Re: Packard Bikes
Posted by Leeedy On 2021/3/14 9:40:57
Now let's go to 1937. Here's something for the Schwinn worshippers out there who think the sun only rises on Schwinn-Built bicycles. I've show you clippings I save from Detroit and other areas. However, this one was published in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1937. So Packard bicycles were certainly not just limited to one part of the country but were in fact sold all over the USA.
Today's collectors and enthusiasts can't seem to understand that most bicycles made by Arnold, Schwinn & Company (ASC) usually did NOT SAY "Schwinn" on them as a brand name until after World War II. Fact.
These folks will insist upon calling any bicycle they think ASC made a "Schwinn." But the truth is that thousands of brand names appeared on ASC bicycles because this is how the bicycle business operated in the USA prior to WW2. And this is why the industry and ASC coined the term, "Schwinn-Built bicycles." Shops and wholesale distributors could pick whatever name they wanted to place on bicycles they sold. AND this is also why the "Packard" bicycle brand appeared on bicycles made by numerous different manufacturers. I've showed you several in this thread.
Anyway, for almighty Schwinn worshippers, here is an original ad from our collection that was published in 1937. Have at it! Oh– and notice that whoever wrote up the ad in 1937 misspelled "Schwinn" by leaving off the last "N" letter and spelling it "Schwin". You'll also note that the advertisement does NOT refer to this bicycle as a "Schwinn Packard" but merely a "Packard bicycle." Yes, the text at the bottom of the advertisement referenced Schwinn-Built... but this was not considered to be a "Schwinn Packard."
And... for those not familiar with these bicycles, the pressed steel housing in the frame is not a "gas tank" (as newbies and uninformed tend to call it). Rather, this component was known simply as a "tank" or "horn tank." Yes, this model had an electric horn and this is where the horn unit lived. The louvers in the front of the tank were to allow the sound OUT. Not for "cooling" or mere style.
In case you're wondering... the tires on this bicycle were not whitewalls... and they weren't blackwalls either. They were old-fashioned red rubber. Of course, today, if one says "red rubber" younger people want to argue with you. Not having grown up with red rubber, they expect "red rubber" to look fire engine red. On the internet EVERYTHING is up for arguing. They'll scream... "Hey that's not red, it looks like clay color!" Well back when these bicycles were made, THAT is what "red rubber" looked like... and the term was universally understood. Like the red rubber in car tire inner tubes.
This is what the passage of time does. So everybody today is an expert... via the internet and the almighty "Wiki" thingie. Some people re-popping "red rubber" hand grips have even made them in bright Ferrari Red (another color of contention) or fire engine red– which they never were originally. Unless they were 1950s vinyl. But that's another story. People today read "red rubber" in an old catalogue and expect that the rubber should be–has to be bright red. No.
Now regarding the price. The price shown here states "from" (meaning this is a "come-on" starting price for a base stripped junior model– which this one certainly isn't). I assure you, the exact model shown could NOT go home with you for this price, but was significantly more.
Regarding boy's models and girl's models... the girl's model is not shown in this ad, but it was a very different design, of course with a step-through frame.
AND... notice NO MENTION of Packard automobiles and no mention of anyone giving you one of these bicycles if you bought a car. Awwww geeez.
Take a look...
Attach file:
Schwinn-BuiltPackardBicycle1937WM.jpg (234.75 KB)
Today's collectors and enthusiasts can't seem to understand that most bicycles made by Arnold, Schwinn & Company (ASC) usually did NOT SAY "Schwinn" on them as a brand name until after World War II. Fact.
These folks will insist upon calling any bicycle they think ASC made a "Schwinn." But the truth is that thousands of brand names appeared on ASC bicycles because this is how the bicycle business operated in the USA prior to WW2. And this is why the industry and ASC coined the term, "Schwinn-Built bicycles." Shops and wholesale distributors could pick whatever name they wanted to place on bicycles they sold. AND this is also why the "Packard" bicycle brand appeared on bicycles made by numerous different manufacturers. I've showed you several in this thread.
Anyway, for almighty Schwinn worshippers, here is an original ad from our collection that was published in 1937. Have at it! Oh– and notice that whoever wrote up the ad in 1937 misspelled "Schwinn" by leaving off the last "N" letter and spelling it "Schwin". You'll also note that the advertisement does NOT refer to this bicycle as a "Schwinn Packard" but merely a "Packard bicycle." Yes, the text at the bottom of the advertisement referenced Schwinn-Built... but this was not considered to be a "Schwinn Packard."
And... for those not familiar with these bicycles, the pressed steel housing in the frame is not a "gas tank" (as newbies and uninformed tend to call it). Rather, this component was known simply as a "tank" or "horn tank." Yes, this model had an electric horn and this is where the horn unit lived. The louvers in the front of the tank were to allow the sound OUT. Not for "cooling" or mere style.
In case you're wondering... the tires on this bicycle were not whitewalls... and they weren't blackwalls either. They were old-fashioned red rubber. Of course, today, if one says "red rubber" younger people want to argue with you. Not having grown up with red rubber, they expect "red rubber" to look fire engine red. On the internet EVERYTHING is up for arguing. They'll scream... "Hey that's not red, it looks like clay color!" Well back when these bicycles were made, THAT is what "red rubber" looked like... and the term was universally understood. Like the red rubber in car tire inner tubes.
This is what the passage of time does. So everybody today is an expert... via the internet and the almighty "Wiki" thingie. Some people re-popping "red rubber" hand grips have even made them in bright Ferrari Red (another color of contention) or fire engine red– which they never were originally. Unless they were 1950s vinyl. But that's another story. People today read "red rubber" in an old catalogue and expect that the rubber should be–has to be bright red. No.
Now regarding the price. The price shown here states "from" (meaning this is a "come-on" starting price for a base stripped junior model– which this one certainly isn't). I assure you, the exact model shown could NOT go home with you for this price, but was significantly more.
Regarding boy's models and girl's models... the girl's model is not shown in this ad, but it was a very different design, of course with a step-through frame.
AND... notice NO MENTION of Packard automobiles and no mention of anyone giving you one of these bicycles if you bought a car. Awwww geeez.
Take a look...
Attach file:
Schwinn-BuiltPackardBicycle1937WM.jpg (234.75 KB)
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=231273