Photos &repeated posts 17 Jul 2011 07:27 am
recap Sunday – Hitching Posts
This post was produced back in July of 2008. I was looking at these bicycle posts again this week thinking of doing a follow-up. The images seemed identical, except that there was more loose garbage strewn on the street. I decided to just recap this original.
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- Back in the wild, wild west, they used to have hitching posts so cowboys could tie their horses outside the local tavern to keep them from running wild. If there was no hitching post, cowboys in movies used the stanchions in front of the saloon or store.
We don’t have horses in the big city, but we do have bicycles. Hitching these with chains and locks and anything to try to prevent theft has
________(Click any image to enlarge.)_____________been a primary difficulty for
_______________________________________-_____messengers and other bike riders.
My studio has two entrances (or exits depending on how you view the situation.) At both, there are wrought iron fences which sort of act as bannisters going up/down the steps. Leaving work the other day, I noticed that the back entrance was used as a “hitching post” for a couple of bike riders. Presumably they were working out in the gym just next door.
Good thing we rarely use this exit.
This made me start looking at other hitching posts I could find on my way home, and I took some snaps.
Sign posts and trees seem to be likely candidates.
Sometimes both come in handy.
Though, any pole will do.
The upside-down “U” seems to be designed for smaller businesses
that want something curbside.
For one or multiple bikes.
There’s also the “M” shape for a couple of bikes.
I’m not sure if these are supplied by the City or the storeowner.
There’s a uniformity around town that makes me wonder.
In places there are a number of these for the high bike traffic.
Sometimes this isn’t enough and a subway entrance serves as a backup.
Even though many “M”s have been placed in the same area.
I did like noting this one unit outside a “Circuit City” store that offered
an overhead to protect the bikes outdoors.
on 17 Jul 2011 at 12:09 pm 1.Sean said …
nice shots! david byrne’s bike racks are pretty cool too.
http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/bike_racks/index.php
on 17 Jul 2011 at 1:43 pm 2.Paul Penna said …
One of the interesting slice-of-life-past glimpses you get in the early-20th-century urban street scenes posted on Shorpy is the method used for bicycle security back then. Hint: usually there wasn’t any:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/7062?size=_original