Some Grim Cyclists From 1896

Title: The Donaldson bicycle lithos for the season of 1896

Creator(s): Donaldson Lith. Co., lithographer
Date Created/Published: Cincinnati : Donaldson Litho Co., [ca. 1896]
Medium: 1 print ; chromolithograph ; 28 9/16 x 42 1/4 in.
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-08976 (digital file from original print)
Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
Call Number: PGA - Donaldson--Donaldson bicycle lithos... (E size) [P&P]
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003665194/

This is a poster advertising the lithographic services of the Donaldson Company in 1896. The riders depicted are noteworthy for their grim expressions. Or perhaps just determined.

Some of these sorts of posters on the Library of Congress web site were digitized from film reproductions, not from the original, and the color is often not quite right and they are otherwise not great. Good, but not great. This however was more recently digitized from the original item which is 42+ inches across, so it is a pretty nice digital reproduction. Not so noticeable perhaps from the JPEG I copied from the LOC.gov site, but there is a high resolution TIFF image there you can download if you want (which is 58.7 mb).

Thanks National Park Service! New Water Fountain on Mt Vernon Trail

New water fountain along the Mount Vernon Trail near National Airport

There has been some construction work ongoing since (it seems) the end of last summer to improve small parts of the Mount Vernon Trail where it was routed down right next to the parkway (roadway). These improvements took longer than one would have imagined - part of it took longer than six months - but are good improvements.

At the same time, this new water fountain was installed. For a long time it was surrounded by yellow construction tape, but it didn't matter much since it was cooler weather. Now that hot hot weather has really arrived, it is great for this to be there.

Thursday afternoon it was up around 95 degrees (Fahrenheit, or around 35 Celcius) during ~ten mile (16 km) commute home. I have my bottle of water filled before I leave work, but getting through the DC traffic out of the city was hot work it seemed so when I got to this water fountain, I was glad to be able to stop and get a little refreshed.

The photo was taken Friday morning on the way in, around 6:30 - Fridays are a day a lot of people telework so not too much traffic, bikes or cars.

The fountain post has a metal bowl at the bottom that can be filled with water for dogs. Nice touch.

Thanks National Park Service! Happy 100th birthday!

Outbursts of Everett True Against Sidewalk Cyclists

A colleague at work brought Everett True cartoons to my attention - they appeared in newspapers and are now available online online in digitized papers.



From the newspaper "The Day Book." (Chicago, Ill.), 11 March 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-03-11/ed-...

According to Wikipedia's article about The Outbursts of Everett True, this was a cartoon published from 1905 through 1927. The cartoon is described:

The original strip revolved around an ill-tempered man in late middle-age who was typically dressed in a suit and bowler hat of antiquated and comical appearance for the time. Without his hat he was completely bald. In the early cartoons he was moderately stout, but in the later ones he became increasingly portly. The first panel of each strip generally had someone inconveniencing or annoying True. In the second panel he would then make an ill-tempered outburst. In early cartoons this was usually an uninhibited rant which expressed what other people wanted to say, but were too polite to. Sometimes it was accompanied by comments from bystanders in speech-bubbles ("that's the way I like to hear a man talk"; "I wish I could hand out one like that"). Later cartoons were more slapstick in character.

From the newspaper "The Day Book." (Chicago, Ill.), 21 July 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1915-07-21/ed-...

Cycling does not appear to have been a common topic; these are the only two examples I found and arguably they are the same cartoon, one with dialog and one without.

Anyway, in his "everyman" role, True seems to be expressing a general annoyance with cyclists on the sidewalk in cities - a hundred years ago. Who knows that the law was on this at that time (and in this place).

Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution (Book Review)

Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution by Janette Sadik-Khan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I didn't read this from cover to cover but paged through it and read some of the sections more focused on cycling. I can't imagine as a bike commuter I need or want to own such a book, but to get it from the library and read up a little, sure. It is readable enough. If you ignore the occasional attempt at making it all more dramatic than it probably was.

I have several quibbles with the title. I don't think this is a handbook, for one, and even if it is a handbook, it isn't for an urban revolution but for incremental urban change. It's just that the way things work around here, it seems like a revolution. To me.

