Nearly 40 people attended the Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre’s (CIHC) second annual symposium on Saturday, April 26, 2025.
The free event, entitled “Bikes! Bikes! Bikes!,” celebrated Brantford’s rich cycling past and highlighted the city’s bike makers, bikers and collectors.
“Brantford is an outstanding microcosm of Canada’s industrial history; from farm machinery to bicycles and beyond, Brantford played a really important role in building up Canada,” said Christina Han, CIHC president. “In today’s program, we will focus on one shining example of that wonderful history, the local bicycle industry.”
To kick off the event, Louise Trotter, a travel writer and photographer from Halifax, Nova Scotia, shared the story of Karl Creelman and his ties to Brantford’s Goold Bicycle Company and its Red Bird bicycle.
Creelman was known for setting out on an international journey by bike in May of 1899, traveling from Truro, Nova Scotia, across North America, to Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Egypt, Europe and Great Britain, before heading back to Canada.
“In May of 1899, the Wright brothers had yet to successfully fly an airplane and although cars had been invented, the first imported cars wouldn’t have arrived in Nova Scotia for another four years. But there was a bicycle craze, and at that time, 1899, there were over 25 Canadian bicycle manufacturers,” said Trotter. “Hotels had set up special rates for cyclists to travel across the country, [there were] competitions with racing events on old horse tracks, and the route to the Klondike Gold Rush was packed with cyclists banking to make their fortunes. So when 21-year-old Karl Creelman decided he wanted to travel around the world to simply have a look around and gain a bit of experience, his only real choice was to travel by bicycle.”
Having stumbled upon a mural inspired by Creelman’ story and travels in 2016, Trotter spent the next several years researching everything she could about the young Nova Scotian. In 2020, she eventually set out to retrace his 27-month journey, and has been doing so ever since.
“I committed to doing the research, and four years later, I decided I would follow his path around the world; I’m sorry to say, especially to this group in the room, my decision was that I was not going to travel by bicycle,” said Trotter, with a laugh. “…I do the journey in increments, and I’ve done it in entirely a different order, but as of today, I’m pretty proud to say that I’ve traveled also right across America, through India, Egypt, Northern Europe, Great Britain, and I’ve just recently returned from Australia and Sri Lanka.”
She continued to say that by the time Creelman had arrived in Belleville, Ontario, his 1897 New Barnes bike was in rough shape.
“When he arrived in Belleville, he had two bicycle dealers wooing him, particularly a man from “the Brantford company,” who offered him a new wheel if he was interested. This Brantford company was, of course, the Goold Bicycle Company established in 1888,” said Trotter. “Karl promptly accepted the offer and placed a sign on his new bicycle that read, ‘KARL M. CREELMAN, AROUND THE WORLD.’ Karl was riding an 1899 Red Bird model 55. He rode his trusty Red Bird, right across North America, then to Australia, Sri Lanka, northwards to India, Egypt, and Great Britain, before coming back home to Nova Scotia.”
Following her presentation, Murray Angus, president of the Brant Historical Society, spoke about the Canada Cycle & Motor Co. Ltd. (CCM).
He talked about Edward Goold and William J. Knowles, and how the two came together to establish the Goold Bicycle Company first.
“In 1888, the company listed Goold as the president, Knowles as a vice president, and William H. Shapley as the plant superintendent. A subsidiary company, the Branford Bicycle Supply Company, was also formed to supply bicycle tires, rims, saddles, etc., and the company would eventually make the first vulcanized tires in Canada,” said Angus. “…By 1893 the company built a large, three story factory on Elgin Street, almost at the corner of Clarence, where they quickly grew in size to a staff of 350 men who were building 100 bicycles a day; this included the company’s most popular model, of course, the Red Bird, and the building grew.”
He then noted that there would have been several local industries that benefited from the company’s presence, but that by 1899, the Goold Bicycle Company was sold to a group of Toronto businessmen. It was eventually announced that the company would merge with four others to become CCM.
Later, Rick Mannen, a former writer and editor for the magazine, Antique Powers, later took to the podium to speak to his book, “An ‘Ideal’ Company: A History of Goold, Shapley & Muir.”
He talked about how Goold, Shapley and another man, John Muir, started Goold, Shapely and Muir Co. in 1892. The company was known for manufacturing products like gasoline engines and tractors, windmills and concrete mixers.
Mannen also spoke quite a bit about the Red Bird Bike, as well as tariffs around the early 1900s, and how they affected business.
Jamie McGregor, a life-long antique collector, chatted about collecting Canadian bicycles and antique affairs. He showed several CCM badges, as well as medals that belonged to Fred Westbrook, a local high-wheel bicycle champion. Westbrook was said to have won 111 out 127 races, and was also known for his Barnum & Bailey Circus trick riding act with his brother-in-law, Charles Hacker.
To close out the symposium, Stan Gorecki, of Heron Head Bikes, discussed the sustainable benefits of riding bicycles, what goes into making these machines in modern times, and the positive social advantages that come with riding a bike.
“This is an amazing tool,” he said. “This is an amazing machine for us as humans. It helps reduce stress through movement, it helps reduce social isolation and loneliness, which are associated with dementia, heart disease, strokes, depression, anxiety and other afflictions.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
