Is this an ad for the bicycles--or a solicitation for investment? I don't speak any Danish, but that looks like a list of corporate officers and a statement about the company's capitalization.
When did the i disappear from Kiøbenhavn? Did this change the pronunciation? Just curious (there used to be a Swedish football player in Holland called Ove Kindvall whose name simply was pronounced by the Dutch as it was written - with the notable exception of a journalist Herman Kuiphof who for this reason often was referred to as Tsjuiphof).
Are you sure this is from the late 1800s? The typeface style and especially the "noodly" graphic look much more like something from the Art Nouveau era of the early 1900s. I notice the ad says they were established in 1891 and won a gold medal in Stockholm in 1897 so I assume this appeared probably several years after that.
Sorry Mikael, but as a professional linguist I must be annoying and pedantically correct you. (I swear I feel no glee in doing so!)
In Old Danish, København was Køpmannæhafn, corresponding to the even older Old Norse form that still lives in Icelandic Kaupmannahöfn. The original sound was 'k', and the 'kj' (like hy- or shy- to English ears) sound of Norwegian and Swedish is the new sound. The c letter in Old English cyrce (where modern English gets 'church') was already pronounced like 'ch'; the northern English and Scots dialect 'kirk' comes from Old Norse 'kirkja' with the 'k' sounds, which is what the Danish word 'kirke' comes directly from. Again, it was the Norwegians and Swedes who changed the sound.
You can see how it is English that innovated the 'ch' sound in the family name that derives from the first part of 'Kaupmannahöfn'. Old Germanic Kaupmann became Kaufmann in German, Koopman in Dutch, and in English, via a pre-Anglo-Saxon something like 'Kæapmann', became 'Chapman'.
I still like the old style spellings, whatever.
Which brings us full circle. Or cycle. Or cykel, to bring us back to main topic. Hjul be glad this post is over, I wager.
i just acquired an old hamlet mens bike with a double top tube. it has sturmey archer drum brakes and internal three speed shifter. everything else seems to be original and has hamlet markings (crank, seat, chainring etc)... trouble is i cant seem to find anything online about the company. does anyone have info about this? the chainring is identical to a photo i found on google for a womens bike they made in the 1930's. but thats all i can find at this point.
12 comments:
timeless design
Kiobenhavenize has a nice ring to it, no??! :o)
Great font, thanks for sharing. It's good to have intermittent breaks of beauty inbetween the more serious stuff - helps refresh the soul
Is this an ad for the bicycles--or a solicitation for investment? I don't speak any Danish, but that looks like a list of corporate officers and a statement about the company's capitalization.
thanks.
it's a page out of a brochure for their bicycles, highlighting the fact that they are a fancy, well-to-do company.
When did the i disappear from Kiøbenhavn? Did this change the pronunciation? Just curious (there used to be a Swedish football player in Holland called Ove Kindvall whose name simply was pronounced by the Dutch as it was written - with the notable exception of a journalist Herman Kuiphof who for this reason often was referred to as Tsjuiphof).
Are you sure this is from the late 1800s? The typeface style and especially the "noodly" graphic look much more like something from the Art Nouveau era of the early 1900s. I notice the ad says they were established in 1891 and won a gold medal in Stockholm in 1897 so I assume this appeared probably several years after that.
I *do* like the old-fashioned spelling...
1899. just double-checked.
The swedes still pronounce 'k' as 'sh', which was common in the language spoken by the vikings. this is why 'kirk' became 'church.
It was Kj and then Ki. The j was often interchangeable with the i. Which is why the name Jan is Ian in countries like Scotland.
Not sure about the pronunciation. if it was different, it wasn't by much.
Tut-tut.
Sorry Mikael, but as a professional linguist I must be annoying and pedantically correct you. (I swear I feel no glee in doing so!)
In Old Danish, København was Køpmannæhafn, corresponding to the even older Old Norse form that still lives in Icelandic Kaupmannahöfn. The original sound was 'k', and the 'kj' (like hy- or shy- to English ears) sound of Norwegian and Swedish is the new sound. The c letter in Old English cyrce (where modern English gets 'church') was already pronounced like 'ch'; the northern English and Scots dialect 'kirk' comes from Old Norse 'kirkja' with the 'k' sounds, which is what the Danish word 'kirke' comes directly from. Again, it was the Norwegians and Swedes who changed the sound.
You can see how it is English that innovated the 'ch' sound in the family name that derives from the first part of 'Kaupmannahöfn'. Old Germanic Kaupmann became Kaufmann in German, Koopman in Dutch, and in English, via a pre-Anglo-Saxon something like 'Kæapmann', became 'Chapman'.
I still like the old style spellings, whatever.
Which brings us full circle. Or cycle. Or cykel, to bring us back to main topic. Hjul be glad this post is over, I wager.
;-)
I love that graphic design. A Hamlet bicycle would be so cool.
i just acquired an old hamlet mens bike with a double top tube. it has sturmey archer drum brakes and internal three speed shifter. everything else seems to be original and has hamlet markings (crank, seat, chainring etc)... trouble is i cant seem to find anything online about the company. does anyone have info about this? the chainring is identical to a photo i found on google for a womens bike they made in the 1930's. but thats all i can find at this point.
the legendary hamlet brand was acquired, i believe, by another company back in the 50's.
it's hard finding info about them, even in danish. they were massive at the turn of the last century.
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