Bicycle trade catalogs
BICYCLING. A selection of items related to bicycling: two early 20th century sales catalogs for Cycles Aiglon, a leading French firm (1900-1910); Cottereau Cycles, Dijon (1913) trade catalog, and a thick retailer's catalog, featuring an encyclopedic selection of bicycles and bicycle parts & accessories, but also offerings for a wide variety of sporting goods, as well as sewing machines, phonographs, etc.
Click this link for a full illustrated list: bicycle catalogs
Two catalogs from a leading French cycling firm at the dawn of the bicycle boom, c. 1900-1902
2). [BICYCLES]. [Debaralle, Emile]. Cycles Aiglon. Les Sports a Travers les Ages. Album illustré par A. Landelle, offres par les Cycles Aiglon.
Argenteuil, [c.1900-1901]. $350 for the two catalogs
(21.7 x 13.7 cm). 12 pp. In the publisher’s original printed wrappers. A fine copy.
$175
Sales representative’s brochure for Cycles Aiglon bicycles, illustrated with eight different models of bicycles with detailed descriptions of frames sizes, hubs, wheels, cranks, gears, handlebars and grips, pedals, chains, saddles, tires, etc. providing a precise account of the specific equipment available for each model.
Each model is priced, which provides a useful point of comparison for the market at the beginning of the 20th century—see the following catalog, which offers essentially the same model of bicycle with some modifications at higher prices. Offered are bicycles for touring, racing, women (with frames accommodating dresses), and children’s bicycles.
Cycles Aiglon, who also produced motorcyclettes, was founded by Emile Debaralle in 1900. So successful was the firm that they were acquired by Rodolphe Emile Koechlin, administrator of Les fils de Peugeot frères, who incorporated them into the Peugeot cycle and automobile company in 1910. The firm is well known for their magnificent advertising posters, which prominently feature the Aiglon, or eaglet, soaring to great heights.
2 bis). [BICYCLES]. Debaralle, Emile. Cycle Aiglon
Argenteuil, [1902].
(21.3 x 13.5 cm). 12 pp. In the publisher’s original printed wrappers. Corners showing light creases and some faint soiling, but internally a fine copy.
$175
This catalog for the Cycles Aiglon’s third year of business begins with an open letter to customers stating the firm’s goal to be, “Vendre bon, vendre bon marché et laisser dire”, that is, “Sell well, at a fair price, and let the competition talk.” The proof being that during their first three seasons Cycles Aiglon was unable to keep up the demand for the products.
Described and illustrated here are four models of bicycles, the “Aiglon” motorcyclette, wheel hubs, saddles, and handlebars, plus an offering of an assortment of bicycle parts, all priced.
Cycling before the First World War: Henri Cottereau’s final trade catalog?
3). [CYCLING. TRADE CATALOG]. Cycles Cottereau Dijon. Usines CID Dijon.
Dijon, Constructions Industrielles Dijonaises, 1913
(18 x 12.5 cm). 24 pp. Original printed wrappers, stapled. Covers with some uneven tanning and some minor staining to the bottom edge, some rust starting at the staples. Otherwise an excellent copy.
Trade catalogs for the firm are rare, we trace no catalogs in OCLC.
$175
This trade catalog for bicycles includes illustrations, descriptions, and prices for nine different models of bicycles, as well as bottom brackets, hubs, chains, gears, and handlebars. The catalog provides detailed information on the firm’s frames and tires, manufactured in their factories in Dijon.
The French automobile and cycle manufacturer Cottereau & Cie was founded by Louis and Henri Cottereau, who founded their cycle manufacturing firm in 1891, and they began making automobiles in 1898; they became Constructions Industrielles Dijonaises CID in 1911. The firm was successful enough to allow Henri Cottereau to form an important collection of Impressionist paintings, and he eventually opened a gallery in Paris.
At the onset of the First World War the state obliged the Cottereau’s to convert their Dijon factories into munitions manufacture, which eventually bankrupted the firm. Thus, this 1913 catalog would be one of their last.
The leading retailer for bicycles in the early 20th cen. – as well as sewing machines and phonographs
4). MESTRE & BLATGÉ. Vélocipédie, motocyclisme, outillage.
Paris, Mestre & Blatgé, 1923-1924.
(31 x 23.5 cm). [1 leaf of errata and price corrections], 344 pp. Publisher’s original wrappers, a few small tears to the wrappers, general wear from handling, some scattered soiling in the margins. Laid-in are two large (56 x 76 cm) advertising brochures.
This copiously illustrated catalog from the firm of Mestre & Blatgé, with two shops located in Paris, and others across France, with agents in Europe, North Africa, and South America, offers their retail products focused on bicycles and automobile accessories.
$350
An encyclopedic catalog for bicycles, ranging from complete bikes to all the individual parts that comprise them (frames, headsets, braze-ons, lugs, fittings, fork crowns, bottom brackets, dropouts, etc.). Also offered: equipment for welding, brazing, forging, machining and milling, tap and die cutting, specialized tools for bicycles, locks, lights, lubricants, in short, a comprehensive selection. The firm also sold everything for the randonneuring enthusiast, including cycling clothing, footwear, goggles, maps, etc.
Other products ranged from baby carriages, phonographs, sewing machines, pistols and hunting rifles, and of course all manner of sporting goods.
Etablissements Mestre & Blatgé, founded in 1907, were located at 46 avenue de la Grande-Armée and rue Brunel in Paris. The company manufactured automobiles, bicycles and their accessories, with factories in Courbevoie. Agencies in Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy, and Nantes.
