Puisque le vélo d’enfant peut et doit se développer en France, Part Two — L’Officiel du cycle, 21 December 1957, the French Makers

“Puisque le vélo d’enfant peut et doit se développer en France…”, second part, L’Officiel du cycle, 21 December 1957, pages 7 and 9: the French makers of children’s bicycles and their models (Fonlupt, Lapierre, Humblot, Lucer, the Manufacture Nord et Loire, Motobécane, Tendil, Pidoux), with six photographs. The headings are transcribed as printed; the text is summarized in Ebykr’s words, and the page images carry it in full.

— Page 1 —
Rien n’est encore perdu !…

PUISQUE LE VÉLO D’ENFANT PEUT ET DOIT SE DÉVELOPPER EN FRANCE…(*)

ET EN FRANCE ?…

(*) Voir ” L’OFFICIEL ” du 7-12-57, pages 5 et 7

(Suite page 9)

– L’OFFICIEL DU CYCLE ET DU MOTOCYCLE – 21 DÉC. 57 –

[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. The second part of the survey of the children’s bicycle, begun in the issue of 7 December 1957 (the footnote refers back to pages 5 and 7 of that number), now turns to France under the heading “ET EN FRANCE ?…”, and praises the efforts of French makers to win young customers. The Manufacture de cycles et jouets pour enfants of the Établissements L. Bresson at Saint-Étienne specializes in tricycles (the reader is sent to the previous number of “L’Officiel”). The Société Fonlupt at La Clayette (Saône-et-Loire) shows the Sport Baby Ballon n° 7, a near-indestructible sporting bicycle for children: a “grand luxe” frame with a very long seat pillar and handlebar stem so that it serves from two to nine years of age, ball bearings throughout, fat white balloon tires, chromed rims and bright parts, duralumin mudguards with three stays and bands, and a pennant; it can be fitted with a bell, rear carrier, pump, front brake, a “cantilive” (as printed) and freewheel. Fonlupt’s type garçonnet n° 8 comes with a two-year guarantee in three heights (25 cm, 30 cm, 35 cm) for ages 2-3, 3-4 and 4-5, on 350 x 42, 400 x 42 and 450 x 42 wheels; the garçonnet n° 9 comes in heights of 40, 45 and 48 cm on 500 x 42, 550 x 42 and 600 x 42 wheels for ages 6-8, 8-10 and 10-12. Both have white semi-balloon tires, two sport brakes, Dural three-stay mudguards, chromed Déa rims, ball bearings, sport bars, a leather saddle, rear carrier, pump on brazed fittings, cast aluminum chainguard, reflector and pennant; they can be had for less without carrier and pump, or with a handlebar, racing saddle and lighting at extra cost. The fillette mixte or berceau types nos 10 and 11 share the same features and age sizes. The Établissements Gaston Lapierre at Dijon, makers of the “La Gellette” cyclomoteur, have built children’s bicycles for ten years: the Bambinette n° 218 with 12 1/2 x 2 1/4 balloon tires, stabilizers, carrier and chainguard, and the 218 b, which adds a brake, freewheel and chromed rims; besides four garçonnet and fillette models, the Établissements Lapierre offer an enfant cyclotouriste series with a special handlebar, Mafac brakes, racing saddle, two-speed derailleur, Babyfar lighting and removable carriers with bags, and the “Le Rêves des Tout-Petits” (so printed), a complete little bicycle on 350 wheels with semi-balloon tires, a brake and stabilizers; the range runs to 15 models. The Établissements Michel Humblot at Châtillon-sous-Bagneux have brought out a Walt-Disney branded model for children of four to 12 (adjustable saddle and bars), with back-pedal brakes and no dangerous fittings, in girl’s and boy’s types, on 450 wheels with special super-balloon tires, planned in red, blue, green and yellow. The boxed captions name the “Modèle fillette des Établissements Fonlupt”, the “Baby-Sport des Établissements Fonlupt” and the “Walt Disney” of the “Établissements M. Humblot”. (Continued on page 9.)]

