Es-Ka Bicycles Poster Stamp
- Cheb, Czechoslovakia , 1920
Cheb, Czechoslovakia, 1920. Very Good. Cheb, Czechoslovakia: Es-Ka Bicycles, ca. 1920. Ephemeral poster stamp (13cm). Single thin sheet with shorn top edge; some toning to front and foxing to rear. Very Good or better.
First called Elite, Es-Ka Bicycles was founded in Cheb, Czechoslovakia in 1911 by Ambros Swetlik and Heinrich Kastrup. Located in the far west of the country near the German border, Cheb was the center of a German-speaking region called Egerland. Though Es-Ka established Cheb a hub for bicycle manufacturing in the early twentieth century, the company halted production in 1941 when the city was seized by the German army. Cheb’s population remained overwhelmingly German until the end of World War II, when Czech resistance groups led a nationwide effort to expel ethnic Germans. The female subject of this advertising label wears traditional Czech folk clothing and poses with a low-slung woman’s bike frame.
First called Elite, Es-Ka Bicycles was founded in Cheb, Czechoslovakia in 1911 by Ambros Swetlik and Heinrich Kastrup. Located in the far west of the country near the German border, Cheb was the center of a German-speaking region called Egerland. Though Es-Ka established Cheb a hub for bicycle manufacturing in the early twentieth century, the company halted production in 1941 when the city was seized by the German army. Cheb’s population remained overwhelmingly German until the end of World War II, when Czech resistance groups led a nationwide effort to expel ethnic Germans. The female subject of this advertising label wears traditional Czech folk clothing and poses with a low-slung woman’s bike frame.