History: American Bikes and WWII Part 1 - "The Gathering Storm"

 Many people know that the United States fought in World War II between December 1941 and September 1945 (at least I hope many people still know this). Fewer people know that even before officially joining the allied powers, the U.S. contributed war materiel to the allies, especially Britain and France. The U.S. supported the allies for a number of months before joining the war officially. 

 But what you may not know is that even before December 7, 1941 (Pear Harbor), the U.S. government was instructing manufacturers to prepare for a wartime footing. These instructions limited the use of certain materials or limited production to certain models of civilian products.

Bicycles were no exception. Let's take a look at a Schwinn directive, dating to October 1941, around two months before Pearl Harbor. [special thanks to Mark Mattei for making these materials available]

The following pages show how Schwinn bicycles, an American company followed a U.S. Government order to limit production of certain models. By fall 1941, it was becoming clear that the United States would eventually be drawn into the war. Schwinn was able to continue producing several balloon tire models and several "lightweights" (in American parlance, a "lightweight" was a bicycle similar to an English three speed type bike). 

Stricter limitations on use of strategic materials would eventually come, but even before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the bicycle industry was like so many other American industries in that it was moving to a wartime footing.