Found a newspaper article on Dad's cycle trip home in 1927

[Steve Swan]

Dad asleep on the road.jpgDad upon awakening.jpg20190731_102330.jpg

[hairynob24]

you must be happy to fine that info on your dads trip

[exeric]

That had to be a deeply personal find, Steve. Thank you for sharing it. I'll bet America was an incredible place to tour on a motorcycle in 1927.

[Steve Swan]

Thank you fine fellows for your kind comments. That newspaper clipping was printed Thursday, August 18, 1927. it's a series of stories making it quite long; the short of it is that i was back in my old home area and went to the town library, the newspaper articles are not on line so one has to physically be at the library to research articles. i found this article of Dad's trip home from Cincinnati. His average speed was 27.3 mph. His JD consumed 24.5 gallons at 25 cents per gallon giving him gas mileage of 40 mpg. These were Dad's pictures and others (around 20) and Dad talked from time to time in general terms about that trip, so yes, it was a thrill to find that article. i also have a December 1928 article discussing Dad's Brown Bobby Donut business. and i have a machine log (attached) he kept for all too short of a period of time, that is dated April 5, 1927. So, as best i can tell, he had his JD from Spring '27, til late '28. i know he traded that '27 for a new '29; Billy Wolff H-D in Lincoln, Nebraska, but living/working on the farm with no steady income, the depression strikes and Dad had to turn teh '29 back to Billy. I met Billy in 1970, Dad came down from the old home place and wanted to see if Billy was still around. That would have been 1970. Billy remembered Dad. Billy must have been at least 70; he was a World War I vet, picture (attached). if you google Billy Wolff Harley-Davidson Lincoln Nebraska you will find more info. Here is the story associated with that sign, rather sad. Links - well, ****, the original link is gone, thank goodness it was saved.

http://www.caimag.com/forum/showthread.php?26303-Old-shops/page16

Billy Wolff 1917.jpgBilly Wolff Cycles sign.jpgDad's JD log book.jpg

[Steve Swan]

Here's the article on Dad's Brown Bobby greaseless donut venture and pics of his delivery rig he built. i remember him telling me he took off the sidecar body, built the delivery box and here we are 92 years later. the Brown Bobby article is a long one, the original clipping is too small to read, so i took a picture of the article, may it's readable... we'll see......! Yup! if you open the article and then click on it 2 more times, it is readable! The 1st pic is my Dad with his hand on the spark control; the other is some acquaintance of his. The company the article refers to is Procter & Gamble; Dad bucked rivets for new soap vats P&G was building. Crazy, to make all that money such as the article discusses.

bbft Dad (2).jpgbbrr.jpgbbrropen.jpgbbside.jpg20190731_222547.jpg

[Steve Swan]

here is the story of Dad's JD he wrote on the back of an 8x10 i had made for him back in the 70's.

Dad Write Up on back of pic 001.jpg

[pem]

Thanks for sharing these stories and photos. I just love stuff like this.

[Steve Swan]

Thanks Badger! yes, finding those articles to go with the picture 'twas a thrill. amazing and sad, riding a motorcycle 980 miles and making donuts would get not mention in news of today, such as they are common place. but back in 1927, these events were all apart of an advancing frontier in many different fields of technology.

[Shaky Jake]

So cool that you take the time to research your family history Steve. Thanks for sharing. BTW - Harrington is but 100 miles as the crow flies from where I’m sitting.


Kevin

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[Steve Swan]

Thanks Kevin! Yes, i am very familiar with that Northeast Nebraska area and the Fremont area as well; back in the day, around 1978, i bought three brand new 1974 Norton Commando's from Bennett Gun and Cycle. i can't remember for certain the the town you live near by; is it Fort Calhoun? That is where the '27 i restored came from; Judith Schaefer in Fort Calhoun. She was selling off things from her husband's estate, his name was Leonard Schoefer. Did you know Leonard or know of him? Or his son who is also deceased? There is a story behind his son in regards to Leonard's motorcycles, at least according to Judith...

[Shaky Jake]

Thanks Kevin! Yes, i am very familiar with that Northeast Nebraska area and the Fremont area as well; back in the day, around 1978, i bought three brand new 1974 Norton Commando's from Bennett Gun and Cycle. i can't remember for certain the the town you live near by; is it Fort Calhoun? That is where the '27 i restored came from; Judith Schaefer in Fort Calhoun. She was selling off things from her husband's estate, his name was Leonard Schoefer. Did you know Leonard or know of him? Or his son who is also deceased? There is a story behind his son in regards to Leonard's motorcycles, at least according to Judith...

Yes, Fort Calhoun. There are a lot of Schaefer’s around here, but I don’t think I knew Leonard or Judith. You never know though, the way I am with names.



Kevin


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[Skirted]

Wow great story. Those articles provide insight to what it was like back then. And wow again 50 dozen donuts on weekdays and 75 dozen on Saturday! That's a lot of donuts for a small operation......even by todays standards.
I was also surprised to hear they had paved roads for much of the trip.
Thanks for sharing Steve

[Steve Swan]

Thanks Jason for reading the story and your reply! When i read the article, i was surprised Dad went home via St. Louis, Kansas City, as they are considerably out of the way from Hartington, Nebraska, but being able to motor the majority of the way on pavement would explain the route Dad chose. Attached are 2 pages from the album i created with all the pics i have of Dad during his trip and after he arrived home. Hopefully they are large enough to be appreciated; i didn't feel like taking them out of the album. PS: WOW! if you click 3 times on each pic, they enlarge really well! The AMCA forum is so great for the ease involved for loading pics on the forum. The fellow with plaid jacket and goggle leaning against bike with arms crossed is Richard Setter. Dad is the fellow wearing all white; sure looks like he is on an unpaved road...

Dad travel pics on way home from Cincinnati.jpgDad after he got home from Cincinnati trip.jpg

[ihrescue]

I this is a 7 year old thread but thought it was pretty cool. Still at that time clearly gaps in paved roads in the US. My dad was two years younger than you father.

Mike Love

[tmckinch]

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What a great post. That was quite the ride