But this time and place is different~here is Lady Florence Norman going to work in London in 1916, 100 years ago. Lady Norman was an active suffragette and also ran a hospital in France during the first world war.
Her scooter called an “Autoped” was a birthday present and was one of the first examples of motorized”kick” scooters~you can see there is no seat.
Mashable notes that these were “manufactured in New York and Germany by Krupps, the U.S. postal service tested the Autoped as a means of fast transport for its special delivery service. The foldable scooter was also reportedly used as a quick getaway machine by New York gangs, racing down narrow alleys beyond the reach of police cars.”
And while scooters and e-bikes are seen as the sustainable way for travel, in the 1930’s these scooters were used on military bases, and increasingly as a response to fuel rationing. In one hundred years, scooters may have become faster and more efficient, but their basic purpose~transporting people without the size, bulk and fuel cost of a vehicle~remains the same.
Image: vintage.es
Pretty cool.
And the corporate media has yet to make those who ride scooters into a type of person that they can then demonize. I wonder if they will but maybe it’s too hard for someone riding a scooter to become a pedestrian.