Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album [Hardcover]

Jean Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 2003

Here’s an inside look at Harley-Davidson as only family members could tell it! Jean Davidson’s Harley-Davidson Family Album presents never-before-seen family photos, as well as personal stories from the perspective of a family member and former Harley-Davidson dealer. Jean Davidson, the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, one of the four founders and the first president of Harley-Davidson, and the daughter of company vice-president Gordon Davidson, shares such family stories as: how four boys built their first bike in a shed in 1902, speculation about how the firm was named, how the family’s rich hermit uncle saved the fledgling corporation from bankruptcy, the story behind the Silent Gray Fellow, and the sale and buy-back of the company. It also includes photos and reminiscences from Sarah and Mary Harley, granddaughters of William S. Harley. This memoir of the Harley-Davidson motorcycling dynasty presents a family album of rare photos of family members and fun photos of all those fabulous Harley-Davidson motorcycles: putting a personal face on the world’s most famous motorcycle maker.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In this, the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company, the granddaughter of one of the four founders shares the history, legends, and many personal photos of the marque that simply defines motorcycle for most people. Page after eye-catching and attention-arresting page takes readers down memory lane as the author discusses such topics as Harley-Davidson's first venture into motorcycle racing, the family life of the men who were the founders, women workers at H-D factories, and H-D during wartimes. As fun as the book is for motorcycle enthusiasts, it also is important in terms of filling a niche in the overall history of the American vehicle business. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Jean Davidson first rode on one of her family's famous motorcycles at the age of three. She is the grand-daughter of Harley-Davidson founder and President Walter Davidson and the daughter of Harley-Davidson Vice President of Manufacturing Gordon McLay Davidson. She is a former Harley-Davidson dealer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Voyageur Press (April 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896586294
• ISBN-13: 978-0896586291
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 10.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #628,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Harleys and The Davidsons Behind Harley-Davidson, December 15, 2003

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album (Hardcover)

Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album is a great gift for anyone who wants to know more about Harley-Davidsons. While most books about these wonderful motorcycles focus on the bikes and their impact on the culture, the Family Album describes the effect of the motorcycle on the founders and their families . . . and vice versa. It's a dimension of Harley-Davidson that I knew nothing about . . . and found to be fascinating.

Jean Davidson is the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, the first president of the company, and her father was Gordon Davidson, a company vice president. She is a former dealer. She teams up with Sara Ann Harley-O'Hearn to add comments about both families. About half of the photographs were new to me, and the captions were priceless.

The book opens with family trees of Davidsons and Harleys who are in the book so you can keep track of who's who.

Then the book turns to how the families emigrated from Europe to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Within five pages of photographs, you begin to see motorcycle images. The first classic is of Arthur Davidson with a friend holding up the fish they caught while sitting on a motorcycle and in a sidecar. The original idea behind the motorcycle was to help make it easier to go fishing. Go figure!

The text is also interesting . . . including an explanation of why the company is called Harley-Davidson rather than Davidson-Harley.

The family connections are interesting. The model called "Silent Grey Fellow" in 1914 employed the nickname for William Sylvester Harley. There's also a nice page on the first motorcycle and what happened to it through 1912.

It wasn't all easy. In 1904 a household maid raided the company's cash jar, and left the company broke. The Davidson brothers' uncle, James McLay, came to the rescue. His photograph is included.

Interspaced with the family materials are examples of motorcycles, advertisements and motion picture stills featuring motorcycles.

One of my favorite family photographs shows the chauffeur who was used to drive the founder's wives around in a sidecar. Even though the family was prospering, they preferred their bikes!

There are also photographs of the male founders working on bikes and even testing them.

The book also describes the company's attitude toward having women work at the company (single women only in the early days).

Just after I finished this book, I happened to see an advertisement for S.C. Johnson where the fourth generation and fifth generation members talked about how the company is the family and vice versa. I couldn't help but think that this observation is equally true of Harley-Davidson after enjoying this fine album.

Photography fans should be warned, however, that like most family albums, these images are often not professional grade. They are often just like the snaps that your grandparents and parents took when they were young. To me, that aspect just added to the charm of the book.

I was encouraged to take out our family album after looking at this one. I hope you will do the same.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Harley Davidson Family Album by Jean Davidson, August 22, 2003

By 

Joseph S. Maresca "Dr. Joseph S. Maresca CPA,... (Bronxville, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful scrapbook of the history of the Harley
Davidson Company on its 100th birthday. It is written by the
grand daughter of Walter Davidson.There are a series of action
pictures depicting the family in the early 1900s including
a 1918 outing. The book explains the dynamics of testing
each motorcycle directly from the assembly line. This rendition
would make a perfect gift for a motorcycle enthusiast.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't know about your family?, October 21, 2004

By 

Harley Head - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album (Hardcover)

But mine was very connected to motorcycles. I want to thank the authors of this book for having shared their very personal family information and pictures. This book and especially these families have had a profound effect on our ever shrinking planet and it's peoples. If you read for fun you will find great pleasure in this book and "THE SECOND COMING OF AGE" by: Vedrine; a must for every Harley Davidson enthusiast.