the life of a bicycle lamp
05-06-11, 01:46 PM
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the life of a bicycle lamp
this is non-fiction, a lamp for your bike
I knew this old lamp was from 1900. I don't know how, but, today, online,
I found this exact lamp in an online repro catalog, free for view.
If you like old bike parts, this is a view of our pasts:
https://www.archive.org/details/bicycleaccess00riceuoft
The life of a lamp is not easy.
I fell to the ground, apparently,
when my bracket bolt parted;
it's hard to remember,
it hurts to recall.
It is nineteen hundred again,
and I project a perfected light,
and glimmer in jade to one side,
blood on the other....
to read online in page-turn form:
https://www.archive.org/stream/bicycleaccess00riceuoft
I knew this old lamp was from 1900. I don't know how, but, today, online,
I found this exact lamp in an online repro catalog, free for view.
If you like old bike parts, this is a view of our pasts:
https://www.archive.org/details/bicycleaccess00riceuoft
Reviewer: Logical - 5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 stars5.00 out of 5 May 6, 2011
Subject: what a great catalog!
Greatly enjoyed this visit back to the year 1900.
Found by chance the exact same bicycle lamp,
the "Breckenridge", that I have here 111 years later.
My Breckenridge is exactly as seen in the Rice catalog,
and it still is operable.
This is the best bike parts and sporting goods catalog
I've yet seen online. I thank the persons who
put this up for posterity. Much obliged.
Subject: what a great catalog!
Greatly enjoyed this visit back to the year 1900.
Found by chance the exact same bicycle lamp,
the "Breckenridge", that I have here 111 years later.
My Breckenridge is exactly as seen in the Rice catalog,
and it still is operable.
This is the best bike parts and sporting goods catalog
I've yet seen online. I thank the persons who
put this up for posterity. Much obliged.
I fell to the ground, apparently,
when my bracket bolt parted;
it's hard to remember,
it hurts to recall.
It is nineteen hundred again,
and I project a perfected light,
and glimmer in jade to one side,
blood on the other....
to read online in page-turn form:
https://www.archive.org/stream/bicycleaccess00riceuoft
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-06-11 at 02:36 PM.
05-06-11, 03:13 PM
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it is French even they don't understand it
__________________
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
05-06-11, 03:41 PM
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Is it not wonderful when someone, a complete stranger gives you something you really want? Merci beaucoup mon ami!
05-06-11, 07:05 PM
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Hello, friends. Chris, I am stunned, myself. I just found that catalog today online, as noted.
Steve gave me that lamp over ten years ago, "It was my grandfather's when he was a boy."
He had no idea of its date of origin. I "knew" it was from about 1900. The catalog, today, confirms.
The mounting bracket is different than the catalog'd stamped-steel bracket.
Otherwise, it is absolutely identical, right to the maker's name atop.
I'll take photos soon as possible,
and show you all the probable failure mode.
The lamp here has a machined steel clamp bolt, and it fractured
long ago, in half, as it was pierced by a drill hole (a bisected bolt).
I think it would be the "1899" mount,
and the makers soon found need to make a better mounting.
I put a new gasket to the lamp's base years ago,
installed a fill of lump carbide, and it worked just like new.
Chris in Miami? If you'd like to see the lamp some day,
I would be glad to share it. It's for sharing.
I live in south Coconut Grove.
The video was simply whimsy, created by myself years ago.
I put "props" into the non-action for a more fun, surreal, zen experience,
and, I thought to employ the bike lamp, no other reason, but to relax people.
No intention to confuse or upset...it's just a whimsy, a free-form visual play.
Steve gave me that lamp over ten years ago, "It was my grandfather's when he was a boy."
He had no idea of its date of origin. I "knew" it was from about 1900. The catalog, today, confirms.
The mounting bracket is different than the catalog'd stamped-steel bracket.
Otherwise, it is absolutely identical, right to the maker's name atop.
I'll take photos soon as possible,
and show you all the probable failure mode.
The lamp here has a machined steel clamp bolt, and it fractured
long ago, in half, as it was pierced by a drill hole (a bisected bolt).
I think it would be the "1899" mount,
and the makers soon found need to make a better mounting.
I put a new gasket to the lamp's base years ago,
installed a fill of lump carbide, and it worked just like new.
Chris in Miami? If you'd like to see the lamp some day,
I would be glad to share it. It's for sharing.
I live in south Coconut Grove.
The video was simply whimsy, created by myself years ago.
I put "props" into the non-action for a more fun, surreal, zen experience,
and, I thought to employ the bike lamp, no other reason, but to relax people.
No intention to confuse or upset...it's just a whimsy, a free-form visual play.
