1919 Davis Sewing Machine Company Dayton Bicycles Catalog

A high quality production that is a continuation of the 1912 & 1916 catalogs with images carried forward from those years. Something new, however, is the graphic design on the cover which bears no resemblance to the classic designs of prior catalogs and must have impressed consumers at the time as being quite modern.

A unique addition are two separate inserts. The first is a printed thank you from the company to a request for a copy of the Dayton catalog, the second a typed form “Letter of Introduction” dated March 26, 1919, to the Solomon Cycle Co. of Elizabeth, NJ introducing them to Mr. Alexander Gmelin of 15 Norman Place, Cranford, NJ. The first is obviously directed to the potential customer, the second to the dealer. Typewriter indentations in the paper surface indicate that the document we have was physically typed, so perhaps it was a form with a carbon copy with the copy forwarded to the dealer, and the original included with the catalog as evidence of the the introduction.

Page 1 repeats the taglines “[The Dayton] is the result of Long Experience, Ample Facilities and a Determination to Make the Best” & “True As Stell and Skill Can Make Them” that were incorporated as part of the graphic on the first page of the 1912 & the 1916 Dayton catalogs. It also reminds the reader that the Dayton was “Awarded the Gold Medal of Merit at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition San Francisco” in 1915 noted in the 1916 catalog.

Page 2 makes note of “The Military Model Dayton – in Service in France” in support of American troops during World War I showing the distinctive “Dayton Military Model” headbadge of which only one is known to exist so far as I am aware.

On the pages featuring bicycle models are illustrations of boy scouts on Dayton Bicycles that were used in a contemporaneous advertising campaign.

Models

Dayton Roadster – Model 160 – Price $52.50 ($998*)

Dayton Ladies’ Roadster – Model 161 – Price $52.75 ($1,015)

Dayton Motor-Bike – Model 162 – Price $58 ($1,102)

Dayton Racer – Model 163 – Price $55 ($1,045)

Dayton Arch-Truss Roadster – Model 164 – Price $54.50 ($1,036)

Dayton Bikeabout – Model 167 – Price $54 ($1,026)

Boy’s Dayton Roadster – Model 165 – Price $42.75 ($812)

Girl’s Dayton Roadster – Model 166 – Price $42.75 ($831)

*CPI adjusted to 2025.

Mark Huffman 10/12/2026