Rare 1948 American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Gypsy Tour pin & AMA Veteran pin

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Rare 1948 American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Gypsy Tour pin & AMA Veteran pin:
$36.33

A very collectible set of pins. These AMA pins are from the immediate post-WWII period when a lot of vets began riding. The Gypsy Tour is 35mm x 25mm. The Veteran pin is smaller. Both have good pins. The following is from the AMA website:

The American Motorcycle Association

\"The slogan of the AMA will be: An Organized Minority Can Always Defeat an Unorganized Majority.\" (Western Motorcyclist and Bicyclist, May 20, 1924)

The Motorcycle & Allied Trades Association (M&ATA) began registering riders in 1919, and by early 1924, it claimed about 10,000 members. On May 15 at a meeting in Cleveland, the directors of the M&ATA proposed to create the \"American Motorcycle Association\" as a division of the M&ATA. The new AMA would control rider registration and activities, issue sanctions for national events, and serve motorcycle industry members.

The registered M&ATA riders were transferred as AMA charter members, while individual AMA membership dues were set at $1 per year. The motorcycle industry was represented in the AMA in three membership classes: \"Class A,\'\' which included large motorcycle companies; \"Class B,\'\' which included supply and accessory companies; and \"Class C,\'\' which included motorcycle dealers.

The official ratification of the AMA became effective on August 1, and the first national event operated under an AMA sanction was most likely the second annual National Six Days Trial, held from August 25 through 30 in Ohio and adjacent states. This was a 1,400-mile endurance run that started and finished in Cleveland.

Membership growth was at the top of the early AMA\'s list of priorities. As Parsons stated in the May 20, 1924, issue of Western Motorcyclist and Bicyclist: \"Plans are under way to start membership contests and build up the AMA to a live and active fighting organization for the benefit of the motorcycle riders of America. Instead of the 10,000 members now registered with the M&ATA, it is expected that the AMA will have a membership of 50,000.\'\'

For the first few years, the AMA maintained an office at 326 W. Madison St. in Chicago, with A.B. Coffman (previously with the FAM and the M&ATA) as secretary. The secretary\'s responsibilities grew substantially over those years, and Coffman was not able to serve full-time because of other duties.

The president of the M&ATA at that time, Jim Wright, hired a full-time secretary for the AMA in October 1928. The new secretary was E.C. Smith, a former referee for the FAM and M&ATA. Along with one staff assistant, Smith relocated the AMA office to 252 N. High St. in Columbus, Ohio. The AMA\'s subsequent Columbus locations included: 8 E. Long St., 106 Buttles Ave., and 5030 N. High St.; followed by 5655 N. High St. in Worthington and 33 Collegeview Road in Westerville, prior to December 1998, when the association moved to its current home at 13515 Yarmouth Drive in Pickerington, Ohio. Despite the many changes in address, the AMA is still located within about 10 miles of its first Columbus the decades, the AMA has used a variety of publications to effectively communicate with its members on subjects including motorcycle competition, legislative concerns, touring, organized road-riding activities, and public relations campaigns promoting the positive aspects of motorcycling. Early publications that carried FAM, M&ATA, and AMA information included Bicycling World & Motorcycle Review, Motorcycle Illustrated, and American Motorcyclist & Bicyclist, all of which were direct predecessors of The Motorcyclist monthly magazine.

The Motorcyclist existed as \"An Official AMA Publication\" through the end of 1942, when editor and AMA field representative Chet Billings left to join the war effort. The leaders of the AMA, learning the lesson of the FAM, recognized that the war posed a serious threat to the organization\'s existence. With organized motorcycle activities curtailed, and its members spread around the globe, the AMA needed to find a way to keep motorcyclists enthusiastic and looking forward to a post-war return to two wheels.

For this reason, the Association began publishing AMA News, a quarterly newsletter that went to all members, including those stationed overseas. In January 1947 that was followed by the introduction of American Motorcycling, a monthly magazine offered to members for a fee over and above their membership dues.

The monthly title changed in July of 1970 to AMA News. Then, starting in July 1976, the decision was made to send AMA News to all members as a part of their member-benefit package. This required an increase in dues, but it gave the AMA one major advantage: a way to communicate with every member every month.

In September of 1977, the evolution of the magazine was complete with one more change in the name. It became known as American Motorcyclist, and has remained under that title since.

In 1997, the AMA took a step into a new form of communication with the development of World Wide Web site on the Internet. This website, AMADirectlink.com, quickly opened up new opportunities for instant communication with motorcyclists of all types.

Today, as the portal to the expansive world of motorcycling, the AMA manages a number of enthusiast-oriented websites under the umbrella URL of www.americanmotorcyclist.com.