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Show f BACKf THE THEBIKE -BIKE- BIKE "BIKE - " BIKECOMES - " COMES BACK . . ( i iForty Forty Years Ago Cycling Was a Major American Sport ; Then \ the Thenthe Auto Began to Crowd the Bicycle from Our Streets and Highways andHighways ; But in the Midst Midstof of the Depression Came "Bicycle Bicycle a"Bicycle " " a "Bicycle Bicycle "BicycleBoom . "BicycleBoom Boom " and Now JAre More Mora Than 1.000.000 1000.000 1000000 1,000,000 1,000,000of . , . , of the Two-Wheelers Two Wheelers - ti1 TwoWheelersti1 ti1Are Are TwoWheelersAre Being Manufactured AnnuallyBy Annually . ; ; ; 3L By ELMO SCOTT WATSON . ; 3Ltit D < tit \ \ cstern estern Newspaper Union . , , shook othe otheid his id caneangrIly cane caneCTg"iyat G1 G1RANDPA CTg"iyat CTgiyat GRANDPA RANDPA angrIly angrIlyat NDPA NDPAt NDPAothe " at t the thedlsap dlsap- dlsap dlsapeanng sap- sap sapangrily ' - 0 0peaamg Up Upingfig peaamg eanng ingfig ingfigeofaboybicycle figure eofaboybicycle of a boy boyPblCycle boya boybicycle PblCycle bicycle and shrIlled shrIlledto shrilledr shrilleds8- shrilleds8 shrilleds8"If to toa tobun r ( : a - , , . ' "If If " I could lay myCtrs my er eron bun reckless.lgsqutrt reckless recklessint Ctrs on on you , . , you yo ds dss . ' mighty soon soonflut .lgsqutrt lgsqutrt Ulrt , I'd Id ' s , g gBqut Bqut flut int the boy was soon soonf soondof soonght , and , as Grandpasped Grandpa Grandpa'Tr dof 140 140ed f SIght grumbledj ed along , he grumbled grumbledlbunself j 1P 1PIf ' sped . "It's Its " " lrs ' gettin ettmt ' so sohJItls SoStan lbunself 'Tr Tr e elf If hJItls soSnib ain't aint am't amt ' sateetS safe sale sate on the theK Stan Stano K andbmb ets etSy o of { this his town tow towsate any y moreII more more'i 'i i 'iwthe ' Butthe Iotthe IIButthe wthe II next ne.t net } . day he nodded noddedrovlI1gly noddedjungly when he read an antonal anSonal rovlI1gly roan lY ( tonal tonaln or1allIl ) in n the local newspa-that newspa that newspa- newspa newspait - . aIt it announcedbeing announced that a ar aending r ife beingife e ndmg riding ridingtimed club " was being bemg beinged "Dled Dled timed " ed and invited mVlted every everyki every.pud everypud girl who rode a bl- bl blle blcle bi-1 bi 1 - . ki kiand ; ; and cle le [ g to join Jom loin it . ' this isn't isnt ' an incidentfrgl incident Ko lTo h'o ho frgl 1\ 1 \ 1I I , a newspaper newspaper's newspapers ' , S "F F "Forty Forty "Fortyfirs "FortyTears FortyTears " or t y yfears fears firs Ago " column.It columnIt column . . .It It . hap- hap haponly haped nap napped - ped ed only the other day In Inllooern incity in.oodern inoodern llooern tuodern ! . : Americanngteresting American Amencan city . It's Its It'scmterestmg It'stuodern It'scmteresung Itscmteresung ' cmterestmg ngteresting sidelight on the theeback theyie-back theyie back e-back e back eback - - which the bicyclebeen bicycle bicyclesbeen sbeen been staging stagmg m in recent recentprsthat recentgrsthat prsthat gsthat , , in m this motor age , ese : t two wheeled vehicles vehiclest vehiclesldbe vehiclesfoaldbe t 'JId JId ' ldbe be adding addmg to the traffic traffictzards trafficbards z3rds tzards : of our cities andtDS andnSi and andiffliS iffliS tDS nSi ' nSifirhaps ftrlups P2rhaps firhaps you aren't arent ' aware aW3re of of5factthat ofSifactthat 5factthat fact that it itas \\as as was \ \ as necessary for forit W 'bike bike ' " to stage a come back , tilts ; its true , nevertheless You You.Jf Youjy .Jf Jf . . ; 7 recall the time when more moren moreia 1 ! n 4000000 < ! 