Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Riding Bicycles
Catholic Priest riding a bicycle in South Dakota, 1944.
Just recently I posted an item on walking. In that I noted that walking was the default norm for humans in terms of mobility, and the only way we got around for millennia. I also noted in that animal transportation is about 20,000 years old, give or take 5,000 years, but that, at least for the period of history which contains the history of our own country, walking was still the norm for most of that period in the western world. Most people didn't own horses, as they lived in cities or towns.
While I've addressed it elsewhere, in the Revolution in Rural Transportation thread, what I should also explore just bit, just as we did with walking, is what became a common means of transportation, but the view of which has evolved in the past century. This means of transportation was the first real alternative for most people to walking on a daily basis.
And it wasn't the car.
It was the bicycle.
I don't propose to offer a history of the bicycle here. I'm not going to go back to the first bicycles and take us forward over time, but we should note that the bike really came on after the American Civil War. There were early predecessors to the bike that existed prior to that time, but it was in the 1860s that the first practical bicycles first came on in the 1860s, for the most part. The first bikes were what are now sometimes inaccurately called velocipedes, but what were called penny farthings at the time, those being bikes that work a lot like tricycles still do, in that they had no chains and rather a big wheel was simply pedaled. As they lacked a chain, and hence a gear, the speed at which they could be operated was essentially determined by the size of the front wheel, leading to some of the rather odd looking big wheel bicycles of that era.
Penny farthings on starting line of race.
Penny farthings present certain obvious difficulties to the rider, but none the less they were extremely popular. None the less,t he problems of mounting and dismounting, combined with regulating the amount of gearing, more or less, via the bit wheel lead the mechanically minded to work on bicycle designs, which lead to the Safety Bicycle. These were soon bicycles driven by a gear and chain, basically the predecessor of the type of bicycle we have have today, but with a single gear. They were marketed on their safe features, for the simple reason that they really were considerably safer, and easier to use, than the penny farthing. They appeared in the 1880s.
Penny farthing left, Safety Bicycle right.
Bicycles took society in the western world by storm. Indeed, there was a bicycle "craze", and its no wonder. Bicycles offered to town dwellers what nothing else did, an alternative to walking you could keep in your house and that you didn't have to feed when you weren't using it. They were relatively cheap and easy to maintain as well. Suddenly, people could cut the time it took to travel a reasonable distance in less than half, easily. Indeed, I know that is to be true, as when I walk to work it takes me over an hour get there, while it takes me less than half an hour to ride my bike. The craze started in the 1860s, but the Safety Bicycle came on just in time to really accelerate it, and it continued on in to the 1890s. The craze saw its expression in song in 1892 with "Bicycle Built For Two", a song popular enough that it's still at least somewhat recalled today.
There is a flower
Within my heart,
Daisy, Daisy!
Planted one day
By a glancing dart,
Planted by Daisy Bell!
Whether she loves me
Or loves me not,
Sometimes it's hard to tell;
Yet I am longing to share the lot -
Of beautiful Daisy Bell!
Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer do!
I'm half crazy,
All for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle made for two.
We will go 'tandem'
As man and wife,
Daisy, Daisy!
'Peddling' away
Down the road of life,
I and my Daisy Bell!
When the road's dark
We can both despise
P'licemen and 'lamps' as well;
There are 'bright lights’
In the dazzling eyes
Of beautiful Daisy Bell!
Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer do!
I'm half crazy,
All for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle made for two.
I will stand by you
In 'weal' or woe,
["weal" means prosperity] Daisy, Daisy!
You'll be the bell(e)
Which I'll ring you know!
Sweet little Daisy Bell!
You'll take the 'lead'
In each 'trip' we take,
Then if I don't do well,
I will permit you to
Use the brake,
My beautiful Daisy Bell!
And bikes came on into use not only for private citizens, but in official and commerce use as well. Bicycle deliveries became common for groceries. Bicycle messengers came into business use, and of course still exist. Police departments in big cities, which retained mounted patrols, introduced bicycle mounted patrols. And nearly every western army introduced bicycle infantry, including the U.S. Army, although our experimentation with it was brief.
U.S. bicycle troops, which existed only exceedingly briefly. Given the role of the U.S. Army at the time, bicycle troops made next to not sense in comparison to cavalry.
French bicycle troops, World War One.
