Historically, the French have had a romantic attachment to their bikes. Though the first functioning two-wheeler is thought to have been invented by a German in 1817, it was the French who popularized and marketed the device in the 1860s, giving it the name “bicycle.”
The bicycle evokes freedom, it is also central to French literature. Here below is a set of amazing photos that show French Bicycle Posters in the 1890s.
| Cycles 'St. George's, circa 1890 |
| Phebus Paris, circa 1890 |
| Cycles l'Etendard Francais, 1891 |
| Cycles Decauville, 1892 |
| Cycles Whitworth, 1894 |
This post first appeared on A Thousand Monkeys Fighting Over One Typewriter, please read the originial post: here
