I saw this posted over at Facebook. It’s a bike that has been somehow engulfed into the side of a growing tree.
I did some quick google searches, and there’s vast discussion about it being a fake, but nobody, that I can tell, talks about the idea that a “boy” with a toddler-sized bike, locked his wheels up to the side of a tree in 1914 (America didn’t fire their first shot until October 1917, by the way), went off to war, and the U.S. forces didn’t send him home for being a goddamn “boy.”
The top of this should read, “Lest we forget” what year we went to war.
For what it’s worth, tree trunks only grow in width, not height. A bicycle chained to the tree would not change height, unless the ground around the tree eroded. The lack of exposed roots blows that possibility. So it is definitely a fake, done by a non-botanist. Too bad, it looks really neat!
FWIW, the bike in the tree is apparently real and not p-shopped:
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2007/09/vashon-island-bike-tree.html
No one said the bike was photoshopped.
The trees around this tree all appear to make this tree look small thereby making our tree medium. The bike is indicative of a tricycle size, early 20th century bike.
And I realize “boy” is common speak for troops, but it looks like a boy’s bike, not a young man.
What is your problem?
Whoops. I thought you were the same person as below. Scratch that.
And where exactly are you getting your toddler size measurements? I personally can not tell how big it is but a 100 yr old tree is pretty big so it may just be making homemade, 1914 bicycle appear small.
See above response.
Boys as young as 12 have been recorded holding rifles and FIGHTING in WW1. You also need to remember that height has dramatically increased over the past decades. Still, it is most likely a hoax.
Holding rifles, maybe. But fighting?
I looked this up — albeit not much — and there are indications of young German soldiers. But Americans? Seems there would be a good record of a 12-year-old getting on a ship for Europe.
Do you have a citation or reference?
Otherwise, I completely agree with your response. Thank you.