At the end of the 19th century, for just a few years, bicycles were all the rage. The cycling craze got millions of Americans moving in a new way—and women moving away from restrictive domestic spaces and restrictive clothing. But the bicycle changed first.
Bicycle posters in the 1890s
“The bicycle craze was both a reality and a symbol—a symbol for personal mobility,” says Roger White, curator in the Division of Work and Industry at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Bicycles had existed for decades, and some late-1860s models even had shapes similar to modern-day bicycles, but they were made of iron and wood. Here is an amazing collection of vintage bicycle posters in the 1890s.
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