Harley-Davidson's "Belated" or Correct (1904-1954) 50th Anniversary?

[HarleyCreation]

Since we are splitting hairs on this anniversary deal, here are my calculations. If the company started sometime in 1903 then according to my calculations at some point in 1953 they would have marked 50 years in business. If that day happened to be in the second half of the year then the 54's were on the assembly line so it is easy to see why they got the 50 year badge. Had the company prematurely started putting badges on the 53 models they would have had to have done that sometime in the last half of 52 as that is when the 53 run started. Some then would be saying that they had jumped the gun and were bragging about being 50 years old before they actually were. As the old saying goes, "You can't please all of the people all of the time".

What you described is pretty much what the MoCo started doing with the 75th Anniversary models in 1978. They deviated from the formula and precedent established in 1954 by the original family owned company which placed the 50th medallion on the 1954 models. There were very good and historically accurate reasons for doing it that way. But the later AMF/H-D firm threw all that right out of the window and today H-D has to come up with cheap excuses or weird formulas to explain away that woeful descrepency in their own family tree.

[jurassic]

1903

so i wonder when was the first time in print that the 1903 falsehood was started.i understand that the very early claims were all over the place,but in the 29 enthusiast they reference 1903.was this the first instance of the"big lie".it appears that in 1953 they were also mentioning 1903 ,and cutting the anniversary cake,and before AMF in 1963 we see the photo of sno #1 ,proclaiming our 60th year.and of course in 1978 we have the 75th anniversary. so when did they first make this "bogus" claim,was it 80 years ago in 1929 or was it earlier than that.

[jurassic]

here is the picture dick was talking about,between 1954 and 1963 something happened,when did AMF take over?

clearly, way before AMF was involved.who was the president of the company at this time?

[jurassic]

this 1903 claim was made 40 years before AMF took over. these guys must have been very good in their deception.

[jurassic]

in this letter to the dealers it states that "this" year is our 50th anniversary. not next year.

[jurassic]

i wonder why they would be cutting the cake in august of 1953 .not to counter the accepted theory,but i just think some of this evidence should be observed.

[c.o.]

in this letter to the dealers it states that "this" year is our 50th anniversary. not next year.

It seems as though they contradict themselves, at first indicating that '03 was the first year of production and that '53 made fifty years. Then they state that the '54 models would be the "Golden Anniversary" machines.... If '53 was the anniversary, why didn't they cut the cake late in '52? I wonder how things would have turned out hadn't Lacy Crolius been advertising manager. Would another manager have kept it more on the real side? I seem to recollect that Mr. Crolius started modifying history circa 1910!

[cheifrider]

in jurassics letter above it says "it was in 1903 this company was organized", they dont say anything about PRODUCING a bike for that year .one would think it would take quite an amount of time to even get a shop ready to produce bikes.

[Chuck#1848]

Maybe This Helps

Herb,
This article states in the farm and fireside news dated August 10 1911 that this model is the most durable since the first Harleys we made nine years ago

[Paps]

Now it is 1902 ????????

[HarleyCreation]

in jurassics letter above it says "it was in 1903 this company was organized", they dont say anything about PRODUCING a bike for that year .one would think it would take quite an amount of time to even get a shop ready to produce bikes.

That is the exact correct point!

The boys were working on their first REAL motorcycle by 1903. That year they got their act together (i.e. "company was organized"), but the first actual prototype bike wasn't finished until around September of 1904.

That 1904 finish date was their baseline in 1954 when celebrating or counting years of producing motorcycles and why the 50th medallion was put on the 1954 models.

However, back in the 1910-1919 period their ad man Lacy Crolius made all sorts of wildly false claims about when they had built and sold their first motorcycles, including 1903, 1902, and 1901. These early ads and articles written by Crolius still fool some people today.

Then, around 1929 (Chris found the article), H-D started to correct their early history by using the historically accurate 1904 finish date of the first prototype as their production baseline. But they also talked about 1903 and why not? We found an engine drawing in the Harley family dating back to 1901!

But no motorcycle was finished until 1904, therefore 1904-1954.

[HarleyCreation]

Herb,
This article states in the farm and fireside news dated August 10 1911 that this model is the most durable since the first Harleys we made nine years ago

Now it is 1902 ????????

There it is!

Just what we were talking about. One of Lacy Crolius's FIB date ads claiming Harleys were made back in 1902! Around that same period you can find other ads and articles claiming bikes were build and sold in 1901 and 1903! None of those years are correct. The dates got so messed up back then they don't make sense at all. That is why we cleared our minds, took a fresh look at the entire problem, and examined the original evidence.

What did we find?

That there was no 1903 model Harley-Davidson ever built or sold, and no 1902 or 1901 model H-Ds either!

Their first motorcycle was the 1904 prototype.

Suddenly, the 1904-1954 "50th Anniversary" (long a mystery) made PERFECT sense and still does. Nobody made a "mistake" in 1953-54 that had to be "corrected" later on. Nobody forgot. They knew EXACTLY what they were doing and they were RIGHT.

[pem]

The first instance I remember HD using 1903 as their first year of production is from an ad from the Janesville Gazette, Friday March 20, 1908.

"HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLE

(photo of 1908)

5th year of success.

3 1/2 H. P. actual. Best by test.

PIERSON'S GARAGE
Janesville, wis."

