COMMERCIAL DELIVERY TRICYCLES
The industrial tricycle was developed in England in the 1870s. It was commonly used by grocers, bakers, druggists and other tradesmen. In 1939 in London, there were 4,000 ice cream tricycles. The commercial version is still used all over the world, but especially in Asia where they can carry loads of up to 1,000 pounds.
The photos here are of my 1905 Alldays Delivery Tricycle, which was used by a firm of Gent’s Outfitters in Liverpool.
I did a search on the name Watson Prickard when I bought the Alldays. I was surprised to discover that the company still exists, though they closed their Liverpool shop and are now in Southport.
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The Dutch advert, reproduced below, is for a 1964 Gazelle 3-wheeler delivery trike. I’ve not yet found out anything else about this model of triporteur, but an internet search revealed that one sold at H&H Classic Auctions in June 2006 for £150
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You’ll see quite a few photos of this type of commercial delivery triporteur on the indiantriporteurs website below:
http://www.indiantriporteurs.wordpress.com
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This early fifties Pashley 3-wheeler was used for local deliveries by a grocer’s shop (younger readers: that’s what supermarkets were called in the old days).
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I’m bot sure about British law, but in France, in 1909, delivery tricycles could not be driven by boys under fourteen years of age. Girls and women were totally prohibited!
For boys under eighteen, the maximum permissible load was 75kg, including the vehicle.
