Indiana Bicycle Company

Indiana Bicycle Company was a bicycle and automobile company in Indianapolis Indiana, United States. The company made carriages, bicycles and electric vehicles under the name Waverley Cycles. By 1896 the company was producing 350 bicycles every ten hours.

Indiana Bicycle Company
IndustryManufacturing
Founded1885 (1885) in Indianapolis, U.S.
FounderCharles F. Smith
Headquarters
Indianapolis
,
United States
Products
  • Bicycles
  • Carriages
  • Electric cars
OwnerCharles F. Smith
Number of employees
1071 (1896)

History

Bicycles
1896 Indiana Bicycle Company

In 1885 Charles F. Smith started the Indiana Bicycle company.[1][2] The Indiana Bicycle company consisted of 8 buildings which produced tools, a forging shop for manufacturing sprockets and cranks, and other buildings for the assembly and manufacture of bicycle parts. In 1896 the company employed 1071 people and turned out 350 bicycles every ten hours.[3] In 1895 the company produced three different bicycles: the Scorcher, the Belle, the Ladies Special Diamond.[4][1] The company produced in excess of 50,000 bicycles a year.[5]

Automobiles

The company manufactured carriages, cars and bicycles. From 1897-1916 the Waverley company produced electric cars which looked like carriages.[6][5] In 1913 the Silent Waverley Front-Drive Four was priced at $2900 dollars[7] which would equate to $81,419.11 dollars in 2021.[8]

  • 1897 Waverley cycles
  • 1896 Waverley ad
  • 1895 Waverley women's bike
  • 1913 Waverley electric car

References
  1. "The Bicycle Trust". Cincinnati Commercial Tribune. 29 July 1899. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  2. "Pioneer In This City". The Indianapolis Journal. 28 April 1895. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  3. Indianapolis of Today. Indianapolis Indiana: consolidated Illustrating company. 1896. p. 96. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  4. The Iron Age - Volume 55. 3 January 1895. p. 136. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  5. "Automobile Industry in Indianapolis Started with Purchase of Waverley Electric Vehicle". The Indianapolis Star. 31 December 1924. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  6. Hostetler, Joan (20 June 2013). "Indianapolis Then and Now: The Waverley Company, 139 S. East Street". Historic Indianapolis. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  7. "The Waverley Silent Electric". Indianapolis Star,. 26 October 1913. Retrieved 12 December 2021.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  8. "Value of $2,900 from 1913 to 2021". In 2013 Dollars. Official Data Foundation. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
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