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-06-11 at 09:02 PM. Reason: format improvements
05-06-11, 07:45 PM
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Thanks for the offer Reid. I've seen plenty of carbide bike lamps, but yours looks like the cleanest I've ever seen. Did you have to restore it, or did it come to you that way?
05-06-11, 07:56 PM
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Ah, I see a blacksmith nigh!
Sir? Can you mend a broken eye?
Sir? I can send myself. And you can see
I am quite good. And...if you can effect repair
It would be good to ride the stem again.
The life of a lamp owes Diogenes.
((for Frank the Welder))
Sir? Can you mend a broken eye?
Sir? I can send myself. And you can see
I am quite good. And...if you can effect repair
It would be good to ride the stem again.
The life of a lamp owes Diogenes.
((for Frank the Welder))
05-06-11, 08:02 PM
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Hi Chris,
It is not restored. Its bracket, nickeled steel, is rusty (not shown).
Some aging of the brass results in a stress crack common in old items like this.
The Breckenridge gas lamp was a gift from an old friend. It is not perfect, no; has some bumps from dumps.
The life of a lamp was never easy, as roads were rough and lamps were hot, fumbled.
Its bracket is broken, and so I think that is what terminated its service life, probably in the first season.
I would love to see it mounted to a bike, to my bike, for a photo op and a re-lighting, and then donate the lamp...
...I cannot sell what was a gift from above. It will be donated some day, I think would be best.
-------------------------------------
Reidy's idea for a future museum piece (the lamp):
"Baby, wash your hands and touch it."
((to be handled by new people; just wash your hands of perspiration before handling the lamp))
: )
"What if I drop it?"
I've been dumped before.
It is not restored. Its bracket, nickeled steel, is rusty (not shown).
Some aging of the brass results in a stress crack common in old items like this.
The Breckenridge gas lamp was a gift from an old friend. It is not perfect, no; has some bumps from dumps.
The life of a lamp was never easy, as roads were rough and lamps were hot, fumbled.
Its bracket is broken, and so I think that is what terminated its service life, probably in the first season.
I would love to see it mounted to a bike, to my bike, for a photo op and a re-lighting, and then donate the lamp...
...I cannot sell what was a gift from above. It will be donated some day, I think would be best.
-------------------------------------
Reidy's idea for a future museum piece (the lamp):
"Baby, wash your hands and touch it."
((to be handled by new people; just wash your hands of perspiration before handling the lamp))
: )
"What if I drop it?"
I've been dumped before.
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-06-11 at 08:22 PM.
05-06-11, 08:15 PM
#10
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Pretty cool lamp.
Weird video though. WTF? I had one of those bird drinky toys when I was a kid but my parents never let me play with it because they thought I would break it because it was fragile. Stupid parents...
Does the lamp still burn? Do you ever light it or is it too fragile?
Weird video though. WTF? I had one of those bird drinky toys when I was a kid but my parents never let me play with it because they thought I would break it because it was fragile. Stupid parents...
Does the lamp still burn? Do you ever light it or is it too fragile?
05-06-11, 08:32 PM
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It lights just fine. Give me some lump carbide again?
My grandfather, P.B., grew up in Chicago.
I was born in 1954. I think we are soul twins : )
PS: My friends at the Coconut Grove The Home Depot would say, will say,
"Reid smells just like lump carbide. He really stinks of gas."
((and that is true! I PU))
PS: Amesja,
the bird video is admittedly bizarre.
I got the notion to make a demo,
and it gets boring just staring at the bird,
so I thought, ad-lib, to stick odd objects into the video.
The next day...the little bird took a dive from the table;
it did not survive. Moral?
Don't drink too much and get tipsy
My grandfather, P.B., grew up in Chicago.
I was born in 1954. I think we are soul twins : )
PS: My friends at the Coconut Grove The Home Depot would say, will say,
"Reid smells just like lump carbide. He really stinks of gas."
((and that is true! I PU))
PS: Amesja,
the bird video is admittedly bizarre.
I got the notion to make a demo,
and it gets boring just staring at the bird,
so I thought, ad-lib, to stick odd objects into the video.
The next day...the little bird took a dive from the table;
it did not survive. Moral?
Don't drink too much and get tipsy
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-06-11 at 08:52 PM.
05-07-11, 01:38 AM
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Please, if I may relate a story, recalled tonight;
was searching online for a small supply of carbide
for the lamp above. It would be nice to light it again.
My daddy and his brother loved their Bangsite® Big-Bang Cannon.
Seventy-six years or so ago they aimed it at Miami's Goodyear Blimp.
FIRE at dusk. FIRE it again. Two days later, The Miami Herald
blared, "Goodyear Blimp attacked by gunfire.
Police investigate to catch shooter."
