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{{short description|American bicycle and automobile manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Indiana Bicycle Company
| logo = File:Cycles Waverley affiche Mucha 1898.jpg
| logo_caption = Alphonse Mucha poster 1898
| logo_alt =
| type =
| industry =Manufacturing
| predecessor = 
| founded = {{Start date and age|1885}} in [[Indianapolis]], U.S.
| founder = Charles F. Smith
| defunct = 
| fate =
| successor = 
| hq_location_city = [[Indianapolis]]
| hq_location_country = United States
| area_served = 
| key_people =
| products = {{Plainlist|
*Bicycles
*Carriages
*Electric cars}}
| owner = Charles F. Smith
| num_employees = 1071
| num_employees_year = 1896
| parent =
| website = 
}}

'''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.

==History==
===Bicycles===
[[File:Indiana Bicycle Company, manufacturers of the Waverley - DPLA - 6e7a8dc73bb7af04dc7a1740b6e6f664 (page 4).jpg|thumb|1896 Indiana Bicycle Company]]

In 1885 Charles F. Smith started the Indiana Bicycle company.<ref name="Cincinnati"/><ref name="Pioneer">{{cite news |title=Pioneer In This City |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18079511/indiana-bicycle-company-1895-history/ |access-date=12 December 2021 |publisher=The Indianapolis Journal |date=28 April 1895 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212174740/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18079511/indiana-bicycle-company-1895-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Today">{{cite book |title=Indianapolis of Today |date=1896 |publisher=consolidated Illustrating company |location=Indianapolis Indiana |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5NuAAAAMAAJ&dq=Waverley+cycles&pg=PA40 |access-date=12 December 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226150813/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Indianapolis_of_To_day/g5NuAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Waverley+cycles&pg=PA40&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1895 the company produced three different bicycles: the ''Scorcher'', the ''Belle'', the ''Ladies Special Diamond''.<ref name="Iron">{{cite book |title=The Iron Age - Volume 55 |date=3 January 1895 |page=136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2JDAQAAMAAJ&dq=Waverley+cycles&pg=PA136 |access-date=12 December 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226150813/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Iron_Age/h2JDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Waverley+cycles&pg=PA136&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cincinnati">{{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 }}</ref> The company produced in excess of 50,000 bicycles a year.<ref name="Waverley">{{cite news |title=Automobile Industry in Indianapolis Started with Purchase of Waverley Electric Vehicle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90454950/waverley-electric-cars/ |access-date=12 December 2021 |publisher=The Indianapolis Star |date=31 December 1924 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212174741/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90454950/waverley-electric-cars/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== American Bicycle Company (1899-1903) ===

In 1899 the company joined a [[Trust (business)|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 Ranlett Flint|Charles R. Flint]].<ref name="Cincinnatib">{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Epperson">{{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 }}</ref>

===Automobiles===

The company manufactured carriages, cars and bicycles. From 1897 to 1916 the Waverley company produced electric cars which looked like carriages.<ref name="Hostetler">{{cite news |last1=Hostetler |first1=Joan |title=Indianapolis Then and Now: The Waverley Company, 139 S. East Street |url=https://historicindianapolis.com/indianapolis-then-and-now-the-waverley-company-139-s-east-street/ |access-date=12 December 2021 |publisher=Historic Indianapolis |date=20 June 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509052709/https://historicindianapolis.com/indianapolis-then-and-now-the-waverley-company-139-s-east-street/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Waverley"/> In 1913 the ''Silent Waverley Front-Drive Four'' was priced at $2900 dollars<ref name="Silent">{{cite news |title=The Waverley Silent Electric |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-oct-26-1913-2878198/ |access-date=12 December 2021 |publisher=Indianapolis Star |date=26 October 1913 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212184825/https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-oct-26-1913-2878198/ |url-status=live }}</ref> which would equate to $81,419.11 dollars in 2021.<ref name="Value">{{cite web |title=Value of $2,900 from 1913 to 2021 |url=https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1913?amount=2900 |website=In 2013 Dollars |publisher=Official Data Foundation |access-date=12 December 2021 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212184826/https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1913?amount=2900 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:1897 Indiana Bicycle Company Waverley cycles from the Naugatuck Daily News.png|1897 Waverley cycles
File:1896 Indiana Bicycle Company Waverley Cycles Advertisement.png|1896 Waverley ad
Indiana Bicycle Company, manufacturers of the Waverley - DPLA - 6e7a8dc73bb7af04dc7a1740b6e6f664 (page 27).jpg|1895 Waverley women's bike
File:1913 Waverley Electric Automobile.png|1913 Waverley electric car
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16066coll6/id/3881/ 1896 Waverley Catalog]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time%20continue=1&v=kSZzn8u5Wus&feature=emb%20title 1901 Waverley Electric car]

{{American bicycle manufacturers}}
{{cycling}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indiana Bicycle Company}}
[[Category:History of cycling]]
[[Category:Cycle manufacturers of the United States]]
[[Category:History of cycling in the United States]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Indianapolis]]
[[Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers]]
[[Category:Companies based in Indiana]]

Indiana Bicycle Company - Revision history

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