Picture Sundays: What Commuting by Bike Looked Like in 1942

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From the Library of Congress photo archive a 1942 picture from Burbank, CA:

The bicycle brigade at Lockheed Vega Aircraft Corporation. Employees living within four miles of Lockheed’s plant may purchase bicycles through the company and resell them to the company when need for them no longer exists. This mode of transportation is becoming increasingly popular, and has resulted in the sale of 2,400 bicycles in record time. This is part of the swing shift on the way home at 12:30 am.

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8 Comments

  1. Ha! Bet the streets of Burbank were more bike friendly back then! Especially in the middle of the night!

    • I bet those streets were safer. And motorists weren’t texting nor honking at the folks coming home after a long night of building planes to fight the Nazis. Schools at this time also had very full bike racks.

  2. Look at how thin and fit they all are. We would be so much better off if this trend had continued! (except for the guy with the cigarette).

  3. Choosing to cycle to work was one of the best decisions I ever made. Although I haven’t lost weight I’m stronger and fitter and better able to cope with stress. However, I think cycling infrastructure could definitely improve (I live in Adelaide, South Australia, which is one of the better Australian cities for cycling but still has a long way to go.)

  4. Pingback: Picture Sundays: A High School Bike Rack in Los Angeles Circa 1937 | Root Simple

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