Gormully & Jeffery

An 1887 Gormully & Jeffery American Challenge bicycle at the Old Red Museum

Gormully & Jefferey started with the production of children's bicycles in 1879. They were the second bicycle manufacturer established in the United States, and the first in the Western US.[1]

G&J played an important role in opening up the industry for bicycles in the United States. They fought the original license-holder for the production of bicycles and eventually won the process in the US supreme court.[2]

The company was sold to the American Bicycle Company, led by Pope and Spaulding, in 1900 so that Jeffery could focus on manufacturing the Rambler automobile under the new Thomas B. Jeffery Company.[2]

Gormully served as the company's president and treasurer, Jeffery as secretary and superintendent.[3]

Their main workshop was located on North Franklin and Pearson streets in Chicago with a retail salesroom at 85 Madison street. They later developed branches in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C.[3]

Newspaper ad for a "Rambler" by Gormully & Jeffery (1891)

From 1887 to 1990 Gormully & Jefferey marketed their products under the Rambler brand. They used a variety of new techniques, improving the quality of their bikes.[1]

• Kenosha's Jeffery & Rambler Automobiles, Patrick Foster, Arcadia Publishing, 2018
• The History of AMC Motorsports: Trans-Am, Drag, NASCAR, Land Speed and Off-Road Racing. Bob McClurg, 2016, p.11
• Peddling Bicycles to America: The Rise of an Industry, Bruce D. Epperson, McFarland & Company, 2014

• Trade catalogs from Gormully & Jeffery at the National Museum of American History