German bicycle troops during World War One. The Germans also used a lot of bicycles in a patrol role during World War Two, where they basically filed the same role that motorcycles and horses did in other formations. Bikes increased in importance during World War Two as Germany retreated, as its road system was very extensive and good, thereby reducing the need to rely on horses.
But the ascendancy of the bicycle was itself also brief. Lasting from the late 1860s until the 1910s or so, the peak of the bicycle era saw the birth of the automobile. At first bikes held on, as cars were extremely expensive and beyond the means of many. And, indeed, bikes have continued to hang on in those areas where automobiles remain beyond the reach of city dwellers, such as in much of Asia. But in North America, Henry Ford took the step that would end the ascendancy of the bicycle in 1903, by introducing his Model T, the first care to be purposely made to be affordable by the average man. After that, year by hear the automobile cut into the domain of the bicycle and the horse. It didn't displace either immediately, but it began to crowd both out in some roles fairly quickly.
In North America, some bike use as transportation lingered on into the 1940s, and the Army encouraged bicycle use for awhile on base in the United States to conserve fuel. But, by and large, bikes were on their way out by the 1920s, as adult commuter vehicles. In Europe this was less true, as automobiles remained expensive for the average European until after World War Two. At the same time, bikes went out as police vehicles as cars came in, although the horse managed to continue on. Military use of bicycles continued, but by World War Two they were very much on the way out with the more mechanized armies, such as the British (which were a significantly more mechanized army by the start of the war than generally imagined). Some armies, particularly the Germans and Japanese, still relied on large numbers of bicycles, and did throughout the war, but other armies had nearly completely eliminated them by the end of the war. Only the Swiss retained bicycle troops into the 21st Century in Europe, making bicycle troops much less common than horse mounted troops now, which themselves are not common.
British military bicycle, World War Two.
So, by the 1950s, bikes were mostly the transportation of children and almost regarded as a toy. The exception seemed to be the people who "toured" with bikes, and college students. Schwinn, which was the major American bicycle manufacturer, didn't call its ten speed bicycle the "Varsity" for nothing.
But for some, they never went away, and they retained them in the old use. And for a few others, sporting bicycles retained a major fascination.
Then, in the 1970s, something began to happen. Sporting bikes began to grow in appeal and even though bicycle racing was a minor sport by any definition it was sufficiently popular that two popular moves, Breaking Away and American Flyers came out about the sport in 1979 and 1985. In the 1980s high grade racing bikes began to show up in fairly common adult use. Mountain Bikes, a brand new type of bike made for rugged use, appeared at this time and opened up the trails to bikes in a way that only rugged Swiss bicycle troops had been able to endure before. And mountain bikes proved so popular that they soon displaced touring bikes nearly entirely and became the bike of choice for thousands of urban and suburban bicyclist.
Now, bikes have sort of regained their intellectual hold as a means of transportation for everyday use, although they aren't anywhere nearly extensively used as they once were. Cities and towns are accommodating them, however, and in some localities free bicycles are available for use by those in urban areas.
Thursday, November 12, 1914. Wanted horses.
Sheridan rancher O. O. Wallop, a member of British royalty, was advertising for horses. . . for British remounts.
And civil war seemed to be breaking out in Mexico.
South African troops under Louis Botha defeated Boer rebels under Christiaan de Wet.
Botha as a Boer commander during the Boer War.
Boer Rebel De Wet Defeated at Mushroom Valley
Last edition:
Wednesday, November 11,. 1914. Cavalry at Ypres.
Wyoming Fact and Fiction: Wyoming Winter
Wyoming Fact and Fiction: Wyoming Winter has an interesting post on winter, and dwellings in this part of the country in the past. It's an interesting topic, and another one of those things we don't think a great deal about, but which reflect a real change in people's daily lives.
Today, when I got up, the temperature was -18F. That's really cold. And it's emphasized all the more as I'm enduring the cold in an old fashioned way. The batteries (plural) of my diesel truck died the first morning of the cold snap, and I haven't been able to replace them. The hood of the truck is frozen shut, from the snow on the first day. I haven't had a car battery die due to cold weather in ages, although the batteries in this case are seven years old and have seen a lot of hard use.
