A superb and rare photo of the magnificent Excelsior factory.

Excelsior Motor Manufacturing & Supply Company was a U.S. motorcycle manufacturer operating in Chicago from 1907 to 1931. It was purchased by Ignaz Schwinn, proprietor of bicycle manufacturer Arnold, Schwinn & Co. in 1912. The Henderson Motorcycle Company became a division of Excelsior when Schwinn purchased Henderson in 1917. By 1928, Excelsior was in third place in the U.S. motorcycle market behind Indian and Harley-Davidson. The Great Depression convinced Schwinn to order Excelsior's operations to cease in September 1931. Excelsior released its Super X model in 1925. The Super X was America's first motorcycle with a 45 cubic inches (737 cc) V-twin engine. It was conceived as a competitor to the smaller Indian Scout. In response to the Super X's popularity, Indian first raised the Scout's capacity to 45 cubic inches (737 cc) and then introduced the new Indian 101 Scout, while Harley-Davidson introduced their 45 cubic inches (737 cc) motorcycle, the Model D. In 1929, the stock market crash and the resulting Great Depression caused motorcycle sales to plummet. The summer of 1931 saw Schwinn call his department heads together for a meeting at Excelsior. He bluntly told them, with no prior indication, “Gentlemen, today we stop”. Schwinn felt that the Depression could easily continue for eight years, and even worsen. Despite a full order book, he had chosen to pare back his business commitments to the core business of bicycle manufacture. All motorcycle operations at Excelsior ended by September 1931.

This is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of Excelsior ‘s motorcycle history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 11" (ca. 20 x 27 cm). It makes it perfectly suitable for framing!