#Murray bicycle serial number decoder series#

The Wildcat was also styled by Schreckengost, who gave it his own interpretation of a chopper motorcycle, with high-rise handlebars, a tall sissy bar, and a flared rear fender.

Youth bicycle production received a boost with the 1965 introduction of MurrayвЂ™s version of the small-tired, banana-seat, wheelie bike pioneered by Schwinn, the Murray Wildcat. One of its more famous former employees is former Senator Fred D. It later became a UAW plant (1991), and produced both bicycles and lawn and garden equipment. (8) Some of those arrested were transported to jail in a state highway department dump truck. (7) There were still scores of state troopers guarding the facility on May 12th when two explosions went off near the facility that reporters linked to the conflict. (6) The next day approximately 60 workers were arrested by state troopers. Two hundred marched from the factory to the jail singing вЂwe shall not be movedвЂ™ after the arrests. Nine picketers were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. The next day the state troopers were initially rebuffed by striking workers, before moving against them again and then clearing a path for the replacement workers. The company was unable to resume production that day because an electrical transformer was sabotaged by a sniper. (5) A court declared their pickets illegal, and Tennessee state troopers were brought to the factory to stop picketing by striking workers on April 19th. Two picketers were hospitalized, one struck by the car of a non-union worker, one injured by the police. Police locked arms as they protected 1350 workers who drove into the facility. On April 12th 50 workers were arrested as the company resumed production. The Teamsters charged unfair labor practices and proceeded to lead a 46-day strike that halted production. There was a failed effort by the Teamsters to win a NLRB election in March of 1965. (4) Originally a non-union plant, the Lawrenceburg facility began operations in 1956, and over the next few decades, the complex grew to become one of the largest facilities of its type in the United States: 42.7 acres (173,000 m 2) under roof. Like its competitor, American Machine and Foundry (AMF), Murray left Cleveland in the 1950s and moved its factory and assembly plant to the American South, choosing a factory site in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, with corporate headquarters located in Brentwood, Tennessee. By modifying chain guards, luggage carriers, lighting, handlebars, and truss rods, Schrekengost gave each bicycle a distinctive look while retaining the same welded tube frame design. Schrekengost styled more than 100 mostly youth bicycles for Sears, Western Auto, Firestone Tire, and other retailers, including the Spaceliner, Western Flyer, and Firestone. These low-cost parts and materials undercut the prices of MurrayвЂ™s competition, selling millions of bicycles (often with retailer names) to department stores, hardware stores, and general retailers. Most Murray bicycles were for the youth market, often featuring one-piece steel Ashtabulacranksets and internally brazed frames using inexpensive seamed or straight-gauge steel tubing. This occasionally brought Murray into legal conflict with competitors, as when Schwinn filed against Murray for duplicating a Schwinn knurling and machining process on its rims. manufacturers, including Schwinn and AMF. Since the 1930s, Murray had been producing bicycles that, while stylistically different, imitated designs by other U.S. It was produced only in limited numbers until 1942, when the war stopped consumer bicycle production.ДЄfter the war, Murray became known as a manufacturer of low-cost bicycles, and placed its own brand on some products. However, the Mercury was an expensive bicycle, and sales were few. Styled by the industrial artist and designer, Viktor Schreckengost, the streamlined machine, with an elaborate diecast metal headpiece, was finished in black, chrome, and polished aluminum, the deluxe version of the Mercury Pacemaker line.

#Murray bicycle serial number decoder series#

In 1939, Murray introduced its Pacemaker Series Mercury bicycle at the 1939 New York WorldвЂ™s Fair. From 1939 through 1942, Murray made the body parts for the Crosley automobile. Until 1939, Murray manufactured all of its products for branding and sale by other manufacturers, especially Sears, Roebuck & Co. Other products included pedal cars and electric fans.

In the mid-1930s, the company began production of bicycles, mostly for the youth market. (2) The company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Cleveland factory was unionized by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and AFLвЂ“CIO. Murray Ohio Manufacturing Company was founded in 1919 to make fenders, fuel tanks, and other automobile parts.