SHELBY — Michele Black Abrams is determined to find the answer to a family mystery.
Abrams’ mother, Yvonne Brumback — later known most commonly as Bonnie Black after marriage — was 10 years old when she won a Shelby Cycle Company “Name-a-bike” contest in 1935.
Despite the contest being geared locally, thousands of submissions were received from across the country. Brumback’s victory was announced in a January 1936 Shelby Daily Globe article.
As the winner, Brumback received a brand-new Speedline bicycle. However, what she submitted as the name for a new bike was never published. It remains unknown if the 10-year-old’s winning name was ever used.
But Abrams remains determined to find the answer.
With help from Shelby historian Christina Drain — who worked with Brumback at Marvin Memorial Library — she’s been mulling over different styles of Shelby bicycles, memorabilia and history to try to narrow the possibilities.
The duo believes the Brumback’s winning name was either Traveler or Airflow.
“Of those two, I still think, and am hoping my mom will send me a sign, that Traveler (was the name),” Abrams said. “It seemed that it would reflect kind of her personality.”
The Shelby Traveler bicycle was one of more than 30 on display Friday night during an open house at the Shelby Bicycle Museum, which is located inside of the Shelby Justice Center, 31 Mack Ave.
Whether Traveler was Brumback’s winning name or not ultimately remains undetermined. But the feeling of connection it brings between Abrams and her mother is every bit worthy of believing.
“I’m hoping that my mother is watching today,” she said.
If bikes could talk
During Friday’s open house, Shelby Mayor Steve Schag reflected on the 100th anniversary of the Shelby Cycle Company.
“Can you imagine the memories that were made, just on these cycles?” he asked. “There were thousands of these bicycles created here in Shelby and distributed all across the United States.
“I’m very, very thankful we have the museum here.”
Drain echoed similar sentiments. She noted the bicycle museum’s current location sits on the grounds of the original Shelby Cycle factory.
“The history is literally written on the walls,” she said.
The museum houses murals of each of the bicycle factories in Shelby, along with a 22-foot timeline of the city’s history. It is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Along with those on display in the museum Friday night, 20 additional Shelbys are featured throughout the downtown area for the 2025 Shelby Bicycle Days festival.
MORE SHELBY CYCLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY EVENTS FOR SATURDAY
(Below are more photos from Friday night’s open house at the Shelby Bicycle Museum, which is located inside of the Shelby Justice Center, 31 Mack Ave. The story continues below the photos.)
Bicycles and women’s suffrage
Abrams decided to dress in suffragist attire Friday evening. But why?
She said the suffragists in the early 1920s thought the invention of the bicycle was one of the most “emancipating inventions for women ever.”
On the walls of history in the Shelby Bicycle Museum, it says the women’s suffrage movement was extensive in Shelby, with “great support from men and women.”
As many as 600 women worked in factories, including Richland Mazda Lamp Works, the Shelby Printing Company, Autocall and Shelby Candy and Manufacturing Company, as well as on family farms.
History inside the museum notes that Mary Ross Rininger, as president of the Equal Franchise Association in 1913, was “instrumental” in Shelby’s movement.
“The invention of the bicycle, and just the fact that Shelby embraced the cycle company all those years ago, speaks volumes about the innovative spirit here in Shelby and all the inventions that have been produced here that people may not even know about,” Abrams said.
(Below are more photos from Friday night’s open house at the Shelby Bicycle Museum.)
