The King Street Emporium

Penny Farthing

Virginia Perique

The penny farthing was the high wheeled bicycle of the 1870s and 1880s, named for the disproportion between its enormous front wheel and small rear one, the penny being the larger coin and the farthing the smaller. It was fast, impractical, and required considerable skill to ride without pitching headfirst over the handlebars. It belongs to an era of Victorian ingenuity and a certain blithe disregard for personal safety that the G.L. Pease Old London Series evokes throughout its lineup. Penny Farthing is the first shag cut blend in the G.L. Pease range, a distinction Gregory Pease spent considerable time getting right. Shag is a fine cut running approximately 32 cuts per inch, historically associated with British pipe tobacco traditions and hand rolling. The blend is bright and red Virginias with Louisiana Perique and a touch of dark fired Kentucky. The shag cut packs easily and lights readily but burns faster than ribbon or flake and rewards a slow, deliberate cadence. Medium to full strength.