Le vélociste au Salon — L’Officiel du cycle, 1 October 1955, What the Dealer Expects of the Show

From L’Officiel du cycle, du motocycle et du camping, 1 October 1955, N° 20, the paper’s special number before the Salon du Cycle at the Porte de Versailles, page 155: ‘Le vélociste au Salon’: what the vélociste-motociste reader expects of the Salon, the agent’s chance to meet the manufacturers, the banquets and the Congress. The title, headings, captions and lists are transcribed as printed; the text is summarized in Ebykr’s words, and the page images carry it in full.

— Page 1 —
LE VÉLOCISTE
AU SALON

[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. The opening block says that if one word awakens deep resonances in the whole population it is the word “Salon”, an occasion for varied thoughts that all crystallize around individual transport, alone or with several, within everyone’s reach. Automobiles, motorcycles and cyclomotors are dreams that each person tries to turn into reality, and the fairground atmosphere that reigns in Paris at this time raises the Salon’s attraction still further, if that is possible. In this almost general euphoria, the writer asks what the particular feeling of “notre Lecteur Vélociste ou Motociste” is, what he expects from the Salon and what he will find there.]

[Ebykr summary, after a black block ornament. The writer thinks one must first admit that the element of “surprise” which made the trade anxious at past Salons has ceased to exist, and that this has, from the start, narrowed the Salon’s interest for the man of the trade. All sources of information (the specialized press, the firms’ press releases, etc…) contribute to this result, so that informed eyes have little to be astonished at. Does that mean the Salon in its present form has no interest? That, he says, is for the readers to conclude. But the Artisan, with his small means, will probably get little from his visit. The point of view of the Agent de marques (brand agent) is quite different: for him the occasion is unique to enrich his documentation among his colleagues of the brand and to meet the leaders in order to try, if possible, to get some personal or even collective point of view to prevail.]

[Ebykr summary, after a second black block ornament. Brand banquets keep Agents and Directors in a mild euphoria, the Directors not missing the chance for cleverly measured speeches. The sight of the exhibited models may, to a certain extent, alter the value of the commitments that will be made. It remains that for the very large and the more modest Vélocistes-Motocistes alike, the atmosphere of the Salon is unique and well suited to excite the wish to visit it. It also remains, and this will be the conclusion if the readers agree, that the prospect of meeting all colleagues and friends at the Congress carries away the last hesitations. The piece ends with the wish that the Salon of 1955 allow the trade a substantial harvest of reforms and improvements.]

[A full page of editorial text in black and white, text only, with the folio number 155 at the lower right. The title is set in heavy sans-serif capitals: “LE VÉLOCISTE” runs across the top of the page toward the right margin and “AU SALON” falls as a vertical column of letters down the right edge, one letter above the next. The body is set in italic roman type in three staggered blocks stepping down the page from left to right, each introduced by a thick black rule drawn along its left side (the first also has a rule along its head, the last has a rule along its right side and foot), with a small solid black rectangle between the blocks. The first block opens with a large decorative initial S. There are no drawings, photographs or signatures.]