bearings, August 1, 1895

ABOUT MARCH BICYCLES.
In the last issue of The Bearings was an article headed the same as the above, to which the March-Davis Cycle Co. takes exception. A. R. March, a former member of the firm, organized a new firm called the A. R. March Mfg. Co., and began the manufacture of bicycles, calling them Marches. The March-Davis Cycle Co., who have been making and selling bicycles under this name since February, 1892, naturally took exception to this proceeding, and have brought suit to compel the new firm to cease using the name. They advise us that since the suit was brought the new firm has agreed to use the name March only in connection with the name of the firm and not in connection with bicycles. Zitska & Monyhan are not the representatives of the March-Davis Cycle Co. in San Francisco. The firm has a branch house in that city at 739 Market Street, under the management of J. G. French, who has distributed over 1,000 March bicycles on the Pacific coast this Season, in addition to operating the Class B team, comprising Billy Burke, Casey Castleman, Floyd McFarland, and Nissen.

The Bearings, December 26, 1895

The Bearings, January 2, 1896

Chicago Tribune, February 9, 1901

Receiver for a Bicycle Company.
The March-Davis Cycle company, which has been engaged in the bicycle manufacturing business for several years, went into the hands of a receiver yesterday, F. S. Hebard being appointed by Judge Kohlstaat. Bonds were fixed at $40,000. This action was taken after a petition had been filed by Fayerweather & Ladew of New York, Fuller & Fuller, and the Chicago Handle Bar company. The debts of the company are said to exceed its assets.

The Bicycling World and Motorcycle Review, March 7, 1901

March-Davis.
The end of the embarrassed March-Davis Cycle Co. is in sight. The factory in Chicago is to be sold on Friday and there are good prospects that it will bid in by Arnold, Schwinn & Co., who have offered $22,000 for the property.

Ed Davis, who was the active man in the company, has gone West to share in the management of a mine in which his father is interested. Davis, Sr., who was the “angel” of the company, has gone to Florida, after writing his check for $30,000 of the concern’s debts, which he had guaranteed. It is stated that an advance of but $500 would have saved, or at least delayed, the March-Davis failure, but the elder Davis was inexorable and refused to put up another penny; the crash promptly followed.

The Bicycling World and Motorcycle Review, March 14, 1901

Winding Up March-Davis Affairs.
The bid of Arnold, Schwinn & Co. for the factory of the defunct March-Davis Cycle Co., Chicago, reported in last week’s Bicycle World, was accepted and the first mentioned firm is preparing to remove from its present location and take possession.

It is now reasonable certain that the March-Davis creditors will receive about 40 per cent of their claims.

Inside the Lake/Peoria Schwinn Factory

The Schwinn Quintet

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