c 1910
I have reproduced the text written on the card below. It makes very uncomfortable reading to our 21st century eyes. It seems ironic to me that those aspects of the bicycle that prompt the condescension of the Edwardian commentator are the very ones that we wish to promote. Many bicycle producers are now exploring improving sustainability by using wood and other renewable resources in manufacturer.
"An African native from Nyasaland made this cycle and used it regularly until it was bought by an explorer for a British Museum. The frame is of hewn timber and the wheels of lathe and reeds with tyres of strips of ox hide. The driving chain is a knotted thong from the skin of a sable antelope. What rapture awaits this native when he acquires a modern cycle fitted with JOHN BULL TYRES."
#bicycle #vintage #edwardian #indoors Malawi wooden bicycles bamboo bicycles
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