We're pedaling away from a Valentine's Day weekend today on our Columbia Valentine bicycles. This ca. 1888 trade card, printed by G.H. Buek & Co., advertised bicycles sold by the Pope Manufacturing Company, a Boston-based manufacturer of air pistols, cigarette rolling machines, bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, and assorted other mechanical devices.
The company's bicycle business began with imported English bicycles, but in 1878, the company's founder, Albert Pope, contracted with George Fairfield, president of the Weed Sewing Machine Company, to manufacture a small run of bicycles out of his plant in Hartford, Connecticut. These bicycles, the first commercially made in the United States, were high-wheelers with 60-inch front wheels, and launched the Columbia brand.
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