The Detroit Historical Museum has an interesting photo in their collection. It’s a group shot of the Detroit Rambler Bike Club from 1896. What makes it so unique is the Black bicyclist standing prominently in the center behind the club banner.
We shared this photo with Andrew Ritchie, author of Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer. He said, “Given the League of American Wheelmen Black-exclusion that had taken place officially in 1894, the Detroit club is definitely making a pointed statement.”
We have been trying to gain more information on this photo. Unfortunately the Historical Museum does not have the key identifying the club members.
However, it appears the Black bicyclist (#16) may be “Trainer Edwards” of the 1894 Rambler racing team, but that’s all we know so far. We have not been able to find an Edwards listed in either the 1890 or 1900 Census, nor is he in the 1895 Polk Directory.
#33 might be the 1894 team manager, George H. Formhals. Formhals is listed in the 1895 Polk Directory as the general manager for the Gormully & Jeffrey Manufacturing Company which made Rambler bikes in Chicago. They had a store at 1275 Woodward (formerly 201 Woodward), but the building is no longer there.
Rambler bikes were very popular in Detroit. Their 1895 advertisement claimed that one-eighth of all bikes in Detroit were Ramblers, but we haven’t verified that claim.
In 1896, Gormully & Jeffrey gave away gold souvenirs to those who rode 3,000 miles on a Rambler bike. Each week, riders would have to show their cyclometer to their local Rambler agent. The total miles ridden were tallied across the country.
Detroit won in a landslide and got the “$400 in gold” prize. The highest individual mileage was over 15,000 miles though we don’t know if that was a Detroiter.
The Detroit Historical Society does have a second Rambler group photo from 1896 with some riders in both images.
There are also records of a Rambler bike club in 1887, which would have been riding high wheelers. Louis “Birdie” Munger was a First Lietenant. Munger started his own bicycle company in Chicago, which led him to befriend, coach and support Major Taylor. It’s unclear if Munger’s involvement with that earlier club somehow influenced these later incarnations.
Rambler Automobiles?
There is a connection between the Rambler bikes and Rambler cars.
In 1900, Gormully & Jeffrey was sold to the American Bicycle Company. Thomas B. Jeffrey started a new company to make Rambler automobiles. In 1916, this new company was sold and became the Nash Motors Company, which in 1954, became part of the American Motors Corporation. Ramblers were built in the U.S. through 1969, and in Mexico through 1983.
The building was designed by architect Edward A. Schilling. The lower floor was designed to store 400 to 500 bicycles. The upper floor was an open-air gallery with a broad balcony across the building’s length. According to the Free Press, it offered “a beautiful view down the park.” There were also rooms for retiring and refreshments.
While Hines was largely responsible for getting the funding, it helped that Detroit Mayor William Maybury was a member of the LAW and Detroit Wheelmen bicycle clubs. A statue of Mayor Maybury is in Grand Circus Park, sitting in a chair opposite of Mayor/Governor Hazen Pingree, who was also a member of the Detroit Wheelmen.