Packard Forum Index » General

A gentleman contacted me with this bike and is looking for any info on if it was perhaps a promotional give away or contest item that PMCC may have been a part of in the late 30s early 40s? Being it was made in San Francisco, perhaps a E.C. Anthony dealer item?

He is liquidating his bicycle collection, and in his many years, no one has been able to every find another one of these, or tell him anything about it.

Info from gentleman:

"It was built by The Bean & Son Company of San Francisco, CA to follow the design of the Packard automobile with the goose neck handle bar stem being made from aluminum (precious metal at the time) and to have the lines of the cormorant feathers at it's sides like the hood ornament of the Packard automobile. "

Attach file:

---

  (102.62 KB)


  (61.38 KB)


  (106.42 KB)


  (58.84 KB)

==> This way to the real Packard bicycle experts.

To quote the above linked source: "...Other manufacturers also sold bikes labeled as Packard (CWC and Schwinn are two) In this case there is no real physical or corporate relationship between the bike and the automobile manufacturer it was just a popular marketing ploy to associate the bikes with automobiles ..."

Here comes a picture from an old catalogue, offered ==> there.

We got wise to them! According to the attached history report of the Merry Sales Company:

"...The Great Depression of the thirties caused business to slow down, so The Merry Co. and The Bean Son Co., another long established San Francisco bicycle wholesaler, merged to form The Merry-Bean Company in order to better survive the poor business conditions..."

Obviously the company put up a good fight to hold out and still exists. I suggest to ask ==> them.

Attach file:

---

Size: 646.12 KB; Hits: 54

Quote:

Sorry Kev, I couldn't resist to look for the son of Mr. Bean.

Or you can check out this site:
http://www.nostalgic.net/?s=packard

About 10 years ago I restored a Packard-badged bicycle. Actually it was built by Cleveland Welding and they made bicycles for a number of retailers - their in-house brand was called "Roadmaster." My model is known as a "three-gill" - note the louvers or "gills" on the tank.

I bought my unrestored bike from these guys: http://www.memorylane-classics.com/ and then I chased down some parts on eBay.

The owners of Memorylane Classics told me that CW badged up a number of their bikes for auto dealership groups (not the manufacturer) such as Packard, Lincoln and others. These bikes were used as a "deal clincher" where a salesman would say something to the prospective buyer like, "if I threw in a bicycle for your boy, then would you buy this car today?"

They helped me research the paint colors from CW for 1941 and one of the combinations was a maroon and tan. I had some Laguna Maroon Pearlescent left over from my convertible sedan and I found a nice tan to coordinate with it. Pinstriping called for two colors: orange and tan. Photos are attached.

Attach file:

---

  (112.05 KB)


  (60.04 KB)

Roger, great looking bike.

The black BSCO Packard bicycle in the photos has been drastically modified. It has a 1980s repop saddle, a girl's J.C. Higgins postwar sprocket and cranks. The stem is from the mid-1950s and is of aluminum made on Gratiot avenue in Detroit in the mid-1950s. There are other modifications as well. But the headbadge and frame appear to be original. Not from Earle C. Anthony's dealership, but owners knew Mr. Anthony. Would like to know how to contact the owner.

Internet info being spread around that PMCC somehow owned Colson is totally bogus. Internet myth.

The info given on CWC is also mistaken. The particular CWC Packard shown here, while nicely executed, is a postwar model with different parts and mods. This can easily be verified by both the serial number (complete records DO exist) and the frame design which absolutely, positively makes it postwar (designed in fact, by my late friend, Brooks Stevens). Have all of the records of CWC and knew family members.

Furthermore Packard bicycles were never involved with car dealerships. Nor were the other car names that appeared on various bicycles. This is a very strong internet myth that persists. But a myth nonetheless. The facts are that almost all of these names were merely ones chosen as private labels by various wholesale-distributors...of which BSCO was one. The bicycles they handled were actually manufactured by a company in New York state.

Been collecting Packard bicycles and literature on them since the 1950s. Here is a 1941 Schwinn-Built Packard I restored about 20 years ago. The ornament is an aftermarket accessory

Attach file:

---

  (179.93 KB)


  (142.02 KB)

Packard-labeled bicycles will be a feature article by author Leon Dixon in the next issue of The Packard Cormorant.

See http://www.packardclub.org/forum/view ... ?f=14&t=1040&p=9244#p9244 for more info.