1901 Monarch Men’s Chainless
22″ Frame
28″ Wheels
(Now sold)
Chainless bicycles possess a delightfully uncluttered appearance. I’d just picked up this Monarch from the workshop, where it had just been serviced. It is fitted with metal wheels and new pneumatic tyres. As it was already on my van, I decided to ride it at Amberley Museum’s Veteran Cycle event the following day. It rides well, and what particularly struck me is how it felt like I was riding a high-geared machine. It cruises well at low speeds but is a fast machine once you ‘put your foot down.’
1904 MONARCH CATALOGUE
1890s MONARCH ADVERTISEMENTS
MONARCH CYCLE MFG CO
John William Kiser, capitalist and manufacturer, was born at St. Paris, Ohio, 20 June, 1857, the son of George Riley and Margaret Ellen (McVey) Kiser. His father was a farmer and stock raiser, and accumulated over 1,000 acres of rich farm lands before his death. After his preparatory education at the grammar and high schools of St. Paris, he entered Wittenburg College at Springfield, Ohio, where he was graduated B.A., in 1884, with the highest honors.
After leaving college, he had planned to pursue the study of law, but conditions made this impossible, and in 1884 he accepted a position with O. S. Kelly Company, large manufacturers, of Springfield, Ohio, as traveling collector and adjuster of litigated claims. In 1889 he resigned this position and went to Chicago, Ill., became identified with the Chicago Sewing Machine Company, subsequently becoming its manager. Mr. Kiser was practically without funds when arriving in Chicago, but with the energy of a young farmer and the brains of a captain of industry, he took advantage of the opportunities that confronted him and through untiring efforts, within a few years, he had accumulated a large fortune.
Out of the sewing-machine company was evolved the Monarch Cycle Manufacturing Company, which was organized by Mr. Kiser in 1892 with a capitalization of $500,000. He was the president and majority stockholder. He seized the wonderful opportunity offered by the bicycle and made this concern one of the strongest in the field.
In 1899 Mr. Kiser sold the Monarch Cycle Manufacturing Company to the “Bicycle Trust,” and in so doing displayed that fine judgment which has crowned all his business ventures with such phenomenal success, for very shortly the crash came. He saw that the automobile would soon succeed the bicycle in popular esteem and so conserved his resources at the outset.
Monarch Cycle Mfg Co info with thanks to – https://chicagology.com/cycling/monarch/