Paps, between 1911 and 1914 a lot of Harley ads and articles used 1902 as the first year of production. Some even said in 1914 "Producers of High Grade Motorcycles for More than Tweleve years". That would make it 1901. It's just nuts the way advertising worked back then. For example:

In a letter from J.P. Thornley, Chairman of the competition committe of the F.A.M., he writes on Oct. 23, 1912 to a Mr. W.F. Mann of Boston, Mass. the following;

"As fas as advertisements in the trade papers are concerned, I have long since given up any idea of trying to make people tell the truth in the advertising columns of any trade journal. I am sick and tired of the manufacturers and the trade in general. When they spend a little money on a run or race they expect to get value received for their investments, and wherever the trade is involved in any contest there is going to be trouble unless it were possible to so arrange matters that everyone could win. The contest, to be a contest of any kind, means that someone gets the best of it, and therefore someone loses and gets the worst of it. The man who pays for the advertising of another man's machine of course always feels sore, and no sentiment of sportmanship, honesty or decency seems to restrain any of them. They have paid there money for advertising, as they look at it, and they are going to get it by hook or crook; by honest means if they can, but by any old means if necessary."

Whew! This is 1912. Here's another example of what was going on back then. This time from 1910:

Criticise Police Tests.

With reference to the recent contest held in Milwaukee and vicinity as a demonstration to police authorities of the value of various motorcycles for their patrol purposes, C.A. Carpenter, secretary of the Wisconsin Motorcycle Co., Monroe, Wis., sends Wisconsin Motorist the following comments:

"On account of the large amount of news that has been handed out recently, for advertising purposes, in reference to the Milwaukee police order for motorcycles, and which has been more or less misleading, I think a few facts at this time might show up in a new light and also show what a farce it was as a contest.
"The contest, as you know, was to be a road race to Watertown and return, or somewhere in that vicinity, but was changed many times, and, as the contestants were not all familiar with the road, it was agreed to use confetti and have a man at all important crossroads and forks to guide the riders.
"Out of seven entries only one kept the correct course, which is evidence enough that the conditions were not complied with by the board, and that those getting off the road and running many miles out of the way had no chance of winning.
"All reports, which read pretty much alike, make much capital out of beating a twin-cyclinder Indian. Sure, that is good stuff. This was tried once before by two of the same riders, Sporleder and Crolius, much to the discomfort of the Harley rider, though nothing was ever published about it. I say much to the discomfort of the Harley rider, as it was a contest over muddy roads, and I think he will acknowledge that he was badly worsted in that contest.
"In this contest, all admit that, as he was the only one that followed the correct course and signed the check sheet, as a rider, he was entitled to first place, but, as the board did not wish to purchases a rider, but a machine, I think it might have been well to consider the condition of the machines on the return run, or the actual distance covered and miles per hour. As a matter of fact, parts of the winning machine are still missing, the rider returning without the brake chain.

Here is the actual score, as most of them agree upon:
Sporleder, 5hp Indian 62mi 1hr22min 45mph
Smith, 7hp Merkel 95 mi (none given) none
Crolius, 4hp harley-D 74mi 2hr1min 36
Odell, 4hp Indian 82mi 2hr20min 35
Blankenh'm, 4hp Comet 80mi 2hr40min 35
Parsons, 31/2hp R.S. 110mi (none given) 30

"When you come to consider that all except Crolius lost their way and had to make many stops to inquire the way, it is astonishing that they came as near winning as they did, and very evident that they must have made much better time on the road than the winning machine.
"While the twin-Indian made nine miles per hour better than the winning machine, it was decided before the start that this machine would not be considered in the contest. This shows why the twin-Indian was beaten, and for no other reason.
"If the Milwaukee people wanted home product, of course they would necessarily have to bar twin-cylinders. However, as almost the unamimous verdict of the various police departments over the United States has long ago decided in favor of the twin-cylinder high powered machine for this work, it would seem as though the Milwaukee police board had allowed their patriotism to carry them to a point where it is detrimental to the service."

I hope this gives you a flavor of what was going on back then. Of course Harley won this contest with our friend S. Lacy Crolius, then advertising manager for the Harley-Davidson Motor Co., the winning rider.

Dick

[bmh]

So I see now. After a hundred and how ever many years, nothings really changed. It's always been about slick marketing, not so much motorcycles.

[HarleyCreation]

It seems as though they contradict themselves, at first indicating that '03 was the first year of production and that '53 made fifty years. Then they state that the '54 models would be the "Golden Anniversary" machines.... If '53 was the anniversary, why didn't they cut the cake late in '52? I wonder how things would have turned out hadn't Lacy Crolius been advertising manager. Would another manager have kept it more on the real side? I seem to recollect that Mr. Crolius started modifying history circa 1910!

We could get poetic (others have) and say that the 1953 cake was symbolic of Bill Davidson & Mary Bauer's wedding cake (Willie G.s grandparents) in 1903. This was the event that drew Walter Davidson home to Milwaukee in 1903 and where he found Bill Harley and Bunce struggling with their motor-bicycle project and he got so enthused that he stayed in town to help them. In a loose sense the "company was organized."

Yes, Crolius was the wild man in all this. Shortly after a 1919 speech when Walter Davidson outright lied to match what Crolius had stated in ads and articles, Crolius left Harley-Davidson forever. I think he might have been fired. Then Harley got real quiet about their origin dates until the late 1920s when 1904 became the baseline for building motorcycles. At that time all of the Founders were still alive, so they knew what they were doing.

Somebody should write a book and explain all this....