In the 1930s and 1940s, many celebrities were not only fond of pedaling around town on two wheels, they were even paid for it; and bicycles were often used in popular movies. There’s even a book about the subject. And one of the bicycle brands chosen by some stars of the day was the Shelby bicycles manufactured by the Shelby Cycle Company.
As Shelby prepares to celebrate its annual Bicycle Days this week, the festival is taking a renewed interest in the history of bicycles manufactured in the city in the 19th and 20th centuries. The theme of this year’s festival is “Bringing the Bike Back.”
“Kids had no idea why we had a Bicycle Days event,” said Festival Director Cody Albert. “They had no connection to our history.”
According to Christina Yetzer Drain, communication and marketing coordinator at The Ohio State University Mansfield campus, the history of the Shelby Cycle Company can be traced to around 1925 but the history of bicycle-making in Shelby goes back even further.
In 1895, Shelby Cycle Manufacturing Company opened at 15 E. Smiley. The company manufactured more than 10,000 Ideal bikes in its first year, with prices ranging from $40 to $75 each. In 1901, the factory was closed and taken over by the Ohio Steel Tube Company.
Almost 20 years later, in 1920, a group from Chicago organized the Shelby Cycle Frame Builders in a factory which was located at the site of the current Police Department building. The company built bicycle frames that were shipped to other factories for enameling and assembling. In 1924, factory superintendent Leon A. Smith and 18 others kept the factory open after stockholders abandoned the company.
According to Drain, a year later, local businessman Joseph Seltzer invested in the plant and the company transitioned from just making bicycle frames to manufacturing whole bicycles.
At its high point, the factory employed as many as 390 people and had $3 million in sales. In 1935, more than 200,000 bicycles were produced each year at the factory. Less than 20 years later, in 1953, the Shelby Cycle Company merged with The Cleveland Welding Company after being sold to AMF and the company put the brakes on operations in Shelby.
Although it has been more than six decades since the Shelby Cycle Company factory closed its doors in 1953, the legacy of the bikes built within its walls continue to flourish today.
“It’s so amazing growing up here and now seeing all the industry that existed here in Shelby and thinking about how vibrant the town must have been,” Drain said. “We had all these forward-thinking people who were finding new ways to bring industry to town.”
These forward-thinking people helped make the Shelby Cycle Company a trendsetter in marketing. Movie stars, including the precocious child star Shirley Temple, were seen riding Shelby bikes in their movies. In 1927, the company released “The Lindy,” a bike named after famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. The model was considered a sister bike to “The Whippet,” the bicycle that lent its name to the Shelby High School mascot.
Another popular bike manufactured by Shelby was a yellow and blue Donald Duck bicycle, complete with the character’s head mounted on the front and a “quack” sound in place of a horn. Today, these bicycles are very popular with collectors and bicycle enthusiasts, selling for thousands of dollars when one pops up on eBay.
“It’s so amazing that an international product made in Shelby was related to a character that is so well-known,” Albert said.
Albert says there’s an easy answer why Shelby bikes were so popular while they were made, and why they continue to be sought-after items today.
“The company has left such a lasting legacy because of the quality of the product,” Albert said. “You don’t have a product still around and still being valued if you don’t make a quality product.”
Bicycle Days is held this week and full schedule of events can be found here.
“It’s so amazing growing up here and now seeing all the industry that existed here in Shelby and thinking about how vibrant the town must have been,” Christina Drain said. “We had all these forward-thinking people who were finding new ways to bring industry to town.”
