Dartmouth Bicycle Club 1888
No gears, no brakes, no matter
Ever tried riding a penny-farthing? Even Mark Twain found it humbling:
“….you rise on the peg, stiffen your left leg, hang your other one around in the air in a general and indefinite way, lean your stomach against the rear of the saddle… and then fall off.”
These high-wheel bikes or “ordinaries”, popular in the 1870s and 1880s, were known at the time simply as bicycles. The nickname penny-farthing came later, based on the size of the British coins.
They were elegant, expensive, and risky. Clubs like the Dartmouth Bicycle Club were often social as well as athletic, popular with “society”. Riders were expected to wear uniforms, often striped jackets, and membership required a formal recommendation.
In the U.S., Albert Pope brought them into wider use with the Columbia bicycle. Still, the danger (and impracticality) of the design eventually gave way to a safer version: the modern “safety bicycle” pioneered by John Kemp Starley.
Jigsaw of Starley’s poster for“The Rover”
Want more?
Fun fact: the world record for distance ridden on a penny-farthing in one hour is 23.72 miles—set in 1891!
See more 1870-1910 bicyling photos
Some include some names and classes of the “wheelmen”, and racing photos
Learn about Thomas Stevens, and his 1880’s trips across America and around the world.