Posts tagged as:

Bicycles

The Overman Wheel Co.

March 31, 2010
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This wonderfully art-nouveau lithograph advertises the Overman Wheel Company, a bicycle manufacturer based out of Hartford, Connecticut. The Overman Wheel Company was an important manufacturer during the turn of the century bicycle craze, and was the maker of Victor Bicycles. Founded by Albert H. Overman in the early 1880′s, the bikes were produced until the [...]

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The Donaldson Lithographing Co.

March 30, 2010
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It only makes sense that a lithographic company would advertise via the medium of lithography, and that’s exactly what we have here. I find it interesting that they’re focusing on a specific, and relatively narrow, market with this poster, and I wonder what other subjects were targeted in this manner.

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The Schwinn Autocycle

March 28, 2010
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A couple of weeks ago my wife and I spent the afternoon at her parents home, with much of that time spent browsing through a fabulous archive of family photographs. There were hundreds of great old photos, and I’ll be sharing them on Atomic Antiques from now and then. This photo shows my father-in-law, Mike [...]

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Bicycle Camp, Springfield, Mass. 1883

November 27, 2009
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This poster advertises the Bicycle Camp, Exhibition and Tournament put on by the Springfield Bicycle Club. It’s interesting to note that the lithograph was printed by Milton Bradley, the same Springfield-based company that would go on to become the leading board game manufacturer.

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Messenger on the Reservation, Dallas, Texas

October 17, 2009
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Still another Lewis Hine photo from Oct. 1913, this one taken in Dallas. Description: Messenger boy in the heart of the Reservation delivering messages. Prostitutes run back and forth. Business beginning at mid-day. I saw messenger boys and delivery boys for drug stores from fifteen years upward. Some still younger told me that they go [...]

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Preston De Costa

October 17, 2009
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Another Lewis Hine photograph, this one taken in October of 1913. Description: Preston De Costa, fifteen year old messenger #3 for Bellevue Messenger Service. I ran across him and took photos while he was carrying notes back and forth between a prostitute in jail and a pimp in the Red Light district. He had read [...]

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Mae Gordon’s Original Insane Moving Pedestal

October 15, 2009
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That’s right, folks, here it is, often copied but seldom duplicated… Mae Gordon’s Original Insane Moving Pedestal! Now that’s what I call show business. All I know about this act is the description that accompanied the photo, (used for the title of this post) so I can’t say with total confidence what the act consisted [...]

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The Wham-O Wheelie-Bar

September 13, 2009
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Wham-O was particularly in-tune with the 1960s, producing a number of toys that have come to define the era. One of those was their Wheelie-Bar, an attachment that could be fitted to any Sting-Ray style bike. Perhaps the coolest attribute of Schwinn’s Sting-Ray (or any of the knock-off bikes) was the ease with which they [...]

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Danes on Wheels

September 10, 2009
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Here is Rita and Ruth Nielson, daughters of Roger Nielson, shown tooling down the sidewalk in 1919. (Roger was with the Press Department of the Danish Legation in Washington D.C.) The more observant readers will recognize the trikes, as they’re dead-ringers for the one ridden by Mary Dixon Palmer in my post from Monday. I [...]

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Mary Dixon Palmer

September 7, 2009
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Mary Dixon Palmer, daughter of Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, is shown here in 1919. The tricycle variation she’s on is interesting, but not something I’m familiar with. (although I’ve seen them in other photographs of this vintage) What were they called? Is it strictly a push vehicle, or does the footboard provide motion by [...]

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Mattel’s V-RROOM! X-15

September 6, 2009
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Mattel had the world by the tail in the 1960s and ’70s, introducing countless toys that came to embody the era. The V-RROOM! motor, a toy clip-on engine that made realistic sounds, was a huge hit, and prompted Mattel to expand on the idea. Soon they were selling complete V-RROOM! bicycles and their unique tricycle, [...]

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Schwinn Sting-Ray

July 14, 2009
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I can scarcely imagine childhood without a Sting-Ray bike. Yes, that’s me, high-water pants, white socks, penny loafers and all, on my campus green “fastback” model. The Schwinn Sting-Ray, and the many similar bikes from other companies, was a significant jump in bicycle design. They were built for fun, with a short wheelbase to facilitate [...]

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Mattel’s V-RROOM! Motor

July 6, 2009
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It’s a Christmas I’ll never forget, even if I don’t recall the exact year. It was in the early ’60s, I had only recently learned to ride my bicycle, and I got a “V-RROOM!” motor for my bike. The plastic V-RROOM! motor looked like a single-cylinder motorcycle engine, and clipped to the frame of a [...]

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