The doctor's two boys were more than glum;
their Bangsite Big-Bang® Cannon got deep-sixed
against howled protests of its gunners.
A cast iron body rusts today
under waves of Biscayne Bay.
"You'd better never pop the secret, sons."
A Big-Bang® Cannon, friends, is not a pop.
It is a blare and a flare from a barrel.
The Blimp was rightly terrified in the air.
https://www.bigbangcannons.com/boomingbusiness.aspx
https://www.bigbangcannons.com/products.aspx?c=18
was searching online for a small supply of carbide
for the lamp above. It would be nice to light it again.
My daddy and his brother loved their Bangsite® Big-Bang Cannon.
Seventy-six years or so ago they aimed it at Miami's Goodyear Blimp.
FIRE at dusk. FIRE it again. Two days later, The Miami Herald
blared, "Goodyear Blimp attacked by gunfire.
Police investigate to catch shooter."
The doctor's two boys were more than glum;
their Bangsite Big-Bang® Cannon got deep-sixed
against howled protests of its gunners.
A cast iron body rusts today
under waves of Biscayne Bay.
"You'd better never pop the secret, sons."
A Big-Bang® Cannon, friends, is not a pop.
It is a blare and a flare from a barrel.
The Blimp was rightly terrified in the air.
https://www.bigbangcannons.com/boomingbusiness.aspx
https://www.bigbangcannons.com/products.aspx?c=18
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-07-11 at 02:58 AM. Reason: add hyperlink to the nice company
05-07-11, 06:05 AM
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I'd like for you to send me a small supply of whatever it is your are smoking as it sounds like some really good stuff 
But I guess shipping that would be even more fraught with pitfalls than even sending carbide through the mails.
But I guess shipping that would be even more fraught with pitfalls than even sending carbide through the mails.
05-07-11, 08:01 AM
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I'm not smoking. I am just now watching a bicycle safety film, just found.
Oh, please, forgive me...this is the neatest little life lesson:
https://www.archive.org/details/OneGotFa1963
I just drove my car,
when I really shouldn't ought have.
My bike has a flat tire.
I'll fix it when I catch it.
I drive my bike like Mossby
runs: a victim of fallen Marches.
Amesja?
I am not smoking or high.
It is a fact that my grandfather grew up in Chicago
and I was born in 1954. And that little boy in the film,
is just exactly my age today. It's a cute film;
a second viewing (I never saw it before)
shows it to be a truly wonderful period piece.
I need a small amount of Union Carbide, folks, please?
It will be great to light the old bike lamp again.
I sent a link to this thread to the Big-Bang® cannon people.
Maybe they can help.
cheers,
Oh, please, forgive me...this is the neatest little life lesson:
https://www.archive.org/details/OneGotFa1963
I just drove my car,
when I really shouldn't ought have.
My bike has a flat tire.
I'll fix it when I catch it.
I drive my bike like Mossby
runs: a victim of fallen Marches.
Reviewer: Logical - 5.00 out of 5 stars- May 7, 2011
Subject: Primal Bike Safety
The perfectly unsettling safety film,
possibly (not) the inspiration for the original Planet Of The Apes.
Mr. Horton makes it a who, what, why, WHOA, thriller.
Delightful!
Subject: Primal Bike Safety
The perfectly unsettling safety film,
possibly (not) the inspiration for the original Planet Of The Apes.
Mr. Horton makes it a who, what, why, WHOA, thriller.
Delightful!
I am not smoking or high.
It is a fact that my grandfather grew up in Chicago
and I was born in 1954. And that little boy in the film,
is just exactly my age today. It's a cute film;
a second viewing (I never saw it before)
shows it to be a truly wonderful period piece.
I need a small amount of Union Carbide, folks, please?
It will be great to light the old bike lamp again.
I sent a link to this thread to the Big-Bang® cannon people.
Maybe they can help.
cheers,
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-07-11 at 08:27 AM.
05-07-11, 08:16 AM
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One Got Fat is awesome. I epecially like it when the kid riding the fixie got run over by the garbage truck because he couldn't stop in time.
05-07-11, 08:48 AM
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Aw, am glad you like it too!
It brings back memories for myself.
A recall, again.
My daddy brought home for me a Huffy
On Saturday, from the Police Auction
Of unclaimed turned-in bikes.
It is an outdoor bike, and a little rusty.
For ten dollars that's OK.
"We'll make it look like an indoor bike!"
We got a pair of spray paint cans,
Testor's Candy Apple Red;
Silver base, crimson glow.
At last I had a bike, my own.
I felt happy for the Huffy.
1963
when you are a little
boy it means a lot
to have a perfect daddy
It brings back memories for myself.
A recall, again.
