Early Toy Bicycles

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Early Toy Bicycles

    Yesterday, I came up with the idea to write about "real" antique bicycles, as they are in fact things children (and adults) enjoy,hence they could be called toys. However, it was hard to find very old bicycles. I did find a  nice source, but of course  had to send a letter to request the necessary permissions. So instead, I decided to write about the very early toy bicycles.

    Since I like to use 1 specific source at a time, I went to Bertoia Auctions, and found mostly rarely 1900's French toys. Most of the toys appear to have used fine dolls (with bisque heads) and simply added them to bicycles. What's also interesting is that these bicycles look more like the later versions than those giant-wheeled bicycles of the USA that look like tricycles for kids but missing a third wheel! 

Please click to be redirected to Bertoia's fine website

When you click on the above link, you will come to Bertoia's past auctions. By simply entering any words (e.g. toy bicycles, cast iron trucks), you will then be presented with all of their sold items from  many years past.

The above series of photos present a Britains "velocipede". THe actual listing mentioned that this toy is the only one ever found. For those who don;t know, the name Britains is mostly known for producing fine lead soldiers.

You can see the fine quality of the bisque type of doll's head. Don't forget that you can always view the photos as a slide show through Blogger. As such, you can magnify the images even larger.

The above toy cyclist appears to have similar clothing and face as the composite photo image above it. I  had trouble colour-balancing this photo, so it doesn't quite match the colour of the other image.

I used the above image once before when I wrote about wood toys. This toy is quite different from all of the others, and is a tricycle, rather than a bicycle.

If you examine the toy above, you will be able to figure out the actual complicated movements that this toy possesses. THe wind-up mechanical movement inside the red and yellow lead base makes the  twin tandem bicycle rotate in a circle.

However, thje more interesting point is the fact that the athletes feet  are wired or soldered to the pedals, which in turn are attached to the bicycle chain. As the tandem bicycle is rotating, the chain moives, causing the 2 cyclists to move their legs, creating the appearance that they are in fact "cycling".

Very clever!

Thanks for visiting,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey