Cycles Alcyon, Original Art Deco Advertising Poster, c. 1930s

Alcyon Bicycles, Motorcycles and Radio — Same brand… Same performance

Five cyclists surge toward the viewer in this striking French advertising poster for Alcyon. Rendered in crisp white and shades of blue against a vivid red field, the riders form a dramatic diagonal procession, led by an enlarged racer at the front of the peloton. Below, a relaxed man smokes a pipe while listening to an Alcyon radio. The contrast between the race’s intensity and the listener’s comfort creates a clever link between live sporting action and the then-modern experience of following events by radio.

The headline promotes three Alcyon product lines—“Cycles, Motos, T.S.F.,” or “Bicycles, Motorcycles and Radio”—followed by the slogan “Même marque… mêmes performances”: “Same brand… same performance.” T.S.F., short for télégraphie sans fil, was the period French term for radio. The radio announcement reads: “Tour d’Europe, 1er X… suivi de X… tous deux sur Alcyon”—“Tour of Europe, first X…, followed by X…, both riding Alcyon.” The unnamed riders make the joke wonderfully direct: an Alcyon radio is reporting yet another victory by cyclists riding Alcyon bicycles.

Founded by Edmond Gentil in the early twentieth century, Alcyon became one of France’s most important manufacturers of bicycles and motorcycles. Its professional cycling team was among the great early trade teams, with a racing record that made the Alcyon name synonymous with performance. Alcyon riders won four consecutive Tours de France before World War I—François Faber in 1909, Octave Lapize in 1910, Gustave Garrigou in 1911, and Odile Defraye in 1912. The team returned to the top in the late 1920s with Nicolas Frantz winning in 1927 and 1928, followed by Maurice De Waele in 1929. This extraordinary racing heritage gave the company a powerful foundation for promoting everything bearing the Alcyon name—including, as this memorable poster demonstrates, its radios.

This poster has been professionally archivally linen-backed.

Virtually all original vintage posters of this era were viewed as temporary advertising and were printed on very thin paper. While expensive, linen backing is a conservation method used to mount, stabilize, preserve, and protect vintage posters, allowing them to be displayed or framed without compromising their value.