I don't know about other countries, but here is the story for France:
Triples date back at least to 1929 - for example on the Integral featured in Vintage Bicycle Quarterly vol. 1, No. 3. In that case, cottered steel cranks, single rear cog, floating chain, and a front derailleur, but of course no rear derailleur!
Rosa/Cyclo were advertising triple chainrings in the January 1938 issue of Le Cycliste. Most cyclotourists stuck with doubles, such as 46-32 or so, which give you a wide range of gears. Four or five speeds in the rear, usually a 15-22 or something like that.
In France, triples became widespread in the late 1940s, with TA offering the rings, even for quadruples, which were used on some tandems, for the Stronglight 49D cranks and other cranks with the 5-bolt pattern. Herse, of course, offered his cranks with triples.
The old Cyclo rear derailleur, introduced in 1924, could handle any chain wrap you could ever need, same for the Nivex touring model, and numerous others. Most front derailleurs on the French bikes were hand-made by the "constructeur" until the advent of the Huret Allvit in 1959 (? that is when the rear derailleur came out).
I don't know when the Campy NR triple came out, but Campy didn't even make cranks back then...
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Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
http://www.mindspring.com/
Does anyone know approximately when triple chainwheel cranks came into existence and which manufacturer developed them? Was there such a thing as a triple cotterred crank? And was there a corresponding rear derailleur to the introduction of the triple?
The earliest I know is the Campagnolo NR triple matched to Shimano GT, but I'd like to you know if there were others, earlier than the Campangolo and which rear derailleur went with it.
Thank you.
Cheers.
Tom Hayes
Chagrin Falls, Ohio