Exhibition Displays: 1. Trade cards, Stereoviews, Photos & Postcards of Women on Bicycles

1888-early 1890s: Cigarette & Tobacco Cards: Women riding penny farthings & safety bicycles

A woman riding a penny farthing was an extremely rare sight. Except for one place …the circus.

The way that the velocipede craze took hold of America in 1868 was by the railway. Circuses and shows travelled the country and athletes performed moving stunts using horses. As soon as the first bicycles arrived, they added them to their repertoire, thus introducing them to the public around the USA wherever they performed.

Over the following years, groups of performers adapted their shows to incorporate bicycles as their main feature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1898: Erotic Steroscope photos

 

 

 

1900s: Women riding bicycles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1900s Postcards: Women riding bicycles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1900s Female Trick cyclists