The amazing historical consistency of bicycles

While I was out pedaling around this morning, I sent a photo to a history adventuring friend of mine and he wrote back wondering what people would think of "my contraption" in 100 years. And it got me to thinking how consistent bicycles have been for a very long time.

The photo at the top of this post, which is from the 1890s, shows the type of contraptions that were common at that bicycle repair shop. And other than some small details, they look pretty much the same as bicycles do today. I mean, no one nowadays would say, "What are those old contraptions?" They're bicycles.

So many other things change so much that old photos amaze us, but old pictures of bicycles, unless you go waaaay back to the "bone-shakers" (like Passepartout rode in "Around the World in 80 Days" - which was the 1870s) are just, well, bicycles. People may comment on the mustachios, the buildings, the cars, but never on the bicycles, and certainly never to say, "What is that old contraption?"

Hang on a second, I'll take a look through my collection and see what else I can find. I guarantee that you won't be amazed, they're just bicycles.

1897

1890s

1905


1909


1920

1920s


1940s

1977

So let's be careful out there, and watch for bicycles. You know what they look like!

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Comments

  1. JROctober 6, 2021 at 12:49 PM

    A couple of the photos are from Tempe History Museum and should be cited.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brad HallOctober 6, 2021 at 2:16 PM

      Hi JR - I appreciate your help on this! Let me know which photos, and what verbiage to use, and I'll update the post. Thank you!

      Delete

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