As this question returns now and then, here a short thread on the story behind these fantastic photos.
Yes, they did have motorised scooters over a century ago, lots of them, they were kind of a craze, well, among those who could afford them of course.
🧵with many cool pics:
The motorized scooters first appeared around 1914, generally known as the autoped or motoped.
They had a little engine and could reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour but that was just for the daredevils.
Some also worked on batteries.
So let's deal with the most famous photo that's shared the most often on social media, is it real?
Yes, it is.
It is Lady Priscilla Norman, she was quite a woman, read more about her here; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priscilla…
And if you don't believe me, here's her great-granddaughter confirming it;
Here's one of the earlier mentions of the new vehicle;
Mexico Ledger Mexico, Missouri
27 Oct 1914. newspapers.com/clip/109815491…
Some people claim Lady Norman's autoped was "the first e-scooter" but she probably wasn't the first to own one and hers was not electric.
Yes it does have a battery but that's for the lights, mind you, fully electric ones were made not much later!
So now we've dealt with the story that goes around, let's look at a whole bunch of great old pictures of scooters!
And here she is giving us a demonstration on film!
So, conclusion;
-No, Lady Norman did not drive the FIRST e-bike.
-Yes there were both petrol & electric mopeds/autopeds/motopeds in the early 20th century.
-Yes somehow as a kid I ended up with a stupid wooden one that was only powered by my foot.
SO UNFAIR.
• • •
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Last night a friend asked me if I could help her solve a family mystery; was her dad her dad or was the story true that an old family friend was her dad in stead.
It was not easy, very little was known about this man and it took all my research experience & luck to solve.
How do you prove someone is related to someone else without any real evidence?
Unfortunately the man had passed away some time ago and my friend didn't approve of me sending some undercover agents to follow relatives to restaurants and steal their coffee cups to obtain DNA ;)
I set up a family tree but unfortunately they were a complicated family and many of the sons shared the same names so finding out which one of the chaps was the one I was looking for was tricky.
As he wasn't born that long ago, so many records were not yet made public.
Progress!
I've been chatting with this account and trying to explain why I keep correcting their tweets.
They've deleted their previous 'world's first miss world' tweet and replaced it with this one:
Well it was fun while it lasted.
It looks like they decided that being factual, even if I helped them with the research, was too much of an effort.
So they moved on to the subject and blocked me just in case...
But our DM chat was interesting...🧵
Just to be sure, as rules surrounding sharing DM's are vague, I've blocked out the account's name ;)
This is the FIRST ever time one of these "world's first" accounts communicated with me, I found it very interesting.
You know I'm a fool for showing the middle ages as a colourful era!
Virtual reconstruction of the private rooms of the lords of Cornwall in the tower of Launceston Castle (England), as it must have been in the 13th century.
Made by @jr_casals
I just want to sit here with some mead and a good book.
These window seats are always so lovely.
This is a reconstruction of the full tower, it is based on scanning of the surviving structure and accurate historical documentation.
I love these cut-out see through illustrations, used to stare at them for ages as a kid.
LIFE Takes a Bath: Classic Pics of People (and Pets) Enjoying a Soak.
Just a few gems from this page, make sure to check the original for the details and more great photos like these.
I am NOT obsessed with the history of bathing, honest ;)
Soldiers in their remote World War outpost of Amchitka Island, Alaska, bathed in halved oil drums, 1943.
Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Bathing was a complicated process for 24-year-old schoolteacher Dorothy Albrecht in rural Montana; first she needed to haul water from a cistern 100 yards away from her cottage and heat in on the stove before climbing into the washtub, 1941
Hansel Mieth/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
This picture is from an 1930s film and the actor is holding a replica, a prop.
So that is not the world's first telephone, according to my contact at the AT&T Archives.