Ignatz was born on April Fool’s Day, 1860, in Hardheim, Germany. He was the second of seven children. His father, Richard, was a master craftsman.
Ignaz was only 11 years old when his father died. Ignaz’s mother was left to support the family after his death. Specific details about her life and name are not widely documented.
What we do know is that after his father’s death, Ignatz began working to help support his mother and younger siblings. He completed a mechanical apprenticeship and developed an interest in bicycles during his youth.
During the era of the popular big wheel “Ordinary” bicycle, Ignatz noticed its instability and became interested in James Starley’s innovative Safety bicycle, which featured a smaller front wheel and a chain-driven gear system. In his free time, Ignatz worked hard to improve Starley’s Safety bicycle design and presented it to Henrick Kleyer, who was the largest bicycle manufacturer in Germany at that time. Kyler hired Ignatz, and together they produced some of Germany’s first Safety bicycles.
After a disagreement with Kleyer over a coaster brake design, Ignaz and his wife, Helen, and son Frank moved to America. In rapidly growing Chicago in 1891, Ignaz began working at several bicycle companies but soon sought more opportunities for innovation.
Ignaz meets a man named Adolph Frederick William Arnold, and from there, everything unfolds. As the co-founder of Arnold Brothers’ meat market in 1864, Adolph Arnold became one of Chicago’s most successful investors. He served as president of Haymarket Produce Bank. Eleven years older than Ignaz, Arnold recognized a great opportunity when he saw one. With the bicycle industry’s sales and popularity on the rise, Arnold seized the moment.
In 1895, the Arnold Schwinn & Company was formed. Ignaz Schwinn ran the business with Adolph Arnold as his financial backer.
Bicycles became widely popular as they were designed for safe public use, leading millions of Americans and people all over the world to purchase and ride them for convenience and leisure. Attendance at bicycle races even surpassed that of baseball games.
And through it all, Ignaz Schwinn had the good sense to give his backer top billing!!!
And now you know why Ignaz Schwinn is someone we should never forget!
OHB…rolling with you on “the backroads… by the rivers of my memory…ever gentle on my mind!” (John Hartford)