> To Jan's list i would add: Paid Vacations! Unless i'm mistaken the
>strikes waged in 1934 against the Popular Front government secured
>paid vacations for a wide swath of French workers [and perhaps
>professionals as well?]
Absolutely. It was in 1936. The Popular Front had just been elected, but the workers didn't wait to see what the new government could do for them. They went on strike, occupied factories and didn't let the bosses back in, until the government passed laws that guarantee every employee a 40-hour work week and 15 days of paid vacation.
Of course, these workers couldn't buy top-end constructeur bikes, but they did buy production bikes and tandems with Cyclo derailleurs and good brakes, and set out on camping trips all over France. A "back to nature" movement was sweeping all across Europe during the 1930s, so bicycle touring fit in nicely.
These "lesser" machines didn't display the same top-notch quality of the best constructeur machines, but many of the innovations trickled down. In "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles," we included a Longoni tandem - with child seat on the rear top tube - as a representative of the best "affordable" bikes of the time. It had front and rear derailleurs, sturdy racks and powerful brakes, and it weighed less than 50 lbs., if I recall correctly (the weight is listed in the back of the book, but I don't have my copy handy) - definitely better than any tandem you could find in many other countries at the time.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com