[A pen-and-ink drawing at the head of the page shows a grinning boy in a play Indian costume, with feathers in his hair, a bow slung across his body and a hatchet raised in one hand, pedaling a small bicycle with a pennant at speed; it carries one signature, in script at its lower right on the ground line under the rear wheel, read as “Le Denveir” (uncertain; not Rebour’s ruled monogram and not “G.GEDO”). Three halftone photographs follow, each with a boxed caption: a girl’s bicycle with a dropped frame, rear carrier, mudguards and a badge on the head tube (upper right); a small boy’s bicycle with fat tires, deep mudguards, a long seat pillar and stem and a stabilizer wheel (lower left); and a cruiser-style bicycle with a curved double top tube, balloon tires and a rear carrier (lower right). No signature appears on any photograph.]

— 7 —

— Page 2 —
[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. The children’s-bicycle survey continues (continued from page 7). The Établissements Lucer have created the Bambinos, built for safety and elegance: a large chainguard so that shoelaces and fingers cannot catch in the chain, rubber pedals to spare the legs, and one-piece cast duralumin wheels that replace hub, rim and spokes so that no fingers are caught in spokes. The Tri-Bambi is a complete toy on which a child can carry materials and toy tools from place to place; another product is the motorized Bambino, with a dummy engine and a headlamp built into the tank-frame. For boys and girls over five, Lucer makes bicycles with a special frame of 26-28 tubes, chromed rims and enameled mudguards, with the Bambinos’ reversible bars, plastic grips and rubber pedals; wheels run from 450 to 600 in diameter, the girls’ model has a “berceau” (cradle) frame and the mixte suits both. The Usines Lucer of Hazebrouck (Nord) also offer, for the first time in France, an American-style child’s bicycle, the Spécila Texas (so printed), in garçonnet, mixte and berceau versions, with a welded carrier, adjustable bars, enveloping mudguards and an efficient chainguard. The Manufacture Nord et Loire of Saint-Étienne makes the Baby-Star (the reader is sent to the previous number of “L’Officiel”), popular with parents because it extends from two to eight years with raising bars and saddle: ball bearings, fat tires, reinforced stabilizers, big wheels, a sprung saddle, matching enameled steel mudguards, tubular carrier, 20 cm pump, bell, rigid chain cover, chromed rims, white rubber pedals, chromed sprockets and cranks, chromed bars and a pennant with a red ball. A de luxe extensible scooter (trottinette) for children of six to 12 follows, with fat tires, ball bearings in steering and hubs, a very long chromed bar, chromed steel footboard and enameled steel mudguard; the pedal scooter with rear brake remains and the model without pedal is dropped. The Cycles Tendil, whose works are at Nîmes in the Gard, have a flourishing children’s-bicycle department. The page recalls that in 1952 L’Officiel du Cycle et du Motocycle presented the moto-jouet of the Établissements Pidoux, a toy motorcycle with a pressed-steel frame and semi-telescopic fork that copied the motorcycles of the day. The boxed captions name the “Modèle garçonnet des Établissements Lucer”, “MOTOBÉCANE présente le modèle “MINI”” and the moto-jouet “des Ets Pidoux”, “Présenté en 1952 par “L’OFFICIEL””.]

[Three halftone photographs, each with a boxed caption: a boy’s bicycle by Lucer with a diamond frame, white balloon tires, rear carrier, mudguards and a lettered chainguard (upper left); the Motobécane Mini, a small bicycle with a double top tube, high upturned bars, deep mudguards, a chainguard and a stabilizer wheel (upper right); and the Pidoux toy motorcycle with a tank, dummy engine and stabilizer wheels (lower right). No signature or monogram appears on any of them, and this part of the page carries no drawing.]

[Below the rule the page carries an article on the 350 D.K.W. twin-cylinder engine, not part of this record.]