An elderly John D. Rockefeller poses with a bicycle for a portrait in 1913.

Is that a shaft drive on the bike?
Rockefeller began business selling wholesale produce, then invested his savings in a new-fangled “oil refinery” in Cleveland, just as whale oil production peaked. With westward expansion after the U.S. Civil War and growing demand for petroleum, Rockefeller became the world’s richest man and the first billionaire through his ownership of Standard Oil Company.







5 Comments
Pierce-Arrow, the auto company, built a shaft drive bicycle at that time period.
http://www.nostalgic.net/bicycle411
Very good; thanks for that.
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Awesome document. Kooky old man with unusual bike.