Saturday, February 25, 2012

Saturday Snapshot




We've had an unusually warm winter (except we currently have a few inches of snow on the ground) and this picture was taken at the beginning of February on a warm day. My son and I went to Walmart and outside we noticed this Penny Farthing bicycle. Of course, mom had to take a picture and you can see from the expression on my son's face that he had an "oh, mom...do you have to?" moment. We've seen a man riding this type of bicycle in the area but it's usually in the spring or summer, not in winter. The owner must be tall as I can't imagine climbing up onto this bicycle without a stepstool! You can read more about the Penny Farthing bicycle on wikipedia, here.  


From Wikipedia:

Penny-farthinghigh wheelhigh wheeler, and ordinary are all terms used to describe a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel that was popular after the boneshaker, until the development of the safety bicycle, in the 1880s.[1] They were the first machines to be called "bicycles"



penny-farthing photographed in theŠkoda Auto Museum in the Czech Republic


Old British Penny and Farthing (quarter penny) coins which inspired the name of the Penny-Farthing bicycle




Penny-farthings are still ridden today, if only for the novelty value



Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books



11 comments:

  1. Those are the coolest bicycles! I have no idea how anyone could actually ride them though.

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  2. LOL, it's our job to embarrass our children! Cute pic and I'll bet he'll love it ten years from now.
    Thanks for explaining where the title came from. Makes perfect sense (ha! sense = cents but no pun intended). I think I need more coffee.
    Have a great weekend, Bonnie!

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  3. I can't imagine how scary it would be to fall off of one of those at full speed!

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  4. I was always fascinated by those bikes. They must be hard to ride! Great photo of your son. All kids give their parents those looks. It's their job! :D

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  5. I wondered how they got that name - thanks for the explanation and pics of the coins.

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  6. could you imagine trying to ride one of these! Love your son's face..priceless!

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  7. How well I remember that expression from when our son was younger. I wonder if bikes like that are hard to ride.

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  8. I can't imagine how people with dodgy knees get up on those! Perhaps I shall have to try one day. It looks a cool way to get about town.

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  9. Love the pic of the boy. He's about as thrilled with you taking pics as Sam is when I do. Lol. Those bikes are so cool!

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  10. Very cool! Hasn't the winter been awesome?

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