Le Pneu Michelin Tire Nunc est Bibendum
(0000-0601)

by anonymous

1896 Michelin Tire Advertisement

The first of all the Bebendum designs. To show that Michelin tires can take it, O Galop in 1896 showed the personified tire about to down a cup of rusty nails and broken bottles, presumably with no ill effects, and for a heading he used, mockingly, the venerable latin phrase, Let us drink. Many people apparently believed that Bibendum was the figures name, and that's how hes been known in France for over a century. Its one of the worlds longest lasting advertising images, one still enjoying widespread popularity as we rush towards the new millennium. The company was started by Andre and Edouard Michelin in 1892 when they obtained a patent for a pneumatic bicycle tire.

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