Alexander Karn
Cultural history class this week includes the #bicycle boom of the 1890s.
Newspapers from this period are filled with the complaints of men who say bicycles ruined their marriages, since wives only care to ride and no longer tend to their "duties."
The Rev. Thomas Gregory saw the bike as a threat to his parishioners' intellect and health.
"It annihilates the reading habit. The libraries are deserted. It is a menace to domestic virtues. It breaks up and destroys the home."
🚲 🧵
Alexander Karn
Jody Rosen digs through a lot of primary sources here:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239537/two-wheels-good-by-jody-rosen/
Alexander Karn
More from the Good Rev. Gregory:
"The children are turned into the street or left at home to look after themselves while father and mother go spinning. It is a menace to morality. It makes women immodest. There is no telling what a woman will do after she has lost her womanliness. The bicycle opens the way for everlasting ruin to a multitude of young men and women who might otherwise escape."
Alexander Karn
A father complains that his daughters have become cross-dressers, thanks to bicycle mania.
"I lay this to the bicycle craze. Both girls insisted on having bicycles, and then got to bloomers. Finally they have adopted male attire entirely."
In Kabul, it was reported, the Amir had purchased bikes for the women in his harem.
Meanwhile, in Turkey, the Sultan had banned these new machines, which he designated as "the devil's chariot."
Alexander Karn
Reposting on #WorldBicycleDay
"The Awful Effects of Velocipeding" (1885)
Alexander Karn
From The Journal (New York, 1896):
"The world is bicycle mad. Man, woman, and child--the population of Christendom--is awheel. The church? It is forgotten. The Sabbath? A cycling day. The theatre? Old-fashioned fun. The horse? Token and companion of gentlemanhood, a hack, browsing on the highway. Jewels? Watches? Clothing? The men who carried on those industries have turned their machinery to the making of rubber tires and ball bearings."
Alexander Karn
On a more serious note, there is pronounced hostility toward cyclists and a widespread presumption that many riders give no regard to safety, either their own or that of others.
Chattanooga Daily Times (1898):
"The scorcher is a menace to every pedestrian and decent cyclist. He should be suppressed. The police should begin a vigorous campaign against him and he should be nabbed wherever found."
Toronto Saturday Night (1896):
"The bicycle maniac should be shot on sight."
Alexander Karn
But don't forget onanism!
American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children (1895):
"A very grave objection has been made to the use of the bicycle among women, which, if true, would induce us to be exceedingly cautious in ever suggesting this exercise. It has been said to beget or foster the habit of masturbation."
Alexander Karn
The Medical World (1895):
"Have we not sexual troubles enough on our hands without opening Pandora's box and hauling out a bike? It is dreadful to think that the first thing that should render a young and pure girl conscious of her sexual formation would be her first ride on a bicycle. God save our girls, and keep them pure and virtuous!"
🤢
GNU social JP is a social network, courtesy of GNU social JP管理人. It runs on GNU social, version 2.0.2-dev, available under the GNU Affero General Public License.
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.