This day is called Veterans' Day in the US. As I have said in other posts, as much as I want to end war and not to glorify it, I think veterans should be honored. To my mind, that means they should never want for anything. It's a disgrace that some are sleeping under highway overpasses.
This day was formerly known as Armistice Day. As I understand, it still is in much of Europe. Ninety-nine years ago today, the agreement was signed to "end" the "war to end all wars".
Then, as now, recruiters used cleverly deceptive and deceptively clever appeals such as this:
to get young men to sign up for this:
Ted Henderson, a Canadian soldier in the First Division Cycle Corps, would remember his steed thusly:
Ode to a Pedal Pusher
We often recall the old C.C.M.
The first old steed we rode
Withits coaster brake and streamlined frame
And one rear rack for our load.
This day was formerly known as Armistice Day. As I understand, it still is in much of Europe. Ninety-nine years ago today, the agreement was signed to "end" the "war to end all wars".
Then, as now, recruiters used cleverly deceptive and deceptively clever appeals such as this:
to get young men to sign up for this:
Ted Henderson, a Canadian soldier in the First Division Cycle Corps, would remember his steed thusly:
Ode to a Pedal Pusher
We often recall the old C.C.M.
The first old steed we rode
Withits coaster brake and streamlined frame
And one rear rack for our load.
(Images from Canadian Cycling)
It was known as Armistice Day when I was a kid ( the 50's).
ReplyDeleteThe guns fell silent in 1918 at 11:00 AM on the 11th of November: 11.11.11. That exact time was chosen so there would be no confusion, just a row of ones. At 11.01 a soldier could set down his rifle and actually stand up. I knew many WWI vets, and several mentioned how incredible the silence was after 11 AM on that day.
Leo
Momentary memory failure... if I am talking about WWI and bicycles, I should have mentioned the Bike mechanic in the LBS in my old home town in the 50's. He was a German immigrant who came to the US in the 20's. He had been an aircraft mechanic during WWI and serviced, among other aircraft, Fokker triplane fighters. He had quite a storehouse of tales. I can recall vividly his heavily German accented English. This of course all points back to the fact that the airplane was a spinoff from the bicycle. Remember Orville and Wilber.
ReplyDeleteLeo
Leo--I would have loved to hear the tales of your old bike mechanic--and of WW I vets. Actually, some relatives of mine served in that war, but they didn't talk about it.
ReplyDelete