Yeah cool stuff actually. I'm suspect that front panniers were around in the late 70s, but they were popularized by Jim Blackburn I believe in the first half of the 80s. I was working in a shop then and Blackburn did a great job of using ads to dealing with the effect of weight placement on stability which claimed that rear panniers on a rack plus front panners on low riders was the best in terms of stability and handling. Of course today with backpacking bags there are arguably better ways to haul gear that will save weight. I did a 5000 mile tour in the early 80s with only rear bags and a front handlebar bag and one later that decade with low riders and the difference in handling and stability, particularly going downhill, was remarkable.