1927 Snyder Boy’s Bicycle
date: label: date made
content: 1927
name: label: maker
content: Homer P. Snyder Mfg. Co., Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: The Homer P. Snyder Manufacturing Company of Little Falls, New York expanded its product line from knitting mill machinery to bicycles in 1898 during the safety bicycle craze. The company remained a leading manufacturer of bicycles in the early twentieth century. Motorcycles offered an appealing transition from bicycles to motorized personal mobility; Schwinn, one of the largest bicycle manufacturers, acquired Excelsior motorcycles in 1911 and Henderson motorcycles in 1917 to exploit the demand. In the late teens and twenties, some manufacturers even designed bicycles that resembled motorcycles to appeal to boys. This 1927 Snyder bike resembles a contemporary motorcycle; it has a tool box shaped like a gasoline tank, an electric headlight with battery compartment, and a luggage rack. Making bicycles look like motor vehicles became a long-lasting trend. From the 1930s to the 1960s, headlights and imitation gasoline tanks on some bicycles had shapes that suggested streamlined automobiles or airplanes, exciting the imagination of children.
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
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content: America on the Move
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content: Transportation
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content: Road Transportation
label: Exhibition
content: Object Project
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Homer P. Snyder Mfg. Co., Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.309382.01
label: catalog number
content: 309382
label: accession number
content: 99530
objectType: label: Object Name
content: bicycle
label: Other Terms
content: bicycle; Road