Cycling Patents of Yesteryear: No. 9 – Rastetter and Siebold’s Child Seat Attachment for Bicyles, 1891
For many of us, our first experience of cycling, likely long forgotten, was not as a rider, but as a passenger, firmly ensconced in a child seat with an unimpeded … Continue reading
Cycling Patents of Yesteryear: No. 8 – Ulysses F. Henderson’s Bicycle-Handle, 1897
Handlebars, like saddles and pedals, are important components of the bicycle because they are the contact points between the rider and the machine. Poor adjustment or a design that doesn’t … Continue reading
A History of Cycling in n+1 Objects: No 5 – The American Star Bicycle, 1881-1893(?)
Today the basic elements of John Kemp Starley’s Rover Safety Bicycle, introduced in 1885, are the standard form for bicycles but in the late Nineteenth Century the ‘safety’ was just one of … Continue reading
Cycling Patents of Yesteryear: No. 6 – Ogden Bolton Jr’s Electrical Bicycle, 1895
Sometimes cycling is just too much like hard work. All that pushing of pedals and pumping of legs can wear a body out. So what better than adding a little … Continue reading
Cycling Patents of Yesteryear: No. 5 – Ida M. Rew’s Athletic Suit For Ladies, 1895
The proper mode of dress for women who enjoyed cycling was a question that vexed society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. While the more radical woman embraced the … Continue reading
Cycling Patents of Yesteryear: No. 4 – Hiram B. Nickerson’s Aerial Bicycle, 1896
At a casual glance fans of the work of William Heath Robinson and Rube Goldberg might assume that the sketch above was one of the many outlandish and improbable machines they … Continue reading
Cycling Patents of Yesteryear: No. 3 – Vanevera’s adjustable handle bar, 1896
Morgan H. Vanevera of Little Falls in the county of Herkimer, New York, submitted his patent application for an adjustable handlebar for bicycles in February 1896. His simple design envisaged … Continue reading
Cycling Patents of Yesteryear: No. 2 – Ruffhead and Scheer’s Adjustable Bicycle Parasol, 1896
Contemporary Western ideals of female beauty among the middle and upper classes during the nineteenth century called for a fair complexion. Unlike today’s preference for a healthy glow, whether acquired … Continue reading
Cycling Patents of Yesteryear: No. 1 – A. L. Knighten’s Home Trainer Racing Machine, 1896
The early invention of home trainers led very quickly to stationary bicycle racing as described by G. Lacy Hillier in the Badminton Library’s 1896 volume on Cycling. In the winter home-trainer races are … Continue reading
Cycling History 