Western Wheel Works

File:1875 Western Toy Works advertisement.png

In 1865, Schoeninger and his partner F. Westermann started out manufacturing toys and other novelties under the name Western Toy Company. The factory burned down in 1866.{{cite book |last1=La Touche |first1=Royal L. |title=Chicago and Its Resources Twenty Years After 1871-1891 A Commercial History Showing the Progress and Growth of Two Decades from the Great Fire to the Present Time |date=1 January 1892 |publisher=The Chicago Times Company |location=Chicago Illinois |page=143 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EMZEAQAAMAAJ&dq=adolph+schoeninger+1833&pg=PA142-IA3 |access-date=12 December 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226150534/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Chicago_and_Its_Resources_Twenty_Years_A/EMZEAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=adolph+schoeninger+1833&pg=PA142-IA3&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }} In 1866 Western toy Works took over another factory which produced toy and baby carriages. The Western toy Company specialized in toy wagons.{{cite book |last1=Hounshell |first1=David A. |title=From the American system to mass production, 1800-1932 : the development of manufacturing technology in the United States |date=1984 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=978-0801831584 |page=209 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9H3tHKUFcfsC&dq=Western+Toy+Company&pg=PA209 |access-date=13 December 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226150534/https://www.google.com/books/edition/From_the_American_System_to_Mass_Product/9H3tHKUFcfsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Western+Toy+Company&pg=PA209&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}

The toy company operated until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.{{cite book |last1=Moses |first1=John |title=Biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of the representative men of. |date=2010 |publisher=The Lewis Publishing company |location=Chicago Illinois |isbn=978-1149752647 |page=521 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7YyAQAAMAAJ&dq=Adolph+Schoeninger+1833&pg=PA517 |access-date=11 December 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226150534/https://books.google.com/books?id=v7YyAQAAMAAJ&dq=Adolph+Schoeninger+1833&pg=PA517 |url-status=live }} By 1872 Schoeninger obtained financing from European banks and rebuilt. In 1887 The Western Toy Company purchased the Vergho Rubling Co., a former toy dealer.{{cite news |title=Heavy Failure |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jan-11-1887-2876880/ |access-date=12 December 2021 |publisher=Decatur Daily Review |date=11 January 1887 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212030315/https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jan-11-1887-2876880/ |url-status=live }}

The company began making safety bicycles bicycles in the late 1880s, under the Crescent name. It also manufactured tricycles and children's bikes in 1890.{{cite news |title=Boys and Girls |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-aug-14-1890-2876069/ |access-date=11 December 2021 |publisher=Fort Wayne Weekly Gazette |date=14 August 1890 |archive-date=11 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211192823/https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-aug-14-1890-2876069/ |url-status=live }} By 1890 it was among the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world.{{cite news |title=Cycling Chicago |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jul-27-1890-2876085/ |access-date=11 December 2021 |publisher=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=27 July 1890 |archive-date=11 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211192730/https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jul-27-1890-2876085/ |url-status=live }} It is known as a pioneer in the mass production of bicycles: rather than machining bicycle "parts such as hubs, sprockets, chain guards, fenders, and rims", it employed the much faster process of stamping them,{{Cite book|first=Pryor | last=Dodge | title=The Bicycle | location=Paris | publisher=Flammarion | year=1996 | page=162}} thereby more than doubling the output of the factory in 1891.{{cite book |last1=Tatarsky |first1=Daniel |title=The splendid book of the bicycle |date=2016 |publisher=Portico |location=London |isbn=978-1910232569 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3k8mEAAAQBAJ&dq=adolph+schoeninger&pg=PT186 |access-date=12 December 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226150535/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Splendid_Book_of_the_Bicycle/3k8mEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=adolph+schoeninger&pg=PT186&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}

In 1893 Schoeninger transferred his ownership of the company to his two sons-in-law and he started a new company called the Home Rattan Company.

By 1897 the company employed 1,500 people and produced 350 bicycles a day.{{cite book |title=Unrivaled Chicago |date=1897 |publisher=Rand McNally and Company |location=Chicago and New York |isbn=978-0484513128 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1Y0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Adolph+Schoeninger+1833&pg=PA69 |access-date=11 December 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226150535/https://books.google.com/books?id=J1Y0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Adolph+Schoeninger+1833&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }}

In 1899 the company joined a trust which was set up to control the bicycle market in the United States. Forty-two factories were part of the trust; the major barrier to organizing it was the manufacturer of rubber tires. It was decided that tires would be purchased from the "Rubber King", Charles R. Flint.{{cite news |title=The Bicycle Trust |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jul-29-1899-2876239/ |access-date=11 December 2021 |publisher=Cincinnati Commercial Tribune |date=29 July 1899 |archive-date=11 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211192756/https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jul-29-1899-2876239/ |url-status=live }} The trust which formed under the name American Bicycle Company only lasted a few years. Historians have not determined why the company failed but they have several theories. One idea was that the company was poorly organized, and another theory is that the various manufacturers involved in the company had different objectives. After the breakup the many different companies went back to competing.{{cite journal |last1=Epperson |first1=Bruce D. |title='The finances stagger these fellows': the Great American Bicycle Trust, 1899–1903 |journal=The International Journal of the History of Sport |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09523367.2011.611408 |access-date=26 January 2022 |publisher=Taylor Francis Group |date=1 November 2011 |volume=28 |issue=18 |pages=2633–2652 |doi=10.1080/09523367.2011.611408 |s2cid=153677588 |archive-date=26 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126165013/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09523367.2011.611408 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

File:Crescent July 1896.png|Crescent bicycle advertisement, July 1896

File:The Procession of Crescent riders is increasing daily .png|"The Procession of Crescent riders is increasing daily"

File:Western Wheel Works Crescent Bicycles advertisement 1896.png|1896 baby ad

File:1896 Woman's bike Western Wheel Works Crescent Bicycles advertisement.jpg|1896 marketing to women

File:Western Wheel Works Family.png|Advertisement for 1894 model Crescent bicycles

File:Hills riding 1895 Western Wheel Works Crescent Bicycles advertisement.jpg|1895 hill climbing

File:1895 Crescent Bicycles, Western Wheel Works advertisement 75.jpg|1895 ad

File:1895 Western Wheel Works Crescent catalog.jpg|1895 catalogue advertisement

File:1899 photos of inside the Western Wheel Works Crescent Bicycles factory.png|Inside Western Wheel Works, 1899

File:Creepy baby ad from 1896 Western Wheel Works Crescent advertisement.jpg|Baby advertisement for Western Wheel Works, 1896

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Category:Vehicles introduced in 1892

Category:History of cycling

Category:Manufacturing companies based in Chicago

Category:Cycle manufacturers of the United States

Category:History of cycling in the United States

Category:Companies based in Chicago