Turning the Book Wheel

One for bike month from our friends to the North. The Canadian Wheelman like our American publications contains articles, letters, and advertisements. But Vol 4, No. 8 also has a poem entitled “The Return” which includes a possibly not unfamiliar scenario for the modern day cycling enthusiast…

That morn he’d started early
To make a two hours’ run,
But tempted by the skies so fair,
Full fifty miles he’d spun.
Then came to him the query:
Can I get home to-night?
If not, I have myself to blame
For this most dismal plight.

More bicycle ads, this time from Bicycling World and L.A.W. Bulletin (May, 1889). Three lovely bikes from Starley Bros. (Coventry, England) who want you to know that the Capital Cycle Co. of Washington, D.C. is the sole and exclusive agent for their machines in the U.S.

Oh, and did they mention their bikes are called “Psycho”? What the?

A bicycle month public service announcement. Are you insured?

Accident insurance for less than $12 a year sounds like a bargain. That looks like a heck of a bike accident and no one is wearing helmets! Looks at those hats fly!  I hope the little kid landed on something soft. From the Springfield Wheelman’s Gazette, (1885)

Now THIS is a trophy. The “Springfield Cup” illustrated in the Springfield (Mass.) Wheelman’s Gazette July, 1884

For bicycle month - a curious use for a bike: powering an electric clipper to groom your horse. From the Chicago Flexible Shaft Co. 1904 catalog.

May is bicycle month, and we have loads of 19th and early 20th century bicycle catalogs and magazines we’ll be featuring throughout the month.  Here, a Kenwood “Improved Ladies’ Special No. 10” model and a No. 8 road racing bike, both from the 1895 catalog.  The No. 8 weighs 23 to 26 lbs and costs $100 - the ladies’ weighs a mere 19 to 22 lbs!  It might just be me, but the price seems pretty steep for 1895.

May is bicycle month!  This illustration is from the cover of a Kenwood Bicycle catalog from 1895 (via Smithsonian Institution Libraries : Stylized illustration of a woman riding a bicycle (front cover) SIL-029-017-01)