13 March 2010

Winnie identified? CCM-made Garry bicycles

You remember Nicki's 1950s CCM-made bike (Winnie), which doesn't have a CCM chainwheel? Instead it has a cloverleaf chainwheel, similar to the one you see on some Schwinns but with 4 ovals instead of 4 circles:
 
I think I might have sussed out why: she's a CCM-made Garry bicycle, manufactured for J.H. Ashdown Hardware of Winnipeg. Yup, Winnipeg. So her name is ever so appropriate!

Here's how I figured it out:

This headbadge, with the rivet holes on the sides like the CCM badges have, is up for auction on eBay. It reads:
J.H. Ashdown Hardware Co.  
GARRY
Winnipeg
Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, & Edmonton
No bidding on it, collectors, we're determined to snag it for Nicki!

A search on Garry bicycles turned up this thread on CCM bikes, which mentions that Canada Cycle & Motor Co. was the manufacturer for Garry bicycles. {Aside: It also mentions that Daniel Massey (founder of Massey-Harris, one of the companies that was a progenitor of CCM) was a brother of actor Raymond Massey - who I'm supposedly distantly related to! I'll have to follow that trail and see if the family connection with CCM is real.}

The search for Garry bicycles also turned up these three Flikr photos of a blue Garry loop-frame bike in hard shape. The photos aren't very high resolution, and are taken from the wrong side of the bike, but the chainwheel looks just like Winnie's! And so does the frame, right down to the attachment of the chainguard!

(for comparison with the Flikr photos)

Bike pron: closeup of the way the chainguard is mounted to Winnie's frame. 

A full history of the J.H. Ashdown Hardware Company and its proprietor's huge role in the early years of the city of Winnipeg can be found on the Manitoba Historical Society website. At their height they had retail shops and wholesale warehouses in every city in the Canadian Prairies. "Garry" would refer to Fort Garry, the fur-trading fort that was the first European settlement in the area.

8 comments:

  1. Oh, and it seems that the Masseys are indeed my distant cousins. 7th cousins of my paternal grandfather... heh.

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  2. This is SO awesome! Your research skills are just so excellent. Seeing it in comparison with the photos of the blue bike is such great evidence of my Winnie's history. It's uncanny that I decided to name her Winnie, haha. IT WAS MEANT TO BE!
    The headbadge is gorgeous and I'm saying a prayer to the eBay gods because I absolutely need to have it, especially now that I know where Winnie is from.
    Also.. I can't believe you're related to the Masseys!

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  3. We won the eBay auction! So, if the headbadge is the soul of a bike, Winnie is being brought back from her zombie undeadness. Or something.

    Nicki: I still can't believe that you named her Winnie BEFORE we knew all this. It's spooky.

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  4. Hi,

    I just found your blog on Google, and I love it!
    You're a wealth of information and oh-so-patient with putting all those links in.
    (and don't you love Etsy?)

    Anyway, I've been searching high and low for a coaster break, 1 speed ladies bike for years (to recreate my childhood bike rides) and I would like to know what you think a reasonable price is for one of these vintage beauty queens.

    I don't have loads of cash to spend, so I wouldn't mind finding a lady in need of TLC, but what price range should I be looking in?

    If it's not too indiscreet, how much was Mary Poppins?

    I don't want to get ripped off by an antique dealer, and these bikes are hard to find in Regina Saskatchewan.

    Thanks for your help, and keep writing!

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  5. Hi Ariane, Aw shucks. =) I originally paid $80 for Mary Poppins - which was unexpectedly low. For a good idea of the market value of a used bike that's been professionally tuned up, Halifax's Ideal Bikes' website (idealbikes.ca) have a great page that will give you a good idea what your money should buy - although it'll vary from city to city.

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  6. Do you commute downtown? I swear I saw you today on what looked to be a vintage CCM around 4:45 pm around Jasper Ave and close to 103 street I think.


    Fiona
    girlcanbike.com

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  7. Hi Fiona!
    Nope, unfortunately that wasn't me! Winnie still needs another good clean and air in her tires (among other things) :)

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  8. This photo looks like it's another CCM in the original colour: http://www.ibikedb.net/bikes/17074-

    Also just wanted to note that Coreen from Breaking Chains and Taking Lanes has a Garry loop-frame (now named Poplar) intact with original headbadge that's identical to Winnie in nearly every way - so we can confirm that Winnie is a Garry.

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