Talk:Mulga Bill's Bicycle

This article was nominated for deletion on 29 September 2008. The result of the discussion was keep.

A fact from Mulga Bill's Bicycle appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 5 October 2008, and was viewed approximately 494 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the ballad Mulga Bill's Bicycle by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson was inspired by an outback worker who purchased a bicycle when drought meant there was no feed for horses?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2008/October.

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Deletion

I don't think this article should be deleted. The notability is there, even if the current article is lacking. I'll try to do something with it in the next few days, if I get time. --Lester 06:51, 29 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No-one is contesting the article on grounds of notability. If you can turn this into an article, I would be happy to keep it. -- Mattinbgn\^talk 07:04, 29 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No-one seems to be able to find sources, I've gone ahead and taken it to AfD. Beeblebrox (talk) 15:53, 29 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Job Well Done- -Wow. I see the little elves have been hard at work at this article, since the last time I looked. It's an enormous improvement. Congratulations to Matilda, SatuSuro, Mattinbgn on such fine work in improving this article. Cheers, --Lester 00:56, 30 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

'Ordinary' not 'Safety'

Permit me to suggest that the cited sources may be misinformed on one point (“The poem actually featured the Safety bicycle. However, the poem has been inaccurately illustrated by various illustrators with a depiction of the visually more interesting Penny-farthing which had been superseded at the time the poem was written.[6][7]”). The poem itself makes clear that it was an ‘Ordinary’ (high-wheel) bicycle not a 'safety'. There are many references that may be used to authenticate that criticism, but one will do (me) http://niquette.com/bicycle-pavilion/ultexub.htm, from which this excerpt is pertinent: "In 1910, at South Hadley Massachusetts, a bicycle race was held in which for the first time the Safety was permitted to race against the Ordinary -- and the Safety won. Thus affording us a lesson from history: The triumph of intellect over dimension."Paul Niquette (talk) 08:50, 3 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Reference #2 settles the debate about the type of bicycle Mulga Bill was riding with absolute certainty. In the picture accompanying the original news article from 1896, Mulga Bill is sat astride the FRONT wheel pedaling with his knees UNDER the handle bars. So the intent to describe an experience riding the more complex Ordinary ("Penny-Farthing") is clearly expressed in the accompanying illustration. Although it's true the "Safety" bicycle was in its' ascendancy by 1896 and the Ordinary was in it's decline, there were still many Ordinaries around the time the poem was written and I've seen pictures of them being ridden in Manhattan AFTER the turn of the century. But as they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words" and the picture in the original article unambiguously depicts Munga Bill pedaling astride the front wheel with his knees directly under the handle bars: his bike could only have been a Penny-Farthing. PennyFarthingUK (talk) 11:29, 1 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Good afternoon, the illustrations shows Mulga Bill riding an early safety bicycle, the front wheel is much too small for an Ordinary (penny-farthing) and the picture in the water clearly shows 2 equal size wheels. One cannot drag one's feet on the ground of a regular bicycle of the mid 1890s due to the fast spinning cranks as they were all fixed wheel at the time. The riding position of early safely cycle's was cramped up with large handlebars. I have 3 original 1880s Ordinary's and several 1890s bicycles. Mulga Bill Cycles (talk) 06:15, 31 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified (February 2018)

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