Anyway, as to whether it is a handbook or not - according to wikipedia, "Handbooks may deal with any topic, and are generally compendiums of information in a particular field or about a particular technique. They are designed to be easily consulted and provide quick answers in a certain area. For example, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is a reference for how to cite works in MLA style, among other things." If the topic here is urban traffic design, then this is more a collection of case studies than a reference book. Handbooks, as reference works, are something you look up an answer in, not something to be read in large chunks. This is more the later.

The chapter on the NYC implementation of a bikeshare program is sort of amusing since here in the DC area there was much less drama but it seems to have worked out just fine.



View all my cycling book reviews on goodreads.

Nice Bridgestone Bicycle

From studying the Sheldon Brown digitized Bridgestone bicycle catalogs, it appears this is a 1988 Bridgestone 400. www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1988/pages/bridgestone-1...

This appears to be mostly the original components and is in pretty good shape, all things considered. The rear wheel looks to be the original 27 inch wheel while the front wheel is a 700 mm wheel - it isn't a good fit, which is clear from the front brakes, which only extend down to the tires, not the rim. Does the person use the front brakes on the tire?? I suppose that would sort of work. The seat is obviously not the original and could use replacing (again). A bike like this could be nicely refurbished.

To Enjoy the 4th of July - a New Bike! (1897 Ad)

From The Evening Times newspaper. (Washington, D.C.), 03 July 1897. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024441/1897-07-03/ed-...

To Enjoy the 4th of July
See that your outfit is complete. It is immaterial what your sport or pastime is, you will find something that will be invaluable to you in our monster Fourth of July and Vacation Sale that will commence today.

BICYCLES. We are offering the best Bicycle bargain of the year, new 1896 Spalding Bicycles, fitted with 1897 tires and 1897 Christy saddles, at $50 for men's and $60 for women's models. We will attach to the 1896 Spalding the Hygienic Cushion Frame device, which makes riding over all kinds of roads a pleasure, for $10 extra. We have a few 1897 Tandems left at $50 each, sold for cash only, fully guaranteed by the maker, and it is a genuine bargain.

BICYCLE CLOTHING. We are offering exceptionally fine values today in complete Bicycle Golf Suits-just the kind to knock about in for cycling, seashore, or mountain. The fact that we manufacture all our own clothing makes it possible for us to offer you better bargains than anyone else.

BICYCLE SUNDRIES We are headquarters for Bicycle Sundries. Have everything required by the cyclist. The famous Christy Anatomical Saddle will make your vacation trip a pleasure if you are going riding. See that your bicycle is fitted with one.

A.G. SPALDING & BROS.,
1013 Pennsylvania Avenue.

July 4th - Let's Sell More Bikes

The holiday themed advertising campaign is an American tradition - here is an example from a little over a hundred years for a July 4th bike sale:



From The Pioneer Express newspaper. (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]), 27 June 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88076741/1913-06-27/ed-...

The marketing approach in the ad's text is amusing (or something) suggesting immediately the second class nature of cyclists to motorists by this time (1913):

We are giving away an electric automobile horn to the best decorated automobile in the proce ion on July 4th, but thee are no prizes to bicycle riders. So I have concluded to donate to new riders handsome presents in the prices of new wheels. . . . We have a shipment of new, standard bicycles which will be on sale July 4th, while they last at twenty per cent off the regular price. This includes the regular $22, $25, $30 and $35 kind, from the single tube to Dunlop and G. & J. tires and coaster break [i.e., brake]. We have seven new bicycles to dispose of at these prices, and no more, and they will be sold for cash only.

Probably seven bicycles for sale in 1913 was quite a few in 1913 in North Dakota. ?

With no connection to the previous other than that it was published in a digitized newspaper, here is an Uncle Sam graphic with him riding a bicycle to celebrate the Fourth of July:



From the Willmar Tribune newspaper. (Willmar, Minn.), 29 June 1897. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89081022/1897-06-29/ed-...

It would seem this was originally published in the St. Louis Chronicle but was republished in this Minnesota paper.