The Foolish Scorchers, the Dramatic Ending

4. And when the gate arose again,

Those scorchers had good luck;

Though it becomes not tongue nor pen,

To tell just how they struck.

(I don't get it, do you?)

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 12 July 1896.

The Foolish Scorchers, Part III

3. But like a hail-stone from on high,

That seeks the mother earth,

That gate descended from the sky,

And caught them in the girth.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 12 July 1896

The Foolish Scorchers, Part II

2. As they swept on they gayly laughed,

And thought by sudden spurt.

To clear the toll-gate like a shot,

And do the keeper "dirt."

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 12 July 1896

The Foolish Scorchers

A scorcher and his bloomered mate,

Each mounted on a "bike,"

Bore down upon an old toll-gate

That stretched across the pike.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 12 July 1896

The Greatest Safety

SOURCE: New York Times, 20 June 1891

Comedic Interlude, 3 of 3

The Bicycle in the Role of "Home Exerciser" -- 3rd of 3 in a series.

7. "Now it is plumb and everything is well."

8. "But he has had enough exercise for one day and it's too late to go out."

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 20 June 1897

Comedic Interlude, 2 of 3

The Bicycle in the Role of a "Home Exerciser" --2nd of 3 in a series

4. "The saddle must be lowered."

5. "While I am about it I might oil the chain."

6. "Harder to replace than I thought."

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 20 June 1897

Comedic Interlude, 1 of 3

The Bicycle in the Role of a "Home Exerciser" -- 1st of 3 in a series:

1. "Now I'm ready for over the hills and far away."

2. "I ought to have done this pumping last night."

3. "Are all the nuts tight?"

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 20 June 1897

Snapshot from Bicycle

"Sixth--Fall scene. Snapshot from bicycle while running swiftly. Unsuccessful. Too realistic for amateur. Decides not to photograph any more for thirty or forty years."

A lot of bicycle bloggers and friends on Flickr favor the "panda" photograph, or a snapshot taken while riding your bicycle, which includes you and/or your bicycle in the shot. Now, it's usually all I can do to keep upright and in a relatively straight line while riding, so I've never attempted, and probably won't attempt, any panda portraits anytime soon. They're neat to look at, but boy-howdy, seems like an accident just itchin' to happen. Incidentally, I love this cartoon because of the convergence of two kinds of revolutionary technology: bicycle and snapshot camera (that box at the bottom of the frame). Seems folks set about finding new ways to fall off of bicycles and/or break cameras almost immediately after their invention. 

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 30 September 1900

Travel Abroad

Heavens! I must be riding in China.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 9 September 1906

But the pig jumped

A panel from a newspaper comic from the 1890s. The punchline has something to do with a "scorcher" (a fast or reckless rider in the parlance of the times) trying to make a pig jump, and as you might imagine, the pig jumps the wrong way. Not exactly complex humor, but I do enjoy this particular panel. I've been looking at early cycling cartoons, trying to work up a thesis about how the advent of the automobile affected popular perceptions of bicycling. Very interesting, I should have something to share on the subject before long. Until then, I've got a few more of these in the queue, just for fun.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 24 August 1895