Having studied African history, especially that of the former French colonies, I find the newest, the Terrot ad, most interesting. I believe it was meant specifically to sell Terrot bicycles to Africans in the French colonies. The French had a dual social system in their African colonies. The African elite, often referred to as assimiles (assimilated) were given a French education, often including university, and French citizenship, and were subject to French law. The majority of Africans, on the other hand, were left to live in their traditional manner and were governed by tribal law, although French law could still of course preempt traditional practices the French found unacceptable.
The chap on the Terrot is obviously an assimile, as seen by his Western dress, while in the background are Africans in tribal dress, clearly not part of the assimile elite. I think the ad is targeted at the assimilated African elite, who are after all those in the colonies most likely to be buying bicycles. And I think it deliberately appeals to the sense of elitism, suggesting that riding a fine French bicycle is yet another badge of elite status, separating one from the socially less advanced masses. The fellow on the Terrot could be a future lawyer or engineer, or even the eventual President or Prime Minister in the post-independence era.
One thing I think is missing from the collection, namely the most famous black person ever to be associated with bicycles. That would be the great Major Taylor, of course. There must have been posters depicting Taylor during his domination of the sport, and somewhere there is probably a museum with a collection of them. It would be great to find that online.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Stronglight49@aol.com <Stronglight49@aol.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Racist (not Racing) Bikes
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Friday, November 20, 2009, 10:17 AM
\r?\n> Here are a few captured images which
\r?\n> I just uploaded.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> They range from 1892 to 1950 and all depict blacks
\r?\n> and bicycles.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I definitely find the first (earliest) two quite
\r?\n> derogatory and offensive.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> But, then we lapse into the fanciful popular
\r?\n> imagination, and the last
\r?\n> two were clearly intended to actually SELL bikes -
\r?\n> something which
\r?\n> would have been a bad idea if the people depicted
\r?\n> were to be viewed
\r?\n> in a thoroughly demeaning manner.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> 1892 - Currier & Ives print:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> http://www.flickr.com/
\r?\n>
\r?\n> 1900-1910 postcard:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> http://www.flickr.com/
\r?\n>
\r?\n> 1920s-1930s KTEMA bike poster:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> http://www.flickr.com/
\r?\n>
\r?\n> 1950 TERROT bike poster:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> http://www.flickr.com/
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Aunt Jemima as depicted on US pancake batter and
\r?\n> syrup packaging
\r?\n> has undergone a considerable make-over since I was a
\r?\n> child in the
\r?\n> 1950s. She now appears more sophisticated and
\r?\n> seems just warmly
\r?\n> maternal, whereas many decades ago her attire evoked
\r?\n> thoughts of
\r?\n> the era of slavery in the US. Even to my
\r?\n> young mind, I thought it
\r?\n> was an insulting image... but, I was a northern
\r?\n> Yankee boy raised
\r?\n> in Connecticut.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Time period and even location can make a difference.
\r?\n> But, content
\r?\n> and intention is the determining factor when we gaze back
\r?\n> in time.
\r?\n> It is all too easy to insert our own current perceptions to
\r?\n> an earlier
\r?\n> cultural mindset - however naive or offensive it may
\r?\n> have been.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Living in the Southwestern US, I now also know many Native
\r?\n> American
\r?\n> Indians. Contrary to the TV ads of the 1970s, I have
\r?\n> never seen one
\r?\n> shed a tear at the sight of litter tossed on the
\r?\n> roadside.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> BOB HANSON, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, USA