"Giant Tricycle for Advertising Purposes" (1896)

Giant Tricycle for Advertising Purposes.
The Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Company exhibit at the L. A. W. meet at Louisville - a gigantic tricycle fitted with Vim tires.



It takes eight men to propel it, and was built complete at the company's factory in Cambridgeport, from plans by John Dewolfe, the mechanical expert of the company. Many attempts have been made in the past to build giant machines, either bicycles or tricycles, but none of them have ever been successful, faulty construction proving the obstacle to the success of all previous similar undertakings. This tricycle has already been used with success at meets near Boston, and has been ridden over the road seme few miles around that city. The extreme height of the machine is about eleven feet, which is the diameter of the larger wheels and tires when inflated; the cross section of the two tires is sixteen inches. These are the natural rubber color. The smaller or guiding wheel has a diameter of six feet with a cross section of nine inches. This tire is of the floxine color, which this company has used to characterize its product this year. The three tires are exactly the same in construction as the regular Vim tire put out by the firm, and has its pebble tread. The machine weighs 1,453 lbs. without the eight men, who weigh approximately 1,120 lbs. more. This makes the whole thing 2,573 lbs. In construction it is analogous to the locomotive, having in reality a double set of gears. The four men on one side are geared to the wheel of that side, and the four men on the other side are geared to the other wheel. It will be ridden through the streets every day during the meet at Louisville by a picked crew of men.

From Cycling Life, available online. August 6, 1896 - page n21 in the online version.

Cycling Life, August 1896 - January 1897 issues

Cycling Life, August 1896 - January 1897 issues



Cycling Life is a weekly periodical intended for "the bicycle trade" published in the 1890s. The issues for a year and a quarter that the Library of Congress holds have been digitized. Published in Chicago, the subtitle was "A Cycle Trade Paper - the Only One."

From the Cycling Life, Dec 3 1896 issue - this is the only full color ad for a bike in these issues - very pretty.


Link to the above page in Cycling Life.


The bound volume that was scanned, above and below.

Two Books from 1890s - Travel by Cycle in Europe

Cycling in Europe was published in 1899 and is available online here.

The title is reasonable:
CYCLING IN EUROPE.

But the sub-title is rather long:
AN ILLUSTRATED HAND-BOOK OF INFORMATION FOR THE USE OF TOURING CYCLISTS, CONTAINING ALSO HINTS FOR PREPARATION, SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING BAGGAGE, EXPENSES, ROUTES, HOTELS, ETC., ETC., AND A LIST OF FAMOUS CYCLING TOURS IN ENGLAND, IRELAND, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, GERMANY AND HOLLAND, GIVING EACH DAY'S STOPPING PLACE, AND NOTES OF ATTRACTIVE FEATURES ALONG THE ROUTE.



The book reminds me of Rick Steves of today - while he writes advice books on travel, he also organizes and leads tours himself.



68 pages of advice of various kinds - all for only forty cents.

Most of the photographs seem to be stock photos but there is one that does have bicycles in it, of France ~



Some of the advice is fairly general travel advice; for example, about passports:

Unless you are going to Russia or Turkey, you will not be obliged to show a passport on entering the country, and if you take one the chances are ten to one that you would not use it once, and yet I would advise that you take a passport, because you might need it, and if so you will be very thankful that you have it.

A second book on this topic published in 1898 is "Why Not Cycle Abroad Yourself?" is also available online.

The subtitle of this one is a little shorter - WHAT A BICYCLE TRIP IN EUROPE) COSTS, HOW TO TAKE IT, HOW TO ENJOY IT, WITH A NARRATIVE OF PERSONAL TOURS, ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. It isn't clear from the title, but the book is intended specifically for women cyclists.

What would any sensible nineteenth century up-to-date young woman do nowadays if setting out on a journey beyond the night and across the day, to say nothing of going beyond the furthermost purple rim? Why, naturally she would get out her bicycle, read this little book which would tell her all she need to know, and start off throughout the world at an expense which would make her or anyone else think living in a Harlem flat dear by comparison, considering the returns achieved.

