Crescent ca. 1893 Juno Gents bicycle 79-3505

Crescent ca. 1893 “Juno” Gents bicycle

Western Wheel Works, makers of Crescent bicycles, started life as the Western Toy Co. Owner Adolph Schoeninger was bankrupted when the Chicago Fire destroyed his toy factory in 1871. But he managed to re-open his business and, by 1889, his toy company had become a bicycle company. By the mid-1890s Western Wheel Works was one of America’s largest cycle manufacturers.
‘The factories of this company contain 25,000 square feet of floor space and employ one thousand men. No less than 25,000 safety bicycles were made and sold in 1891. The facilities of the establishment have been doubled. Among the most popular bicycles manufactured here are the Blackhawk, Crescent No. 2, Escort, Crescent No. 1, Juno, Rob Roy No. 3, Rob Roy No. 2, Rob Roy No. 1. Here are also manufactured the Cinch, Combination Junior, Boy’s Junior and Pet. These machines have a market in every part of the world, and owing to their popularity the export trade is constantly increasing. They are everywhere considered among the most reliable and popular. Some of the makes mentioned have been ridden by champions in prize contests throughout the country.’

A ‘bicycle boom’ started in the late 1880s but was followed by a sudden downturn in the USA in 1897 due to over-production and the fact that American bicycles had wooden wheels and tubeless tyres which were expensive to replace. Increased competition among cycle makers resulted in price reductions which caused serious issues for them. Mergers were one solution.
In 1899, Western Wheel Works and Pope (maker of the Columbia) set up a new company ‘The Bevel Gear Wheel Co’ to control the bevel gear patents. Earlier that year several saddle manufacturers had formed a new corporation called the ‘American Saddle Corporation.’ It was against this background that the ‘American Bicycle Co’ was established in 1900 as a conglomerate of nearly all the US cycle makers. This included Western Wheel Works, their Chicago factory being sold to Dr William Scholl to manufacture shoes (Source:onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk). Already in the 1890s many Crescent machines were sold in Sweden, and around 1907 the Swedish importer started to manufacture bicycles under the Crescent brand name.

The machine we present comes in complete and original condition. The cranks are adjustable and the bottom bracket is eccentric to accommodate chain tensioning. The wheels are 30-inch but the “tyres” are fitted for display purposes only.