Thursday, November 5, 2020

Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles by Kristin Holt

 


Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles

by Kristin Holt
USA Today Bestselling Author
of Sweet Romance Set in the American Old West

 

Today we think of trikes/tricycles as a child’s first bike. Or perhaps for older folks. So put on your nineteenth-century spectacles and explore this cycling boom through Victorian eyes.

 

Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles: The Prince of Wales has ordered a Coventry tricycle for the use of one of his daughters. From The Fall River Daily Herald of Fall River, Mass. January 25, 1882.


CYCLING

 

Bicycles caught on in a huge way in the United Kingdom, and the sport quickly followed in the United States. Cycling may have originated with wealthy young (and athletic) men but adaptations for women soon followed.

 

NOT JUST FOR KIDS

 

Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles: Smartly Dressed Couple on Tricycle (an 1886-model built for two); courtesy of U.S. National Archives; unrestricted use.
Smartly dressed couple seated on an 1886-model bicycle for two. U.S. National Archives; unrestricted use.


Four-wheel bicycles called quadracycles emerged as a “sociable” vehicle, allowing a couple and chaperone to ride the same conveyance. As numerous developments followed in rapid succession (on both sides of the pond), all kinds of advancements in style, functionality, method of propulsion, and configuration of seats ensued. Some of these developments led to a stable three-wheeled bicycle named the tricycle.

 

Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles: The "Coventry" Convertible Sociable Tricycle Ad from The Graphic, A Weekly Illustrated Newspaper of London, England on May 6, 1882.
Note this illustrated ad shows how the Coventry Convertible Sociable becomes a conveyance for one.


Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles: Advertisement for American-made and English-made bicycles and tricycles, from The Daily Union-Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Penn. on July 23, 1883.
American and English Bicycles and Tricycles for sale in the United States, 1883.


Tricycles were seen as ladylike and fashionable both in Europe and the Victorian-era United States. Women could take outdoor, fresh-air exercise (even in their corsets) and did so with increasing fervor.

 

Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles: The Tricycle as a Means of Exercise for Women, (1 of 2) from Kingman Morning News of Kingman, Kansas on June 8, 1887.

Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles: The Tricycle as a Means of Exercise for Women, (2 of 2) from Kingman Morning News of Kingman, Kansas on June 8, 1887.

As the mid-nineteenth century gave birth to the safety bicycle, the decade of the 1880s saw the rise of the proper lady’s tricycle. Note the following reports of respectable women out on their own, buzzing around town on their tricycles.

 

Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles. From Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on August 25, 1885. Two snippets explaining women who drive tricycles on professional rounds or for exercise and enjoyment.
Respectable women ride tricycles anywhere and everywhere.


Despite ladylike styles of tricycles, men rode them too. In fact, men raced tricycles!

Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles. From Star Tribune of Minneapolis MN on October 2, 1887; "tricycle racing growing in vogue and veteran bicyclists are the most enthusiastic tricyclists."

POPULARITY

Midst races upon safety bicycles, other purposes emerged. United States Patents for advancements upon various elements of bicycles/tricycles explain that the tricycle was developed for slower rates of speed than racing bicycles. With three legged stool-like stability, ladies’ tricycles allowed them to sit, steer, pedal, and hold on in a manner fitting their gender.

 

Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles. Artist's rendition of Victorian woman on tricycle, via Pinterest.
Victorian woman on tricycle. From Pinterest.

Women found increasing freedom as they took to the wheel. Women rode bicycles (usually safety bicycles) and tricycles, finding the exercise and ease of movement to be a newfound kind of liberty.



Kristin Holt | Victorian Ladies Ride Tricycles. From CYCLING by Viscount Bury KCMG and G. Lacy Miller, 2nd Edition, 1876: etching of two women riding ticycles and labeled "Women's Rights."


As the decades passed, bicycles became more readily available, and affordable by those not of the wealthy upper classes.

I've had a wonderful time exploring the joy of cycling among our nineteenth century forebears. Please see the list of related articles, below, for far more information.


INVITATION

Have you read an enjoyable book set in the nineteenth century where bicycles of any kind play a role? Please scroll down and share in the comments.

 

RELATED ARTICLES

 Kristin Holt | Women on Bicycles

Kristin Holt | Victorian Bicycling Etiquette

Kristin Holt | Bicycle Built for Two

Kristin Holt | Victorians Race on foot, on bicycles, in wheelbarrows

Kristin Holt | Victorian Cooking: The Sifter- An American Victorian Invention

Kristin Holt | Potato Chips in the Old West

Kristin Holt | Screen Doors: A New Invention!

Kristin Holt | Victorian Lawn Mowers

Kristin Holt | Telephones for Sale by Sears Roebuck

Kristin Holt | Victorian Refrigerators, a.k.a. Ice Box

Kristin Holt | Indoor Plumbing in Victorian America


Copyright © 2020 Kristin Holt LC

2 comments:

  1. I do love how bicycles were all the rage back then, and it seems to be coming around again. Doris

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Doris! So glad you stopped by. I've noticed more and more bikes, too. Especially in 2020. =)

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