Historical Perspective: London's 1917 Autoped Preceded Modern E-Scooters
By
zeristor
Toasted golden, schmeared with insight. Top of the rack.
Summary
The article reveals that electric scooters are not a modern invention, tracing their origins back to the Autoped, an American-made powered scooter that first appeared in London in 1917. Despite import bans during WWI, the Autoped became popular enough to regularly feature in newspapers before disappearing from public consciousness. The article draws historical parallels between early 20th-century transportation innovation and today's e-scooter phenomenon.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThe e-scooters that clutter up pavements may seem like a new thing, but a hundred years ago, there were already people zooming around London on powered scooters.
These were the Autoped, an American import that was once popular enough to regularly appear in the newspapers before vanishing seemingly without a trace.
Invented in the USA in 1915, they first appeared in London in 1917, despite a ban on imports during WWI, and really took off when the import ban was lifted in 1919.
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