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- Title
Of Wheelmen, the New Woman, and Good Roads: Historical Perspectives on Vermont's (First) Bicycle Craze.
- Authors
VIVANCO, LUIS A.
- Abstract
See Lorenz J. Finison, Boston's Cycling Craze, 1880-1900: A Story of Race, Sport, and Society (Amherst: University of Massachussetts Press, 2014); Evan Friss, The Cycling City: Bicycle & Urban America in the 1890s (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015); Zach Furness, One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2010); James Longhurst, Bike Battles: The History of Sharing the American Road (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015); Robert L. McCullough, Old Wheelways: Traces of Bicycle History on the Land (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2015). 14 Several factors drove greater access to bicycles and fueled the craze that began to take off during 1890s: the development of the "safety bicycle" in 1885 (chain-driven bicycles, with equal-sized wheels, similar in form to today's bicycles) that made riding easier and safer; the 1888 invention of the pneumatic tire, which made riding more comfortable; and mass production and technical innovations in manufacturing and materials that made bicycles more affordable. 15 Only a few larger towns and cities could support a dedicated bicycle sales, repair, and rental shop, such as Lane's Bicycle Livery in Burlington (1897-1920); but even many small towns across rural parts of the state would have bicycle "agents" (manufacturers' local sales representatives) in town or in close proximity, such as in Woodstock, where during 1896 "all the well-known manufacturers" were represented by eight agents, or in Lyndonville, where the "hustling bicycle and insurance agent" E. J. Blodgett carried "the largest and most complete stock in Northeastern Vermont.".
- Subjects
VERMONT; WOMEN'S rights; BICYCLES; BICYCLE touring; GENDER role; FOURTH of July celebrations; FEMININE hygiene products; PETITIONS
- Publication
Vermont History, 2021, Vol 89, Issue 1, p24
- ISSN
0042-4161
- Publication type
Article