Remember that time I posted about tire size and mpg? In this post, I’m setting out to chronicle the many faces of Bibendum aka Bibelobis aka Bib the Michelin Man. Great article I linked to right there. Great article.
- Bibendum, of Latin origin, translates to mean “drinking to be done.”
- Created by French artist O’Galop in 1898.
- Andre Michelin commissioned the drawing after his brother Edouard noted that a stack of tires resembled a human figure – “Add some arms, and you’d say they were men.”
- The original Bib was based on a bicycle tire – he smoked cigars and wore pince-nez glasses with a lanyard.
- In print advertisements, he was portrayed as an “incorrigible ladies’ man,” a ballroom dancer, a kickboxer.
- Bib was shown with meek, disheveled rivals toasting a glass filled with broken glass, nails and a horseshoe. Why? “Michelin tires drink up obstacles!” What? They won’t easily pop.
- At a bicycle show in Paris in 1898, the Michelin brothers hired a cabaret comedian to hide behind a large cutout of Bibendum and spout witty banter. People were so into it (and other vendors so annoyed by it) that fights broke out.
- Bib wrote a column for an Italian travel magazine in 1907.
- 1998 saw a slimmer Bib.
- Slimmer Bib found a friend in a CG puppy that appeared in television commercials with him.
- Slimmer Bib reflected not only the whole fitness craze that took the United States by storm but also the slimmer, lower-profile tires different sorts of vehicles began sporting.
THE END
“But wait!” you protest. “Why is he white?”
Ah – good question, my friend! I answer: “Tires weren’t black until 1912!!”
“Go on,” you urge.
I go on. “Manufacturers started adding carbon black as a preservative.”
“And?”
“And…up until then, tires were a greyish or beige color.”
“How do you know all this?!?” you wonder.
I shake my head and chuckle to myself. “I know all this…” I begin, then I stop.”No, no. Nevermind.”
“Please,” you beg. “I need to know!”
“I know all this,” I say, “because I invented knowledge!!”
Shocked, you do nothing but stare at me, eyes wide with awe and amazement.
“No, I’m just kidding!” I exclaim. “How could you have believed me? I know all this because I researched it for my blog. Joe Blog. http://www.joeblog.tumblr.com. I’m surprised you didn’t figure this out for yourself, as you’re reading my blog right now.”
You process the information. I see a wave of understanding wash over your face.
We laugh.