Monarch Cycle Manufacturing Company

Monarch Cycle Manufacturing Company (1892-1899) was a bicycle manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. By 1896 the company became one of the largest manufacturers of bicycles in the world.

Monarch Cycle Manufacturing Company
IndustryBicycle manufacturing
PredecessorChicago Sewing Machine Company
Founded1892 (1892) in Chicago, U.S.
FounderJohn William Kiser
Defunct1899 (1899)
SuccessorBicycle Trust
Headquarters
42 Halsted Street, Chicago
ProductsBicycles
Number of employees
1200 (1896)

History

The company was founded in 1892 by John William Kiser.[1] In 1892, the year the company began, there were 35 employees and the company made 150 bicycles. By 1896 there were 1200 Monarch cycle employees, and they were producing 50,000 bicycles. The company sold bicycles worldwide.[2]

Monarch Cycle produced a chain-less bicycle with a patented two-piece crankshaft.[3]

To promote the company, they sponsored safety bicycle contests for their trick rider Lee Richardson.[4][5]

In 1899 the company was sold to the Bicycle Trust.[6] The American Bicycle Company only lasted a few years (from 1899-1903). Historians have not determined why the company failed but they have several theories. One idea was that the company was poorly organized, and another theory is that the various manufacturers involved in the company had different objectives. After the breakup the many different companies went back to competing.[7]

References
  1. McAuliffe, Chris (2017). Cycling in Chicago. Charleston South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 9781467126021. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  2. "A Wonderful Record". Mitchell Capital. 9 April 1897. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  3. Worman, James; Worman, Ben J. (1898). Outing. New York: Outing Publishing Company. p. 618. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  4. "Lee Richardson". The Commercial Appeal. 22 May 1898. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  5. "Boyhood Idol". Oakland Tribune. 28 October 1936. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  6. "New Bicycle Trust". Birmingham Age Herald. 24 June 1899. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  7. Epperson, Bruce D. (1 November 2011). "'The finances stagger these fellows': the Great American Bicycle Trust, 1899–1903". The International Journal of the History of Sport. Taylor Francis Group. 28 (18): 2633–2652. doi:10.1080/09523367.2011.611408. S2CID 153677588. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.


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