Marsh Metz began with Charles Metz who founded the "Waltham Manufacturing Company" of Waltham, Massachusetts, in the late 1890's. Waltham began by manufacturing bicycles, but by 1903 Charles expanded the company into automobile and motorcycle manufacturing.
In the early years of Waltham Manufacturing, they produced a gasoline-powered automobile known as the "Orient Buckboard," and were known for such oddities as the "Oriten," a improbable ten-seater bicycle, which is now on display at the the Ford Museum in Dearborn. With the success of the Orient Buckboard, Waltham Manufacturing became known as the "Metz Car Company."
1913 Marsh Metz 'MM' - Owner: Mathew Smith, Oregon - Zoom
Metz and the 'Orient-Aster' Motor-Driven Bicycle
Waltham Manufacturing's 1898 "Orient-Aster" was America's first mass-production motor driven cycle (motorcycle), which was also known as the "Orient Motorcycle." The "Aster" portion of its name came from the motor which was made by the manufacturing firm of Aster.
Marsh Metz 1087cc V-Twin Motor
The Aster motor was built by the French firm of Ateliers de Construction Mecanique l'Aster in Saint-Denis, France. Construction Mecanique l'Aster built motors based on the revolutionary design of the 1895 French DeDion-Buton motor, which was the first gasoline engine ever built.
Marsh Metz "Tiller" Handelbars & Chrome Bullet-Tank
The Orient-Aster's power-plant was a 138cc single-cylinder gasoline powered motor producing 1/2 horsepower. The Orient-Aster was produced until 1904.
Company founder, Charles Metz left the Waltham Manufacturing Company in 1902, to begin the "Metz Motorcycle Company" on Whitney Avenue behind Woolworths Department Store. The Metz motorcycle was an instant success, establishing a new American record for a 70 second one-mile run.
The 'American Motorcycle Co.' and the Marsh Metz
With the success of the Metz motorcycle, Charles Metz joined into a partnership with Marsh Motorcycle Company of Brockton, Massachusetts in 1905, creating the "American Motorcycle Company" in Brockton. It was here that the "Marsh-Metz," also known as the "MM" was born.
MM 1087cc V-Twin Motor - Zoom
The newly formed American Motorcycle Company built its first two-cylinder engine in 1906, a 4 horsepower 1000cc v-twin that powered the MM (Marsh Metz). In 1921, the Metz Company fell on hard times, and Charles Metz relocated to Glendale, California to start a cabinetry factory.
Vintage Marsh Metz Links
The Metz Company of Waltham
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