But, while -18F is cold, it isn't unusual for this part of the country. Psychologists say that people's weather memory is only about three years in extent, and that must be true, because there's all sorts of people saying "this isn't normal" for this region. Oh. . yes it is. This is the norm. Winter here used to typically arrive no later than October and as early as September. When I was a kid I distinctly recall that I always worried it would arrive the week of sage chicken season, which is the second week of September, as we couldn't get up to the high country if it did. And that worry was fairly frequently realized. Arctic Novembers were quite common when I was a kid, as were very snowy ones. That people think they are unusual shows how things have been different recently.
The news media, on the other hand, should know better. Even in places like snowy Colorado they seem surprised by winter. How a state that depends on winter ski tourist can be baffled by snow is beyond me.
Anyhow, it's worth doing what Neal has done in his post, and ponder heating of the past. I've lived in gas and electrically heated houses my entire life, but coal for heat wasn't unusual in this part of the country prior to World War Two. Indeed, just recently a post on the conversion of the Shoreham Hotel from gas to coal, during World War Two, has been very popular here, showing how that was still done fairly late, and also that people are looking into that topic for some reason. Still, that's heat. In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, plenty of people here, in this wood scarce region, were heating with wood, which is not terribly efficient when simply burned in a stove, or a fire place. You'd want to be pretty near the stove or that fireplace.
And the houses were poorly insulated in many instances too.
This doesn't even begin to consider how aboriginal people endured, but they did. Nights in teepees in weather like this must have been pretty long ones, and you'd certainly learn how to bring in adequate fuel, or have it close at hand, so that it was readily available.
Old Picture of the Day: Hunting in the Adirondacks
Old Picture of the Day: Hunting in the Adirondacks: Today's picture shows a couple of men in a successful deer hunt. The picture was taken in 1903 in the Adirondacks. I am a little co...
Old Picture of the Day: Hunting Dogs
Old Picture of the Day: Hunting Dogs: This picture is from the late 1800's and shows a man with his hunting dogs. It looks like a double barrel shotgun he is using. Not...
Old Picture of the Day: Skinning Deer
Old Picture of the Day: Skinning Deer: This is a great picture of a hunting camp from 1907. After shooting a deer, it must be skinned and cut up. We are seeing that process...
Old Picture of the Day: Bear Hunting
Old Picture of the Day: Bear Hunting: Today's picture shows a successful bear hunt. Looks like we had three hunters and a gun. The picture was taken near Saltese, Monta...
Mid Week At Work: Joining the Navy, World War One.
A famous World War One vintage Navy recruiting poster, still widely reproduced today, which at the time was both cute and intended to send a subtle message (girls would pin yellow ribbons on young men not entering the service, at the time, to indicate that they viewed them as cowards), and which now is both ironic and anachronistic.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Random Snippets: Winter isn't unusual
It's November 11, Veterans Day, and we had snow. We also had really arctic weather (and the batteries on my truck died).
To listen to the news you'd think that this is an "early" winter storm nationwide.
Baloney.
November 11 isn't early for a winter storm, even with arctic temperatures. In fact, winter weather has arrived here about a month late.
And snow and cold weather in regions that get it every year isn't a big shock.
To listen to the news you'd think that this is an "early" winter storm nationwide.
Baloney.
November 11 isn't early for a winter storm, even with arctic temperatures. In fact, winter weather has arrived here about a month late.
And snow and cold weather in regions that get it every year isn't a big shock.
Veterans Day: Some Gave All: Park County War Memorial, Cody Wyoming
Some Gave All: Park County War Memorial, Cody Wyoming: This is the original war memorial in Cody Wyoming. I'm uncertain of the dedication date, so I'm unsure if it was intende...
Wednesday, November 11,. 1914. Cavalry at Ypres.
The Germans broke through allied lines to advance on Zwarteleen, 3,000 yards east of Ypres, There, they were checked by a British cavalry brigade. More on this:
And some fools feel that cavalry played no role in the Great War. It very much did.
Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire, who held the position of Caliph, albeit it was not universally accepted, declared jihad on the Allies, which would seem to have ultimately undermined his position as it was certainly the case that the Central Powers were no more in league with Islam than the Allies.
On the same day Ottoman troops attempted to ambush British troops marching on Basra, but failed.
The Ottomans also, however, counterattacked the Russians, forcing them into a retreat.
Last edition:
Sunday, November 8, 1914 Landings at Fao
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