Before Tony Anthony started Anthony Brother’s Refrigeration Co he worked as an engineer at Northrop where he learned all he needed to know about cast-aluminum. After WWII there was a shortage of steel but an abundance of cheap recyclable aluminum thanks to the decreased demand for airships.

In 1949 Tony Anthony designed the ingenious Convert-O-Bike that can easily be transformed from a tricycle to a bicycle. When the kid is old enough you simply remove the rear axle, detach one of the rear wheels and fit that in the rear fork.

The Convert-O-Bike is a made with a solid cast-aluminum frame that prevents it from rusting thus making it last a lifetime. The introduction in the late 1940s and the early 1950s proved to be perfect timing. The American housing market started booming and the Convert-O-Bike turned an immediate success becoming a regular feature in the American suburbia.

Product information

This is one in series of illustrations of beautiful design, in different ways connected to travel. From air travel to road travel whether in a helicopter designed by Alvin Lustig for the Roteron Company, a Concorde, a Jaguar E-Type designed by Malcolm Sayer a Yacht by Zaha Hadid or a Tricycle by Tony Anthony.

The size 50 x 40 cm (approx 20” x 16”) are signed and printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White 310g archival paper and are sold in a limited edition of 50 prints.

The size 40 x 30 cm (approx 16” x 12”) are printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Studio Enhanced 210g archival paper.