1914 Connecticut vehicle reisgtrations

[pem]

https://archive.org/details/listofre...14stat/page/n5

Anybody from Connecticut? I didn't do a search of the records but I assume it has motorcycles.

[exeric]

Our family lived in Meriden, Conn. years ago, but needless to say, I didn't recognize any names When I was about 10, (early 1960s) I was with my Dad and we stopped at some store. Next door to it was a yard sale (or tag sale as they called them) and there were 2 early motorcycles for sale. My only recollection now is; one had a round tank, and the other was more angular. I know one of them was belt drive, so perhaps the other was an Indian. I begged and pleaded, but my Father was unmovable. I hope a collector saved them but I suspect they were part of an estate and the heir was just hoping to be easily rid of them. Thanks for posting that, Dick.

[Green Indian]

Next door to it was a yard sale (or tag sale as they called them)

Great memory Eric, I'm from CT as well and I still call them tag sales everyone else calls them yard sales. I've never stopped using the term even though I moved from CT to PA more than 25 years ago.

[bobbyt]

There are a number of years of this document available. Starting in 1915, I believe, they include the make and serial numbers of the vehicles.

Bob Turek
#769

[bobbyt]

I thought it might be interesting to see what these Registers might say about the motorcycle landscape in 1915. That year is about the mid-point between the first commercial motorcycle sales and the Depression; it is also just over the peak of the teens motorcycle boom. Anywayz, here’s a look at the motorcycle being ridden in 1915 in Connecticut.

40.1% — Indian — No surprise here. Indian was the largest manufacturer in the country, probable the world.

21.4% — Excelsior — Again, no surprise. Fred Robie launched Excelsior at the end of 1907 and in just a couple years grew it to be the second largest manufacturer.

13.5% — Harley-Davidson — HD had recently expanded their business and took over second place right around this time.

6.3% — Pope — A little surprise, but maybe not, considering this was a Connecticut company. On the other hand, other local manufacturers, such as Schickle, don’t seem to have had a bigger market share.

3.5% — Thor

2.8% — Merkel

around 2% — MM, Reading Standard

around 1% — Henderson, Pierce, Eagle, Yale, Emblem, Smith Motor Wheel

less than 1% — Dayton, Iver Johnson, NSU, Wagner, Sears, Greyhound, Schickle, Flanders, Mercycle, Racycle, American, Exeter, National, Monarch, Jefferson, Reliance, Armac, Royal Pioneer, Marathon, Baker DeLong,Shaw, Peerless, Thomas, Origo, FN, Kulture, Imperial, Tourist, D. B., Marvel, Arrow, Curtiss, Crouch, Orient, Dixie Flyer, Anzani, Baxter, DeLuxe, Pullman, Steffey, Majestic

It’s interesting to note how much the Big Three dominated the market by 1915, holding about a 75% share. The rest of the business was spread among a wide variety of makes.

How representative is Connecticut of the whole country? It would be good to find some registration records for other states to see.

Bob Turek
#769

[pfindlay]

Here in British Columbia, the records are not complete but there is a 1913 book that includes the makes for about 425 registrations. The overall list contains some British makes that were less common in the US, but the top of the list looks surprisingly similar:

% Make

40.4 Hendee/Indian
19.9 Excelsior
5.4 Harley-Davidson
3.6 Thor/Aurora
3.1 Yale/Consolidated Mfg. Co.
2.8 Miami
1.9 NSU
1.6 Abbingdon
1.6 Douglas
1.6 Pierce
1.4 Pope
1.2 CCM/Russell
1.2 FN
0.9 Ives
0.7 Humber
0.7 Minneapolis
0.7 Shaw
0.7 Triumph

... plus a long list of "one or two only" brands.

Peter

[pem]

Good job guys. I was hoping this thread would spark more interest in early motorcycle history. There is so much we still don't know.

Did these listings show "home builds"? Looks like the British Columbia records did. I find it remarkable just how many different brands/makes there were and that in another couple years they all disappear except for a handful. In 1914 Henry Ford made cars available to everybody with his Model T but killed the small motorcycle makers in the process. WWI didn't help either.

[exeric]

Did every state require motorcycle registration, and a license tag in the early days?

