Sunday, August 24, 2014

Leon Bollee or Hurtu?

Leon Bolle or Hurtu 3-wheel car
I just love these old photos - a glimpse of days gone by that will never return. I like old cars, motorbikes etc, but I do like a bit of life from the era as well, and a bit of history. This latest photo I found, is a photo of a man called (according to the written description on the reverse) Hilaire Malgras, father of Jules Malgras, on the road to Pulnoy.
I had no idea when I bought it what the vehicle was, but it soon narrowed down to either a Leon Bollée, or the same made under license by Hurtu, tandem two-seater three wheeler, from around 1897-1899. A nice addition is the fringed shade and the (picnic?) basket over the rear wheel. Pulnoy is more or less a suburb of Nancy, in the Moselle area of France, and probably very little of this landscape remains. The other things that make it interesting, is Hilaire is standing and holding a large scythe and a rather fine tartan patterned hat in the other hand. His wife(?) at the rear of the vehicle, appears to be holding some opera glasses - a rather strange scenario! I love the composition of this photo with the road meandering away into the distance - it makes a good panoramic view on a print, and a cropped version on a postcard shows the detail.
Léon Bollée three-wheeler postcard
Léon Bollée tandem three-wheeler postcard

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