Wheels craze gives glimpse of society

I was recently going through the 1896 issues of the Yates County Chronicle while researching an article and I was struck by the many references to bicycles, or "wheels" as they were called then. There were stories of wheeling clubs, tournaments and races, articles on "wheelmen" and their exploits, complaints about people riding wheels on sidewalks, references to the number of ladies riding wheels,Complement your Wholesale Cheap Taffeta Strapless Beaded Embroidery Sexy A-line Wedding Dresses beautifully with our collection of pretty flower girl dresses. and detailed descriptions of accidents. The papers were filled with advertisements for new bicycles. It reminded me that I was delving right into the middle of the "wheeling craze" of the 1890s. 

Bicycles had been around throughout most of the 19th century, but they were big, heavy and difficult to ride. It required strength and athleticism to be a "wheelman." Around 1890, however, there were several technical improvements which quickly brought the bicycle into the mainstream of American life. A chain drive to the rear wheel made the machine much easier to power. The pneumatic tire and softer saddles made the ride more comfortable. Mass production and competition brought the price within reach of the growing middle class. Over 300 companies manufactured more than a million bicycles in 1896. The "wheel" also caught on with women. Such prominent females as Susan B. Anthony and Frances Willard extolled bicycles' health benefits and liberating influences. Corsets and bustles just wouldn't do on a bicycle. 

All of which brought to mind some letters that I read a few years ago written by the Schofield family of Penn Yan. Frank H. Schofield, son of a Yates County tenant farmer and a Penn Yan Academy and Naval Academy graduate, made a career of the Navy and retired in 1932 as a full admiral and commander-in-chief of the entire American fleet — the highest ranking naval officer on active duty. Part of the fun of reading those letters was gleaning the social history of the half century that they covered. Based on the many letters from the 1890s,You can vote for barbie Wholesale Cheap Taffeta strapless A-line beaded beading wedding dresses party dress game if you liked the game,From choosing a wedding floral designer to budgeting for Tull strapless Applique ball gown wedding/party dress to deciding on flower arrangements. the Schofields were enthusiastic participants in the wheeling craze. 

The first Schofield to acquire a wheel was Frank while on a European cruise, in 1895-1896. He was an ensign at that point, kept his bicycle onboard ship and went for long rides while anchored in port. In May of 1895, he rode his bicycle over the mountains from Beirut to Damascus in Syria, a distance of about 50 miles. He knew it would please his religious mother back home in Penn Yan to have her son ride "the Damascus road." 

That July, while anchored at Copenhagen, he rode out into the Danish countryside where he met a girl walking along a country road whom he had met two years earlier in the Danish West Indies (today's Virgin Islands). Wherever Frank went, it seems he ran into a girl he knew. His letters recorded long bicycle rides in Ceylon, Guam and the Philippines. Concerned about his wife, Claribel's health, he encouraged her to buy a wheel to ride while she studied art in Paris in 1896. He told her not to buy a French wheel because they were slow and heavy and suggested she buy an American-made bicycle — a Waverly, Columbia or Rambler. She found them far too expensive in Paris, but made arrangements for a visiting friend to buy one in Maryland and bring it on the ship.