The tone is of helpful light amusement ~

As to the expense: Aside from the first cost of the ocean passage a European tour on a bicycle costs no more than, if as much as, an ordinary summer outing at home under the same conditions and of a like duration. The truth is that the cheapness of a wheeling tour in Europe is really remarkable — if one wishes to make it cheap and knows how. As to languages one has no need of an interpreter. Abroad, as elsewhere, money talks and is the best interpreter you can possibly have. However, this statement is made with limitation. I have no wish to disparage the worth of linguistic attainments, and no one is further from belittling the value of a knowledge of French, for instance, with a smattering of as many other languages thrown in as you can conveniently get into your hand bag. Still, one can go as far as to say that with a fair idea, in advance, of what things ought to cost, and with all the information which it is our object to have comprised in this little volume, one can travel throughout Europe on a bicycle without being subjected either to extortion or petty annoyances, and with perfect ease, comfort and safety. I make this statement, too, not from any theoretical point of view. It is based on actual experience in Italy, where, ordinarily, nothing is spoken except the language of the country. There I have often stopped at a cafe to enquire the way to the next town in my choicest Italian, and have been understood to say that I wanted a bottle of their best Chianti. Still, such an experience is so novel, and you and your friends get so much amusement out of it, that it becomes a pleasant incident of the trip. Besides, it really isn't a serious matter if you get to your destination perhaps a bit later than you expected. You may be sure that the extra time will not have been without pleasure and profit.

While entertaining enough to read now, as a book of practical advice at the time it would have been somewhat tedious since it combines narrative description of actual trips and randomly placed advice - trying to find answers to specific questions would not be easy. Apparently one was expected to read the entire 210 or so page.

Inflatable Helmet? Swedish Nuttiness

Article in Huffington Post points to Reuters item about a Swedish-developed "inflatable helmet" that activates in the event of fall or accident - but at $450 each this seems unlikely to serve as a popular alternative for adults who choose to avoid traditional helmets, which is the intent.

I also learned that Huffington Post has a (minor) category for "bike culture." Good!

1906 Book - Around the United States by Bicycle

This book describes the 1904-05 trip around the United States of two young fellows - nominally to win a wager. This sort of "sponsored" bicycle adventure began in the 1890s and I was surprised to find such a trip as late as 1904 - my reading (of other books about the period) suggests that the news media became skeptical about this sort of thing and it fell out of fashion before the end of the nineteenth century. (They did follow through and publish a book, which most of these travelers failed to do.)

The full book is available online here. (It is from the Library of Congress . . . )

The rather elaborate routing to minimize their travel but hit all the required states (and territories!).



From the introduction:

Clarence M. Darling and Claude C. Murphey, age 19 and 20 respectively, left Jackson, Michigan, on May 2, 1904, to make a trip by bicycle through every state and territory within the boundary lines of the United States proper, namely, forty-five states, four territories, and the District of Columbia. The trip was the result of a wager. Upon the success of the tour a purse of five thousand dollars would be won by the two contestants providing that they lived up to all the terms and stipulations of the wager. The conditions were that they were to start on this long journey penniless, while on the trip they were neither to beg, work, borrow, nor steal, all the expenses of the tour to be met by the profits resulting from the sale of an aluminum card-receiver or ashtray, a facsimile of which is given on one of the following pages.

Below, the "souvenir" they sold to raise money as they traveled.


One of the few illustrations to include one of their bikes, showing a location in Washington state.


The only photo of the authors and their bikes, at the finish. Or at least I assume the authors are in this photo - but which ones are they??


As is often the case in books reporting on trips taken by bicycle, little is said specifically bicycle-specific aspects of the travel, it is more a report of their encounters with people they met along the way and observations about places. They do not, for example, even report on their daily mileage achieved, which would seem closely connected to their winning the "wager" - but given the title of the book I suppose they figured readers would understood them to have won it, so no drama there.

20 Percent of Bike Commuters in One Year . . .

Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) study that tracked bike commuters and monitored the types and severity of injuries, described in the BikePortland blog. (With a link the published study.) This text got the most interest:

Approximately 20% of bicycle commuters experienced a traumatic event and 5% required medical attention during 1 year of commuting. Traumatic events were not related to rider demographics, safety practices, or experience levels. These results imply that injury prevention should focus on improving the safety of the bicycle commuting environment.

Bicycle Accident on Way to Park Tool School

This article has finally appeared describing the accident that must have taken place about a half hour before I passed by this location about three blocks from where I was going to take a session of the Park Tool School (at a bike shop). The bike was still laying in the middle of the intersection and there were half a dozen police cars, so I figured the cyclist had been killed but apparently he is still alive.

One wishes for fewer car-bike accidents.