Before the Girl from Ipanema, there was the Bicycle from Copacabana. 1940s.

While we are slowly chipping away at the bizarre but nonetheless prevalant misconceptions that bicycles are a new-fangled intruder in cities and all the ridiculous comments like "people won't cycle here... it's too hot/cold/hilly/", they remain a hurdle. Despite over a century of evidence to the contrary.

Cycling was a normal transport form in Rio de Janeiro. Someone should tell the president of the Brazilian national oil company Petrobras. She was quoted recently that she "loves traffic jams. They're good for business."

Lord knows what she'll do if she sees these photos from the 1940s.
 

Bicycle parking on Copacabana Beach, 1940s. We love the classic Danish Bulldog child's seat.

 

Rio de Janeiro. 1940s.

For more photos that , here are some from Los Angeles, Canberra, Queensland, New South Wales, Vancouver, Singapore, Dublin.