Just bought another batch of 250 issues of Le Miroir des Sports, mostly from the 1920s, but also including three dozen issues from the mid-war years 1941-1943 with headlines such as "Champ de France Cycliste" (1941), "Cyclocross Mont Valérien" (1942), "G.P. Cycliste d'Europe" (1942), "Omnium Parc des Princes" (1943), "Criterium des As" (1943), and even "Champion de Demi-Fond (motorpacing)" (1943).
I've always been fascinated by the idea that racing still occurred in occupied (and Vichy) France during WW2, but I never imagined there'd still be motorpacing in Paris as late as July of 1943. At a time when huge numbers of civilian motos, cars, and trucks had been confiscated for war use, and many remaining civilian vehicles had been converted to burn wood gas, gasoline for sports use must have been a real luxury.
I expect delivery sometime in late August... there will be some interesting pics to add to "Pic of the Day".
In September I will begin selling most of my collection of bikes, bike parts, bike jerseys, model cars, and antique toys. I'll use he funds to begin building-up the library with more magazines from the 1960s & 1970s. I already had to pass on a HUGE collection of 1960s & 1970s Miroir du Cyclisme... can't let that happen again! ;-)
Aldo Ross
Middletown, Ohio