The VeloBase.com History of Healing |
Located in Bridge Road, Richmond Victoria, A. G. Healing commenced building & selling bicycles in 1907. The 'Healing Cycle' division of the A. G. Healing empire was sold to General Accessories in 1959.
According to historical research published in The Age ( Melbourne daily 14/8/2002) the company began in 1896 with Alfred George Healing, a Melbourne engineer began building bicycles in his shed. Their racing versions were used by Australian champions into the 1960s. At one stage after WW2 about the time when Soichiro Honda was building his first motorised bicycle in Japan- Healing was doing the same in Melbourne. An example of this innovation can be found at the ScienceWorks Museum in Spotswood, Melbourne.
In 1898 Alf Healing obtained the agency for the English "Haddon" bicycle and operated as A.G.Healing &Co in a small factory in Bridge Road, Richmond an industrial suburb of Melbourne then. Healing imported the parts and made up the bicycles though he is reputed to have made his own tyres. From 1800 to 1910 he was in partnership with E.A.Summers.The company took off after an error was made in the orders and the company ended up with twice the amount of bicycle parts and no finances to pay for them.To solve this problem Healing cycled all around Victoria selling the parts and found that there was a large market for bicycles at the time.The buisness was transferred to Melbourne in 1902 and in 1904 the partnership was dissolved and Summers took over the New Zealnd branch which Healing had earlier established.
In 1912 the company became a proprietary company and in 1927 Healing became Governing Director. Alfred Healing's son Keith became an apprentice in 1921 in the family factory on the corner of Elizabeth and Queensberry Streets, Melbourne.The staff grew to around 50 persons and the company produced some 25000 per year at the peak of production. Branches were created in all Australian states. By 1933 the firm diversified into radios which they first imported, but due to the prohibition on imported radios they developed their own, learning along the way. In 1956 the firm went into alliance with the American firm Dumont for the manufacture of televisions and diverted into then lucrative market of electrical appliances and whitegoods. By the 1950s the firm became more interested in making domestic appliances and sold the bicycle division in all States including manufacture and retail, to the English company, General Accessories Pty.Ltd.
The company sponsored some of the "Greats" of Australian cycle racing .Before WW2 Bill Moritz and "Tassie" Johnson were the Healing Teams star riders. Road and Track champions of Australia respectively. In the1950s Healing sponsored the Olympic Dual Gold Medallist and legendary Australian star Russell "Mocka" Mockridge who rode Healing exclusively from his school days until his regretful fatal accident during a road race in 1958. |