Columbia Bicycles 1884 Catalog
The following two pictures are found in the catalog along with the excerpts associated with each picture.
 The
Columbia Tricycle
>The Columbia Tricycle is
the result of an earnest endeavor, exerted
through all the skill, experience, and facilities at our command, to
produce the best possible tricycle, without restraint of cost or price.
The best materials have been chosen for it; and not only is it made on the interchangeable system, and so with great exactness of forms and joints and fittings throughout, but in the bearings and adjustments great accuracy and security have been produced, so that it might be as near as possible a perfect machine. |
 < Columbia Bicycle
FactoryAbout ten minutes walk from the railway station in Hartford, Conn. is one of the busiest and most interesting factories in America. It is the works of the Weed Sewing Machine Co., and has acquired an enviable reputation for excellent machine-work and fine mechanical skill. It was this company that we interested, and whose cooperation we gained, in the winter of 1877-8; and here the Columbia bicycles are made. Twenty-five rooms are devoted to
this manufacture, and are
furnished with an expensive |
Price List of Sundries
• Anti-Rust, per bottle, large - 50¢
• Bags, flat for holding wrenches, etc. - $1.00
• Bells, nickel plated gong - $1.25
• Cement for securing tire to the felloe - 25¢/lb
• Cyclometer - $4.00 Elastic Tips for handles - $1.00
• Handy Hooks or trouser fasteners - $1.00
• Lamps, wicks - 5¢
• Padlock and chain for locking bicycle - 50¢
Testimonials
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I would
recommend any of my brethren who are physically weak to try the saddle
of a "Standard Columbia" as a cure. I do
not hesitate to say that, in my opinion, the "Expert Columbia" is the
best finished, and, taking everything into consideration, the most
perfect bicycle I have ever seen. I have owned three different makes of
English machines, and have not been entirely suited until I received my
56-inch "Expert". I have
been examining the machines you are latterly placing before the public,
and I must say that, in my opinion, English makers of bicycles will
soon find their trade greatly diminished on this side of the water. Thy
perseverance deserves success, and no one wishes thee more of it than
thy friend and well wisher, |
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