Bicycling

We think of bicycling as something relatively new. I rode a wonderful Schwinn when I was a kid, but my folks never talked about doing it themselves. What we don't often realize is that the bike is a development of the late 19th century and there was a bike craze in the 1890's that would match anything today.
         The first bikes were really awkward things and very hard to ride.

They were fairly popular and sometimes there were clubs of them.

It didn't take long, however, before somebody figured out that it worked better if you were closer to the ground (not as far to fall) and the wheels were parallel.

What is very interesting, though, is that the bicycle was not seen as only men's recreation. Women very early began riding.

There was a problem, however, with Victorian fashion. Women's dresses were usually ankle length and that made it difficult to straddle the center bar, modestly. It could be done., but it wasn't easy.

Until a woman magazine editor saw a fashion magazine picture and came up with an idea. Her name?

Amelia Bloomer.

Why not put pants on women, even if under the skirts?

Voila,  problem solved.

One historian said of this,  "What is surprising about the bicycle craze of the 1890's is the profound effect it had on the women's liberation movement. Cycling opened up a new world of freedom for upper- and middle-class women, who had been largely confined to the home. The so-called New Woman who rode bicycles and wore cycling costumes became a symbol of gender equality and redefined femininity going into the 20 century." This was not always popular with the menfolk!!

But they soon discovered that they could do this new fad together.

Sometimes in the most bizarre contraptions. (Didn't need bloomers here!)

One surprising spin off of the bicycle craze was the next consumer fad... the quadricycle. Hard to peddle but very stable.

The quadricycle gave another young man of the time a brilliant idea.

Why couldn't we attach one of these new-fangled gasoline engines to the quadricycle and not have to peddle, asked Henry Ford in 1896? The rest is history!