From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian.
BIBENDUM: The origins of the Michelin Company go back to 1832 when Aristide Barbier joined with his cousin in establishing a rubber and agricultural goods factory in Clermont-Ferrand. By the time the business was inherited by two of his grandsons, Edouard and André Michelin, in 1886, the business was in decline. Edouard proved a good businessman and produced a new range of products that soon turned the business around. Several of these new products were for bicycles including a new type of 'silent' brake-pad, which proved to be a great success.
One spring afternoon in 1889 a cyclist arrived in the factory yard, his bicycle fitted with the latest Dunlop pneumatic tyres. One of these was punctured and he sought help in making the difficult repair. Intrigued by this new type of tyre, Edouard borrowed the repaired bicycle for a quick trial around the cobbled streets of Clermont-Ferrand. He was soon back with another puncture but not before he had realized that this was the future for wheeled vehicles. The brothers set about designing a detachable tyre, which would facilitate easy repairs of the pneumatic tyre. The design of the new detachable tyre took three years but clever advertising and promotion of the new tyre by André saw the company with a runaway success on their hands.
One day in 1894 the two brothers paid a visit to the Universal and Colonial Exhibition in Lyons. Edouard noticed two piles of their tyres at the entrance. Pointing to them, Edouard said to his brother: "Look at that. Add some arms, and you'd say they were men." A short time later, Andre was presented with some designs by the advertising artist O'Galop. One was based on the story of Gambrinus, the king who was said to have invented the art of brewing. In the design presented by O'Galop, Gambrinus was holding up a pitcher of beer and exclaiming in Latin: "Nunc est bibendum" - Now is the time to drink! To André's fertile mind the expression seemed an ideal advertising slogan for the company's tyres as they had spoken in the past of their tyres "drinking up all obstacles". O'Galop sketched away and came up with a round man made entirely of tyres. With some further refinement, the first of a series of "Nunc est bibendum" posters appeared in April 1898.
The rubber-man was an immediate hit with the French public and soon acquired a variety of nick-names. A month later while attending the Paris to Amsterdam motor race, André was greeted by the racing driver, Léon Théry, with a shout of "Here comes Bibendum!" On the spot, André Michelin knew that he now had a name for his creation.
Bibendum would go from strength to strength to become one of the most universally known commercial symbols. In the one hundred and seven years since his first appearance, Bibendum has evolved in step with the changing styles of the times. Additionally, he has left behind a rather aggressive, cigar-smoking style he acquired in his early years to evolve into a more reassuring guide to today's motorists.
And of course, as well as symbolizing the tyre products of his creator's company, he has become a universal symbol of the travel industry, branching out into well-respected travel guides, the creation of road signs and even the numbering of highways in his native France.