Huffman Manufacturing Company in World War Two
Dayton, OH
1924-Current as Huffy Corporation in Miamisburg, OH

This page added 3-5-2022.

An American Auto Industry in World War Two Special Edition

This is a rare example of 19,750 Huffman Model 81 bicycles built by the Huffman Manufacturing Company of Dayton, OH from 1942 through 1944.  Of the three types of products built by the company during the war, primers, measures, and bicycles, it is the only product of which a few still exist.  Table 1 shows that $565,000 of the $1,488,000 Huffman had in major World War Two contracts were for bicycles.  This was 38% of the company's war contracts.  Information from Table 2 shows that Huffman built a total of 20,270 bicycles for the war effort.  The average cost of each bicycle was $27.87.  This Model 81 is on display at the Freeman Army Airfield Museum located at the Freeman Municipal Airport in Seymour, IN was built in 1943.  Author's photo.

Table 1 shows that the Huffman Manufacturing Company, like many others during World War Two, made products totally different from its pre-war product line, which was service station equipment and bicycle rims.  These were the original product lines of the company when it was started in 1924 by Horace M. Huffman, Sr.  It was not until 1934 that Mr. Huffman added bicycles to his company's product line after realizing there was a growing market for them during the depression. 

A month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Huffman was given its first of three contracts for artillery shell primers.  The three contracts totaled $711,000 or 48% of its total war production.  It was not until 1943 that the company was given a contract to produce bicycles for the United States Army which was 38% of its World War Two output. 

Today the company started by Mr. Huffman almost 100 years ago has been renamed Huffy and markets an extensive line of Chinese-built bicycles, electric riding toys, and electric scooters.  The company no longer manufactures its products in the United States.  Its headquarters is in Miamisburg, OH. 

The bicycle was donated to the museum in 2018.  Author's photo.

The Dayton nametag was used on Huffman bicycles until 1949.  Author's photo.

The "Freeman Field" name was added to the bicycle due to its inclusion and display at the Freeman Army Airfield Museum.  It is unknown where this bicycle served during World War Two.  Author's photo.

One of the identifers of a Huffman World War Two bicycle is the swirl design of the pedal sprocket.  The other manufacturer of World War Two bicycles, Westfield, had pedal sprockets with a radial design.  Author's photo.

How cool is this?  This Huffman bicycle was purchased after World War Two by the soldier who used it in Egypt during the war.  See the information on this one-of-a-kind Huffman bicycle in the photo below.  This was on display at the 2019 MVPA National Convention in York, PA.  Author's photo.


This may be the only World War Two era Huffman bicycle of which the entire life history is known.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Author's photo.

Author's photo.

In 1943 Huffman made a production run of 500 Model HF-771 lightweight folding bicycles for paratrooper use.  As can be seen, the bicycle did not have fenders or a chain guard to reduce its weight.  Of the 500 built, this is the only known surviving example and is part of the bicycle display at the Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, OH.   

This example is a gift from Huffy to the Carillon Historical Park.  

If World War Two had not shut down production of civilian bicycles, Huffman would have produced many 1942 Dayton Flyers like this one on display at Carillon Historical Park.  When civilian production stopped, the company was operating on three shifts making bicycles.  

The Carillon Historical Park also has this special Huffman-built bicycle on display, on loan from the Henry Ford Museum.  This was Huffman's millionth bicycle built on May 13, 1947.  It was made with a chrome frame plated with 14-karat gold. 

I remember training wheels on my first bicycle when I was learning to ride.  However, not many years before I used training wheels, Huffman led their introduction in 1951.  I had just assumed they had always been around.  I was one of the first generation to learn on them.

The Huffman Manufacturing Company plant:  The World War Two era Huffman factory was located on the east side of Dayton, OH at the south end of Gilbert Avenue.

This Sanborn fire map shows the location of the Huffman plant on Gilbert Avenue south of Davis Avenue.

This larger Sanborn map of the area shows a residential area to the north of the factory and the Pennsylvania Railroad to the south of the plant. 

A current Google Maps satellite view of the facility shows that Dayton Bag & Burlap now occupies both the plants previously owned by the Huffman Manufacturing Company and Master Electric Company.  While the Sanborn maps show the two former factories to be separated, this view shows that the two have been connected and both are part of the same complex.  Also, the Sanborn maps show Gilbert Avenue as a true north-south street; the Google satellite view shows this is not correct. 

The Davis Sewing Machine Company: 

This company is acknowledged by historians as being the predecessor of the Huffman Manufacturing Company.  It was owned by George P. Huffman, father of Horace M. Huffman, Sr.  Originally started in Watertown, NY in 1868, George Huffman moved his company to Dayton, OH in 1889 and moved into a factory complex at Linden and Davis Avenues.  At the height of its business cycle, the company employed 2,000 workers and produced 128,000 sewing machines per year.  However, the company exited the sewing machine business and focused on bicycle production as the bicycle became popular in the United States.  In 1925 the company was sold, and the profits were used to start the Huffman Manufacturing Company. 

The photo shows the Davis factory complex looking southeast.  At the very far left, or east, in the photo is the location of the Huffman Manufacturing Company.

The Davis Sewing Machine Company also made motorcycles like this 1917 model.

This Sanborn fire map also shows the Davis Sewing Machine factory complex.

This Google Maps satellite view shows the location of the former Davis Sewing Machine Company at the left and the Huffman Manufacturing Company at the right.  Both companies were located in the same industrial area of Dayton, OH.