The Motorcycle Industry in New York State
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THE MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY IN NEW YORK STATE A Concise Encyclopedia of Inventors, Builders, and Manufacturers BY GEOFFREY N. STEIN Museum Memoir 27 THE MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY IN NEW YORK STATE A Concise Encyclopedia of Inventors, Builders, and Manufacturers THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of The University CARL T. HAYDEN, Chancellor, A.B., J.D. ........................................................................... Elmira DIANE O'NEILL MCGIVERN, Vice Chancellor, B.S.N., M.A., Ph.D. ................................. Staten Island ADELAIDE L. SANFORD, B.A., M.A., P.D. .......................................................................... Hollis SAUL B. COHEN, B.A., M.A., Ph.D..................................................................................... New Rochelle JAMES C. DAWSON, A.A., B.A., M.S., Ph.D. ...................................................................... Peru ROBERT M. BENNETT, B.A., M.S . ....................................................................................... Tonawanda ROBERT M. JOHNSON, B.S., J.D. ......................................................................................... Lloyd Harbor ANTHONY S. BoTTAR, B.A., J.D. ........................................................................................ Syracuse MERRYL H. TISCH, B.A., M.A. ........................................................................................... New York ENA L. FARLEY, B.A., M.A., Ph.D . .................................................................................... Brockport GERALDINE D. CHAPEY, B.A., M.A., Ed.D. ........................................................................ Belle Harbor RICARDO E. OQUENDO, B.A., J.D. ....................................................................................... Bronx ARNOLD B. GARDNER, B.A., LL.B.. .................................................................................... Buffalo CHARLOTTE K. FRANK, B.B.A., M.S.Ed., Ph.D. ................................................................. New York HARRY PHILLIPS, 3 B.A., M.S.F.S. ·················································································· Hartsdale rd, President of The University and Commissioner of Education RICHARD P. MILLS Chief Operating Officer RICHARD H. CATE Deputy Commissioner fro Cultural Education CAROLE F. HUXLEY Director of the New York State Museum CLIFFORDA. SIEGFRIED The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital sta tus, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its edu cational programs, services and activities. Portions of this publication can be made available in a variety of formats, including braille, large print or audio tape, upon request. Inquiries concerning this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department's Officefor Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 152, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234. Requests for additional copies of this publication may be made by contacting the Publications Sales Desk, Room 309, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234. THE MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY IN NEW YORK STATE A Concise Encyclopedia of Inventors, Builders, and Manufacturers By Geoffrey N. Stein Associate Curator, History New York State Museum Copyright 2001 The University of the State of New York The State Education Department New York State Museum m © The University of the State of New York,/ The State Education Department Albany, New York 12230 Published 2001 Printed in the United States of America Copies may be ordered from: Publication Sales New York State Museum Albany, New York 12230 Phone: (518) 402-5344 FAX: (518) 486-3696 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001-131140 ISSN: 0749-1158 ISBN: 1-55557-170-0 Front and back cover photos: The Gale family of Angola, New York with their 1914 Emblem motorcycle. Photographs courtesy of Herbert F. Gale See also page 54. iv Contents Foreword. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. VI Acknowledgments........................................................................................................ VII Introduction: New York's Role in the American Motorcycle Industry ....................... 1 Resources and Documentation..................................................................................... 3 Organization of this Encyclopedia............................................................................... 4 Inventors, Builders and Manufacturers........................................................................ 5 Index............................................................................................................................. 171 V Foreword Identifying all New York's motorcycle inventors and builders is an ambitious but impractical goal. Even with unlimited time and funding, there would be no way to uncov er evidence of every motorcycle enterprise. Many makers likely came and went with no record other than the memory of the principals involved. With nearly a century passed since the heyday of motorcycle experimentation and manufacture, the dreamers and builders are beyond contact by any terrestrial researcher. On the other hand, a decade's research at the New York State Museum has result ed in three file drawers of data and several extensive essays about individual motorcycle enterprises. Some of the material already has found its way into print*, while other lengthy stories await future publication. Combined, the histories of the leading New York manufacturers, such as the Emblem Manufacturing Company, Ner-A-Car Corporation, G. H. Curtiss Manufacturing Company, E. R. Thomas Motor Company and Pierce Cycle Company, would fill a volume hundreds of pages longer than this one. For now, the New York State Museum presents a guide to the builders of New York's motorcycles. In some cases, the information here contained in no more than a sen tence or two is all that the author has learned aboutindividual enterprises. In other cases, such as the builders of the Emblem, Neracar, Curtiss, Thomas and Pierce motorcycles, the several pages devoted to each are distillations of complex histories that deserve more expansive treatment elsewhere. When available, pictures of motorcycles, motorcycle builders and motorcycle fac tories supplement the text in this encyclopedia. In some cases, these views are the sole images discovered for individual enterprises. In other cases, the pictures here are only a fraction of the graphics on file. It is the author's wish that whatever their length or comprehensiveness, the indi vidual entries prove informative and interesting to their readers, and that in its entirety, the volume might serve to indicate the breadth of motorcycle development and manufacture in New York State. * See for example, GeoffreyN. Stein, "Motorcycle Production at the Pierce Cycle Company" in The Arrow (Pierce-Arrow Society: Rochester, N.Y., 1998, vol. 98, no. 2). vi Acknowledgments Researched and written during the course of the writer's work as a curator at the New York State Museum, this volume in part owes its existence to the patience and encouragement of his supervisors and colleagues. They made it possible for the extended effort consuming portions of nine years, 1991-2000. Production work at the museum involved the efforts of Publications Program Manager John B. Skiba, image scanner John Yost, and outside reader coordinator Craig Williams. Ed Landing, Bob Daniels and Penny Drooker acted as in-house reviewers. Mort Wood and Mark Mederski served as outside readers, offering helpful comments and encouragement. Laurel Carroll served as consulting editor. Pat Mulligan designed the book except for the cover, which was produced by Pat McFarland. Generously assisting in the research fromoutside the Museum were Herbert Gale, Frank Westfall, Patrick Cullen, Damon Dardaris, Jim Dennie, Robert Fornwalt, Ken Philp, Bruce Linsday, Frederick D. Hirsch, Whitney Point village historian Juanita Aleba, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Cortland County Historical Society and the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum; all shared libraries or scholarship or both. David Dingley, in the Division of Corporations of the New York State Department of State, over the course of several years provided copies of the corporate records of many motorcycle manufac turers. David D' Alfonso, a history student at Siena College, spent a considerable portion of a three-month internship checking census, city directory and patent records for evi dence of motorcycle inventors and builders. Thory Monsen, a University at Albany intern, worked at coordinating illustrations and tying up loose research ends in the weeks before the editorial deadline. The author is grateful for having had access to the New York State Library as well as to the Library of Congress. The latter institution houses perhaps the country's most comprehensive collection of trade journals, which have provided the bulk of the data for this encyclopedia. The author apologizes for unwittingly having overlooked anyone in thi list of acknowledgments. vii New York's Role in the American Motorcycle Industry An Introduction to this Encyclopedia The promise of motor vehicles aroused wide interest in the in 1903. With a broad industrial base stretching from east of 1890s. It was a time when inventors, engineers and mechanics New York City to west