MIAMI MOTORBIKES - two 1915 ads! MIDDLETOWN OHIO; rare, almost a motorcycle

Description

two ads
for
Miami Motor Bicycles
1915
This is a pair of rare vintage magazine advertisements for Miami Motor Bicycle, made by the Miami Cycle and Manufacturing Co., of Middletown, Ohio. They were each published in
Popular Mechanics
magazine in 1915, before America even got into World War I. They are full-page ads, on sheets measuring 6.5 x 9.5 inches in size which are in excellent and attractive condition.
A note says that the Miami Cycle Co. also made the Flying Merkel motorcycle, but these ads promote a motorized vehicle that is midway between a bicycle and a full motorcycle. It got 115 miles to a gallon of gas, and the Models 15 & 16 are listed as weighing 119 and 125 pounds and costing 5 and 0. One text says, in part:
“Imagine a self-propelling machine much stronger than a pedal-driven bicycle and almost as easy to operate . . . Except for high speed, it will do everything that a motorcycle can do—and it costs only a fraction as much. It will take you across country, up and down the hills, and to and from school or work . . .”
Etc.
[gsp1217ip]
_gsrx_vers_856 (GS 7.0.20 (856))