Cycling Crazes.

In the late nineteenth century, especially in the 1890s, middle-class Americans embraced the bicycle as an instrument of transportation, recreation, and sport. After the Civil War the "boneshaker," a clumsy and uncomfortable machine upon which the rider sat and propelled himself by walking, was introduced to the nation. Since it interfered with pedestrian traffic, the boneshaker was soon banned from most city streets and parks. The second cycling craze followed the introduction of the "ordinary," a British cycle, at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The ordinary was an odd-looking contraption with a huge front wheel, with a diameter measuring up to sixty inches, and small rear wheel. The ordinary was uncomfortable, dangerous to ride, and expensive to own, costing up to $100. Riders of the ordinary were usually daring middle-class and upper-middle-class young men who had mastered the difficult techniques of mounting, riding, and...