My daddy brought home for me a Huffy
On Saturday, from the Police Auction
Of unclaimed turned-in bikes.
It is an outdoor bike, and a little rusty.
For ten dollars that's OK.
"We'll make it look like an indoor bike!"
We got a pair of spray paint cans,
Testor's Candy Apple Red;
Silver base, crimson glow.
At last I had a bike, my own.
I felt happy for the Huffy.
1963
when you are a little
boy it means a lot
to have a perfect daddy
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-07-11 at 09:19 AM. Reason: memory...it was tagged "lot #6", and it was ten dollars, not the other way around. Surprise. "Help me unload the car, son?"
05-07-11, 09:51 AM
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unrelated.
reading another old book just found online.
https://www.archive.org/details/londo...lecl00unkngoog
((1878))
please to read on page three, in particular, that
spills and croppers are not desirable to record.
1906 The Life Of A Bicycle Lamp
https://www.archive.org/stream/around...ge/n5/mode/2up
I am only twenty two years old and my mother is dead.
For her I made a record.
reading another old book just found online.
https://www.archive.org/details/londo...lecl00unkngoog
((1878))
please to read on page three, in particular, that
spills and croppers are not desirable to record.
1906 The Life Of A Bicycle Lamp
https://www.archive.org/stream/around...ge/n5/mode/2up
I am only twenty two years old and my mother is dead.
For her I made a record.
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-07-11 at 10:45 AM.
05-07-11, 06:51 PM
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Thanks for posting the catalog, some neat stuff. Imagine my surprise, when I saw the 'Bullis Ball Gear' shaft drive system, and 'Bullis' happens to be my last name.
05-10-11, 04:15 PM
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Hi, folks.
Have been a bit under the weather. Fine now.
Say, bikamper: "Bullis Ball Gear" is, as we all know, what makes the world go round (reproduce!)
Glad you found your fame again. The lamp is here, I have yet to photograph it in detail. Will do.
cheers to all, and, oh, I am an IGH guy too, bikamper!
Reid
Have been a bit under the weather. Fine now.
Say, bikamper: "Bullis Ball Gear" is, as we all know, what makes the world go round (reproduce!)
Glad you found your fame again. The lamp is here, I have yet to photograph it in detail. Will do.
cheers to all, and, oh, I am an IGH guy too, bikamper!
Reid
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-10-11 at 04:19 PM.
05-11-11, 07:14 AM
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a film you may enjoy...to be reviewed
pardon me please?
[video]https://www.archive.org/details/bicycle_safety[/ame]
Bicycle Safety, 1950
https://www.archive.org/details/bicycle_safety
I'm a 1954 version, myself.
both are fine films; the second film is made by Hollywood pros,
note the camera angles and edits? The acting is fine for amateurs.
"Always use your head..when driving your bike"
((today most bikers use helmets instead...I choose to ride bare, myself...for a reason))
Boys are eager to grow up fast in order to drive cars. Their bikes are their cars. Remember?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
for gentle thinkers, like my friends at Highgear Cycling, Trek, THD, MPD, and so on, and on....
listen twice, please? it is for your light.
Thank you very much, Andy Rawn. You made my day dawn again.
#at=116
PS: Andy Rawn is an active classical and personality artist. Double click, as I did,
to learn more. I just met him this way, via a song-search.
Mr. Rawn is a gentleman of the first order, as you can well hear...the song, renewed.
====
w1gfh below: I'm a WTH sort of guy. I know I tend to confuse, I can't help it. Enjoy life anyway?
I do not mean to annoy. I just get enthusiastic...and the bike bells and... : )
[video]https://www.archive.org/details/bicycle_safety[/ame]
Bicycle Safety, 1950
https://www.archive.org/details/bicycle_safety
I'm a 1954 version, myself.
both are fine films; the second film is made by Hollywood pros,
note the camera angles and edits? The acting is fine for amateurs.
"Always use your head..when driving your bike"
((today most bikers use helmets instead...I choose to ride bare, myself...for a reason))
Boys are eager to grow up fast in order to drive cars. Their bikes are their cars. Remember?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
for gentle thinkers, like my friends at Highgear Cycling, Trek, THD, MPD, and so on, and on....
PS: Andy Rawn is an active classical and personality artist. Double click, as I did,
to learn more. I just met him this way, via a song-search.
Mr. Rawn is a gentleman of the first order, as you can well hear...the song, renewed.
====
w1gfh below: I'm a WTH sort of guy. I know I tend to confuse, I can't help it. Enjoy life anyway?
I do not mean to annoy. I just get enthusiastic...and the bike bells and... : )
Last edited by Reid Welch; 05-11-11 at 04:54 PM. Reason: note to w1 below, but not to raise the thread
