I once read before WWII it was possible to purchase a Schwinn bicycle through 15,000 different outlets (it wouldn’t surprise me if it were more). This included barber shops, haberdashery shops, farm supplies, bicycle shops, hardware stores, department stores, and many other businesses.
A large portion of these companies had their own head badges made from a design they may have come up with, maybe their company logo, or some other design that the head badge company may have come up with. They then installed their company head badge on the Schwinn bicycles they sold. Schwinn bicycles were re-badged like this from the very beginning of Arnold Schwinn & Company in the late 1890’s, all the way through the 1950’s.
There are a few exceptions like Haack’s Cycle Shop. I’ve seen their badges on Schwinn Corvette bicycles up into the mid 1960’s. Haack’s may not have had permission though, I’ve read about several shops, and was told by several shop owners Schwinn was mad at them for continuing to put their dealer head badges on the Schwinn bicycles they sold.
When I first started researching for this book, I read there were over 200 different head badges that could be found on Schwinn bicycles, including both Arnold Schwinn and dealer head badges. I thought this was crazy talk, but I’ve found nearly 300 head badges at this point, and I’m positive there are hundreds more to be found. Just about every town had a bicycle shop selling Schwinn bicycles with their dealer head badge on it. Some of the outfits were only in business for a year or two, and then they were gone.
My favorite names are EZ Speed, sold by Our Own Hardware, and Kalamazoo Supercycle, sold by Illinois Cycle & Fitness. The letters in the name EZ Speed are made of lightning bolts, and look really awesome, and Kalamazoo Supercycle just sounds cool! Ha Ha Ha
Barry E. Gray
