... whether there are any female frame builders?

[xcalibur]

Um, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Rosa Bonheur, Mary Pratt (Canadian , so probably not well known off this continent), Saskatchewan's Dorothy Knowles (yes, by international standards a bit obscure, but it's minus 23º outside my window this morning making art more immediately of interest than bicycles). … Or click here: http://www.wendy.com/women/artists.html

Linda Nochlin wrote an article called "Why have there been no great women artists" in 1971 (before I was born), and it has been a reoccuring subject both before and after. Even if the large historical overviews of art like Helen Gardner's and Janson's have made an effort to mention women artists it is still much the same arguments being repeated regarding the subject. I checked my old Gardner's and only Frida Kahlo and Rosa Bonheur are mentioned of the ones you list. It's really not a question of if there were good women artists in general, but why they still are not mentioned when the greater (his)story of art is told. The great masters are always mentioned in each edition from decade to decade, the women are largely edited in and out along the way. I'm not sure how this compares to bicycle frame building history, but I thought it might be an interesting comparison. I have read a few books on bicycles, and I cannot remember a single woman mentioned in the development and building process. We have to make place for a section on women!

[iviehoff]

It's a question I'm sure has been asked for any type of profession and achievment, like "Why have there been no great women artists". So far they haven't managed to come up with anything close to to Rubens or Rembrant.

Because when Rubens and Rembrandt were painting, there was systematic social repression of women across the western world, not unlike what goes on in Islamic countries today. In Britain married women couldn't even own assets, or control their own earnings, until the Married Women's Property Act of 1870. That's less than 150 years ago. The Bronte sisters first published under male names, because it was hard to be accepted as a writer being a woman, despite the example of Jane Austen, and we see most of them were unmarried.

But despite that, a few female artists emerged. Lavinia Fontana, working in 16th century Italy, is seen as the first case of a female artist being able to work in the trade as an equal; she attracted the favour of the pope even. Later painters such as Mary Beale (17th century) and Elizabeth Vigée-Le Brun (18th/19th), are clearly up among the best of their period.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavinia_Fontana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_ ... A9e-Lebrun
So, they don't turn up among that handful of names that make the leading painters of the per-20th century period, because the social repression meant that they were so much less numerous, and discouraged by social attitudes.

In music, Hildegard of Bingen is one of the few composers of the 12th century I can even name. She was a writer and a painter too. But doubtless such expressions of female emancipation, operating out of female monastic institution, were later squashed.

[xcalibur]

Yeah, we have it largely summed up, and is it possible to relate this in some way to bicycling?

[Mistik-ka]

Yeah, we have it largely summed up, and is it possible to relate this in some way to bicycling?

Sorry. Red flag — bull.

[xcalibur]

No, it's all right. It easily relates to frame building, it just take a bit of work to find the actual bicycle cases and make the comparison. With a historical approach some research is needed, luckily most bicycle stuff happens from the second half of the 19 century and onwoards I think.

[speedsixdave]

As I feared, the numbers seem pretty small. I had forgotten about Georgena Terry, but I'd never heard of Pat Hanlon, so that's a bonus.

The artistic diversion has been interesting - though I'm disappointed no-one's mentioned Helen Saunders in the early 20th century or Bridget Riley in the later - but what is perhaps germane is that from a slow start female artists are now on a fairly even footing with male artists. And in the very physical art of sculpture, there are of course extremely well-regarded artists like Barbara Hepworth and Cornelia Parker.

What does this mean for female frame builders? Don't know. Niche market? Excellent opportunity?

[mrjemm]

I wonder if any Pendleton frames are made by VP... Maybe when she does her weekend shifts at the local Half's with Chris B.

http://victoriapendleton.co.uk/victoria ... 01-30.html

[LWaB]

Schwinn, the USA-ian Raleigh-equivalent, had a custom department where the Paramount frames were produced. Back in the 1950s or so, all of their Paramount framebuilders were women.

[breakwellmz]

A couple of Google found links ,some will have seen them already i`m sure.

http://www.oregonlive.com/cycling/index ... rengt.html

http://www.itchy-themovement.com/women- ... -haystack/

[Brucey]

Schwinn, the USA-ian Raleigh-equivalent, had a custom department where the Paramount frames were produced. Back in the 1950s or so, all of their Paramount framebuilders were women.

OT I know, but during WWII aircraft fuel tanks were often made from gas-welded aluminium. I am told that the vast majority of these were made by lady welders; apparently they very often learned to do delicate work like this (from scratch) more quickly than people who had already learned to weld heavier duty assemblies of other types.

Gas welding of aluminium is tricky; I've seen it done once or twice but never tried it myself. Others who have tried it tell me that welding funny shaped joins in thin gauges in all positions (as required for fuel tanks) is 'as easy as pushing wet string uphill'.

Working with thin gauge steel bike frame tubing requires a certain delicacy of touch, too.

cheers

[colin54]

Funnily enough there was footage of some women frame builders on Claire Balding's 'Britain By bike' last night, on BBC4.It was taken at the Phillips factory at Newtown, should be on BBCiplayer for a few more days.

[Orbit531C]

warning, almighty thread resurrection...
...Ten years later....
I had to add an update to this topic, as yesterday I was riding my Nigel Dean silver-brazed Reynolds 753 racer (complete with Cinelli cast lugs and aero-spoiler bottom bracket) across the Lincolnshire wolds, thinking that it was not far from where it was first made & brazed in Barton-on-Humber in about 1988/9 by a woman frame builder called Brenda:

"Your comments about the quality of the Nigel Dean bike filled me with a sense of pride as I worked at the factory in the late 80s. The company was called Tiger Sports and Leisure and based in Barton on Humber, the old Elswick Hopper site, probably the largest manufacturer of bikes in the world in the early 1900s. The factory was small in 1988 employing no more than 20 people. I was 18 years old when I started working there and after a couple of years worked as a brazer/frame constructor. I remember the Reynolds tubing and forged lugs and ends being of really high quality and we all took pride in brazing all the components. The seat stays were cut, caps brazed on the seat end with the flanges turned flush on a belt, by hand. They were then brazed onto the seat lug by building up the brass. A good brazer made this look smoth with no lumps, Brenda was the best at this! Check under your seat for the workmanship...

I realise that the bikes we produced were made to a high standard and I'm not sure they are made that way anymore. The 531 tourer was a great bike and the racing frames with steap heads and little clearance on the down tube were light and very good. The 753 and 653 were very light and had to be silver soldered. The shot blaster had to be turned right down to avoid warping the tubes."

from YACF, posted August, 2014:
https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=45592.0

I hope she is happy knowing that her art & craftsmanship is still bring appreciated to this day...
... is it implausible that Brenda, a female given name, apparently comes from a Germanic word meaning “flame” (or “sword”)?

[oaklec]

Caren Hartley

https://www.hartleycycles.com/

[simonineaston]

There's been a great custom bicycle show in autumn each year, here in Bristol. I went one year - can't remember which, although it was pre Covid - and I recall being pleasantly surprised by how unisex the folk there were.

[Halla]

Liz Colebrook, Beaumont Bicycle Shropshire.

There were articles about her in the CUK magazine a few years ago, as well as on television.

Not sure if she is still working.

She was known for her ability as a physiotherapist to be able to design a bike for comfort for each customer.

I think she also had a tie up with Trevor Jarvis of Flying Gate.