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Bicycle Cartoon and Advertisements, Puck Magazine, 1897

CONTENT WARNING

Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation. 

Context

By the 1870s, bicycles and tricycles using wire-spoked wheels were common, particularly in England. Albert A. Pope became the first American bicycle manufacturer under the trade name “Columbia” in Connecticut in 1878.

The popularity of bicycles in America increased rapidly in the 1890s with the advent of the safety bicycle with equal-sized wheels that allowed the rider's feet to reach the ground. Automobiles were expensive and not widely available, horses and carriages were expensive to maintain, and public transportation was not efficient. The bicycle met the need for inexpensive individual transportation and, as a result, the new industry expanded rapidly. The bicycle provided people with a means of affordable travel. As more people relied on bicycles, existing roads were improved and new roads were constructed.

Bicycles also contributed to social change in the United States as people were able more freely to move about, especially women. Clothing styles changed from corsets and long skirts to divided skirts and bloomers. Women enjoyed greater opportunities to leave their house without needing a chaperone. They could ride alone or with groups of other women. The independence bicycles offered inspired some women to take up the cause of the growing suffrage movement as more women could attend meetings and events. Susan B. Anthony reportedly claimed in 1896 that "the bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world."

Virginians embraced cycling and local newspapers included advertisements offering bicycles designed for female riders and women’s fashions for bicycling. National periodicals also published stories, articles, and cartoons about bicycling. Puck was one of the first successful humor magazines in the United States with its colorful, witty cartoons covering politics and social issues late in the 19th century. In this cartoon from an 1897 issue of Puck, the cartoonist shows a novice rider concentrating on her bicycle. Several of the advertisements on the page are for bicycles and accessories.

Citation: Puck Magazine, v. 41, no. 1046, Mar. 24, 1897, Rare Book Collection, Manuscripts & Special Collections, Library of Virginia.


See more advertisements and political and social cartoons from Puck Magazine by visiting our Digitool collection.

Standards

History: VS.1, VS.8, VUS.1, VUS.8
Art: 4.18, 4.19, 5.18, 5.19
English: 4.7, 5.7

Suggested Questions

Preview Activity

Look at It: Look at the cartoon and the advertisements on this page. Who might be the target audience? Why?

Post Activities 

Analyze:  How did the use of the bicycle connect to the broader social or political messages in the 1890s? What other groups of people would have benefited from the inexpensive transportation offered by the bicycle?

Artistic Expression: Imagine that you must market this bicycle on behalf of the company. Create an advertisement or poster that would attract new customers.

Think About It: Write a journal entry as if you were living in a major U.S. city in the 1890s and how a bicycle would have affected your daily routine.