Figure 1.-- It is basically a postcard back portrait, but there is no postcard printing. The boy wears a short pants suit with white socks abd sandals. The scooter woukd have been a studio prop. It is not dated, but we woukd guess was taken in the 1910s. It looks to be a mostly wooden model. This portrait is unidentified, but there is a message on the back. Click on the image to see the message. A French reader tells us,"The portrait is a boy named Jean. There is not one mistake in the French text. It reads, 'August 8. Dearest Emilie. I received your letter just before I left. I send you this photograph before a next letter. You'll find Jean has grown a lot. I have been very late in answering your first letter, but the ...??.. requires a lot of devotion to duty. Henry has been around to a new factory. I go to the beach often. Dondois René says hello to me every day. Jean sends his best kisses to Jean. Just now Jean is playing racket with his father on the beach. Goodbye my dear Emily. Many kisses to all. Gabrielle Jean Henri"

There were various vehicles and convehences which children enjoyed in France. Our archieve is limited, but we note Younger children enjoying scooters in the early-20th century. The wooden scooter here is undated, but we would guess dates to the 1910s (figure 1). And we note them advertized in catalogs. We see scooters advertized in French catalogs. We are not sure about the chronology. So far we have only noted them in the early-20th century. Older boys were more interested in bikes. We do not notice girls with scooters, but our archive is still too limited to draw any firm conclusions.

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Created: 3:58 AM 2/6/2012
Last updated: 6:32 AM 2/6/2012