[bobbyt]

Peter … Thanks for the figures. I had thought that the 40% for Indian might be high, maybe because of the proximity of Connecticut to Indian’s home. But, your figures are close and so it probably just indicates how much Indian dominated the market in the first decade and an half. A couple years ago on a different project, I ran some figures from the 1920 Connecticut register - Indian was 34%, HD 35%, Excelsior and Henderson 17%. I had expected Indian to be higher; Harley and Indian were vying for first place then, but being close to Indian factory I expected Connecticut to be more in their camp.

Peter’s figures just add to the view of how much the Big Three dominated the market.

On registration … it varied by state. California, for example, (where I live), started registration of motor vehicles around 1905; auto owners were required to provide their own plates until around 1913-14 when the state provided them. Motorcycles were probably the same. Connecticut seems to have begun registration in 1901, probably as soon as the state figured they could make money on it. Don’t know about Canada.

[T. Cotten]

Did every state require motorcycle registration, and a license tag in the early days?

Illinois is still a leader in over-regulation, over a century later,.. Folks!

....Cotten

[bobbyt]

I took the time to go through several other years of these registration lists and here is a summary. Yeah, I know, I should get a life. Anyway, these give us a snapshot for the late teens.

1915 1916 1918 1919 1920

Indian

40% 38% 25% 36% 34%

Excelsior

21% 16% 12% 15% 12%

Harley

14% 12% 20% 30% 36%

Henderson

1% 1% 2% 2% 5%

Pope

6% 4% 3% 3% —

Thor

4% 3% 1% 2% —

These figures paint a picture of the motorcycle makeup on the roads of Connecticut in the last half of the teens. So, for example, if you were standing on a corner in 1916 and 10 motorcycles went by, probably 4 would be Indians, 2 Excelsiors, 1 Harley and the rest various smaller brands. Interesting ….

The per cents clearly show the dominance of the big three manufacturers by the mid-teens. You can also see the growth of Harley and the decline of Excelsior over that period. We can also see a small drop inIndian’s portion of the motorcycle mix. The very small portion of the market held by Henderson, especially in the early years, is a little surprising, but Henderson’s portion of the market was always a niche. I mentioned Pope’s showing in an earlier note; Thor is included as one of the larger of the multitude of second tier makes available in the teens.

Certainly there is more insight to be drawn from these numbers. One interesting challenge would be to examine the mix of model years for Indian or Harley, for example. The serial numbers are available in these documents and someone more knowledgeable than I in Indian or Harley serials might want to take a look. For Excelsior, it would be difficult as there is no model or year information, and the factory ran dual serial ranges in the early teens. One thing surprising is that I only found one confirmed example of the Ex Lightweight… a rare bird. The serials also might be helpful in understanding the sequence for some of the lesser known makes, such as Thor, or MM, or Dayton.

Bob Turek


O.K. the table did't take. You'll have to line up the columns ....

[exeric]

I think that proves the brilliance of Arthur Davidson's dealer network strategy, and H-D's commitment to their dealers. I think many early motorcycles were well built, and engineering was competent for the times, but buyer confidence was the key to success. . . I think we all wish the little guys had survived.

[exeric]

Bob, I'm also surprised at the low percentage of Hendersons, considering how good their survival rate is today. Of course that is an empirical comment on my part, but compared to Popes, Yales, and Reading-Standards that I rarely see at AMCA meets, Hendersons seem to be common

[bobbyt]

Truly, Davidson was instrumental in building Harley’s strong dealer network. That work was just starting in the mid-teens. I think a major element of H-D’s rise was their effort to shape a different image of the brand and especially their change-of-hart about competition and performance. This change was initiated with their hiring of Bill Ottaway. Harley had a reputation of building solid, reliable, but stodgy machines up to the mid-teens. Floyd Clymer comments on the situation in one of his early Scrapbooks admitting his surprise at being beat bu a “slow” Harley.

I agree on the Hendersons, but remember that these figures basically reflect the mix of machines for several years up to the date of the register. The early Hendersons are more rare today; when the Schwinns took over, they focused on building the brand. The low numbers shown here might also highlight the financial difficulties the brothers were having and their willingness to sell to the Schwinns.

Bob Turek