000 000 enthusiasts were were.Jmg were.ling wereJnng .Jmg Jmg .ling ling . . cycling cyclmg a national pas- pas past pasBeginning pas-a pas a - t : . . Beginning Begmnmg back m in thef.JJes thertes the rtes f.JJes fJJes , ( ( . sties , , the manufacture of bl"ties bi.aes bi- bi bl- bl bices - ces "ties ties .aes aes " . steadily increased mcreased until untill until3S l , the peak year of produc- produc producIIhen produc-a produc a produc5 - 5 , , flhen IIhen ahen more than 300 facto- facto factouere factoasere facto-iiere facto iiere - - uere asere turning out nparly nearly a mll- mll mil- mil mlliI mila mil-aand mil aand - iI a ! and a quarter "bikes bikes " " an- an anThose analy an-23y an 23y - aly Those Thoseho \\ho ho who \ \ couldn't couldnt ' af- af afa afd af-d af d - d ahorse al1orsq a . , o and buggy found foundiblcpcle foundilicyde blcycle iblcpcle a cheap and effective'us effective 'us us . ' " .as as "ns ns " . of getting around and mil mll- mll mllEJ mil- mil milz5 miles - - es EJ z5 of Americans , J , oung andere and ands , . % lere v.ere vere ere pedaling pedalmg their way way"xrii wayxrii i " : ! " zfh h the streets of our towns towns9along townsdilosg 9along along country roadsl roadsfin roads roadslitn l ' ! litn fin n around the turn of the the'fury thesiary 'fury fury ' came the first automoa automo.a automoud automo- automo - - .a a . Improvedj improvedf a and ud , as they were improved j f their theU ' use increased mcreased , these these.hne theseshnedriven thesealas shne-driven shne driven -.hne .hne - . - driven dnven four - wheelers'Jelly wheelers Jaally "JJally JJally 'Jelly Jelly " ' began to crowd the } leg- leg leged legielled eg- eg eged - ielled ed tv.o tvo t\\O t O two tOheelers \ . wheelersDoff \ wheelers \\heelers heelers \ .off off Doff , . ofT the theBy theal By 1904 the production ofrrtes ofales of ofles rrtes ales : ( les had dropped to less than 1,000 1000 1,000annually l thanWO thanl , i annually As the coughclattering cough- cough coughclittenng - % coughclattermg " clittenng clattermg clattering "horseless horseless carbe car- car car1t car-t car t - 1t be ' J ' Jgrev greft grev gren . m in numbers , menpa men menshaking pa shaking their heads andiiy and andPiedictmg iiy Piedictmg p.edlctmg pedlctmg ptedlcting . the evtmction e.tmctlon etmctlon extinction . of ofIbcycle of"cycle ofcycle bcycte Ibcycle ' " as well as the horse Jept iapt ! : horseJept horseiapt for their use by messen- messen messens messen-r-tois messen r tois - tbis messentbis : - s bicycles \ were Mere \ ere losing losmg out out"lomobiles outlomobiles outIiamob outt'llomobiles Iiamobes t'llomobiles tllomobiles Iiamob " , ' " es : 1909 bicycle production di4thebottom L ritlhe productionritlhe 1 th bottom with on onb onlj ) 16804Ced 168 168- 168 168ced ; , - Creed Creedon . ' ( 04Ced 04Cedon ced on the market Then Then"ms Thenms , " tOnie " e unknown reason , th thePe the Pe began to climb steadily steadlly , i t j tr ji r , - i u uf f 3 3t t \ - - isrnountlng Ibfoanting "nHnc nHnc " by the Pedal . 1914g 1914ii ii g e a peakof peak of 299,000 299000 299,000m 299000m , , m in 1914 g the "ie ie " next five years the m- m in- in mas - 7 in7 ' > 'as as m'as " ' vas as hard hit by de- de * de10r defor for 10r steel Stoni Stoni.11 -.1-1-- .11 .1 1 - . . .11'aiung - - - . war . , - ' , rubber and all 'her her ' r intom materials materIals WhICh go intog mto into ther . Inakmg m " 'aiung aiung ' g , , but by 1921 the the.Produced theProduced r . prOduced had climbed chmbed SvS climbedSvS up climbedup p ltm to 216,000 216000 216 , 000 00 ( ) In 1927 itand lt It lti m 000 000and in i 260,000The and andIn d in 1931 260,000 260000 , The Boom 800m Qoom Begins Begms . ugh Eh gh 1931was 1931 was one of the . depression thedepression [ "on on " years , itt it the ' " t , e : reale . "I-beginning "I I beginning - beguullng beguuiing of the real hh has boom boolri ? smce Since thl.n thln thin th- th thits . ( - " its .sbeen sbeen . been one ot of the mar- mar marh - k mark marGf GfJnodern ol Gf ua uamodern Its'a Jnodern modern " 1-13 1 13 mdustry industry " ' " . ' . Its Itswere f Itsf IJIl 'a a ' has h been - a qUiet one , # i Ini 1I11kn0wn lto1kowll t to to the publIc . In Ini i the early days when gazlI1es gazmes wIthads were filledwIth filled withi with J i ofJ ptrtance , ) ads tancec tancecf , such sucha of f the the thereflection a reflection reflectionIndustry of industry IS 1 today t4ay ist4ay . e ise e But so Important anccessary 4lnecessary industry htdtutry become that It to hold holda a cycle cycler r 'I I ' , there epnventlon cycleepnventlon hOIlvenbon cyclehOIlvenbon ere a lastj "on on " in m Chicagolast Chicago of last last s 750s Production of 750148 750- 750 750reported , , - Was 148 J3 theYear reported for the Year and andan an estimated IOn roe of 900 900,000 900000 , 000 d It wasIt for 1936 was IS qUlta giute hkely likely that thatr of o thato ! 1937 r : 1937will will willsee see the pro- pro - \ Mounting l\loonbng l loonbng Illustratedin a Bic3 Bicy Bicycle cle ( as Illustrated in "Casscll's Cassclls "Cassell's Cassells " ' Book of or Sports and andPastimes andPastimes andPastimes Pastimes . , " ) duction ductlon for this year well over the overthe million mllllOn markOf markOf mark markOf Of course , that's thats ' still a long longway way from the 4,000,000 4000000 , , mark markof markof markof of indicatesthat mdlcatesthat 40 years ago but it mdlcates indicates that the bicycle has defimtely definitely defimtelycome definitelycome definitelycome come back No one seems to know toknow beenthis 3ust Just why there has been thIS revival m ill the popularity popularityof of bicycle-riding bicycle riding blcyc1e-rIdmg blcyc1e rIdmg - Perhaps it's its ' due dueenhrely dueentirely dueentirely enhrely entirely to an economic factor factorWhen factorWhen factorWhen When the boom started in m the themidst themidst themidst midst of the depression , the fact factthat factthat factthat that a bicycle requires reqUlres no gaso gaso- gaso- gaso - - gasoline gasoIme line Ime to operate it , no garage m in mwhich inwhich inwhich which to house it and a minimumof mmlmumof mmlmum minimum of expense e.pense epense . for upkeep were Items Itemsof itemsof itemsof of considerable importance to topeople topeople topeople people who had to save every everypenny everypenny everypenny penny they could . Or you can , as some people do do"lay dolay , "lay lay " it on the movies " Blcycle- Blcycle Bicycle- Bicycle BlcyclerIdmg Bicycleriding Bicycle-ndmg Bicycle ndmg - rIdmg riding became a fad among the themovie themovie mOVIe stars and when rotogra rotogra- rotogravure rotogravure rotogravure - - vure sections of the newspapers newspapersand newspapersand newspapersand and movie fan magazines magazmes began beganprmting beganprinting prmtmg prmting pictures of beaut beautiful beautifulgirls beautifulgirls ul gIrls pedaling pedalmg a bike ( and m mshorts inshorts shorts , too ' ) many a woman who . ' - V . - - - - - A WHEEL AROUND THE TILE nUB IIUB nUBFrom IIUBFrom ( From a Dra\\1Dg Dra 1Dg Dra \ % 1ng 1D in Scubner's Scubners Sciibner's Sciibners ' l\lagazme l lagazme Magazine \ , 1880 ) liked to fancy herself a potentIal potentIalmovie potentialmovie potentialmovie movie star went and did like hke- hke like- hkeJ.VIse likewise likewise - wise J.VIse JVIse ; . ( including mcludmg the wearing wearmg of ofshorts ofshorts ofshorts shorts ) If you are inclined mclmed to todoubt todoubt todoubt doubt the importance of thIS thISmfluence thisinfluence thisinfluence mfluence influence , consider the statement statementmade , made at the trades convention m in in1936 1936 , that 20 per cent of the sales salesm salesin salesm m in that year were to womenBike women womenBike Bike ExcursIons Excursions.Whatever ExcursionsWhatever . Whatever the . . reason of this thisrevIval thisrevival thisrevival revIval of interest mterest m cyclIng cyclinghowever , however , the fact remains remams that It Ithas ithas ithas has steadily increased mcreased during durmg the thelast thelast thelast last six SI'C SIC ' years Curiously enough enoughamong , among the first to 1 iccognize ecogmze recognize It Itand itand itand and turn it to their advantage advantagewere advantagewere advantagewere were the railroads , whose contin contm- contm contin- contmued continued continued - - ued , existence e.lstence elstence . has also been beenthreatened beenthreatened beenthreatened threatened by one branch of the theI theautomotive theautomotive I automotIve industry mdustry - trucks trucksI trucksSome trucksSome trucksSome I Some of them , notably the Boston Bostonand Bostonand Bostonand and Maine M31ne , have begun sponsor sponsor- sponsormg sponsoring sponsoring - ing mg "bike bike " excursions excurslOns " into mto the thecountry thecountry thecountry country for city cycling cyclmg enthu enthu- enthusIasts enthusiasts enthusiasts - - siasts Special baggage cars are areprovIded areprovided areprovided provIded for the "bikes bikes " " and low lowround lowround lowround round trip rates are offered offeredheelmen offeredwheelmen \ \ ; heelmen and wheelwomen wheehvomen who whowant whowant whowant want to get away from congested congestedmetropolItan congestedmetropolitan congestedmetropolitan metropolItan centers for a day of ofhealthful ofhealthful ofhealthful healthful exercise in m the open country Perhaps . one reason why the theBoston theBoston theBoston Boston and Maine Mame railroad has hasbeen hasbeen hasbeen been the pioneer in m this inno- inno innovation inno mno- mno mnovatIon innovation - - vation is because Boston has been beenthe beenthe beenthe the hub of bicycling in 111 this coun coun- country coun- coun country country - - try . , thus adding addmg another reason reasonfor reasonfor reasonfor nickname mckname of "the the "theHub "theHub " theHub for its popular Hub " The first wheeling wheelmg organi orgam- orgam organi- orgam.latlon organization organization - - America was the Boston BostonBicycle BostonBicycle BostonBicycle . zation .latlon latlon in m Bicycle club , founded nearly 60years 60years 60 ago - That rpl . 4 . was , , r- r rc - c- c cin - m in in Febru- Febru February February KPhril- KPhril KPhrilary - - years 1878 and the next mont11it monthIt month ary . . , , " " " One Oneof Oneof Oneof first club "run run It staged sts zts s of the prime movers in 111 the organ organ- organIzatIon organization organization - Frank FrankW FrankW FrankW ization of this club was familiarly known as"Papa as"Papa as asJrapa W . , Weston . , has the ad- ad addItIOnal additional - "Papa Papa " Jrapa " Weston wt-aiuti wt aiuti - , who T > * * " ' - - . , , , ditional title of "Father Father " of Wheelmg Wheeling Wheel- Wheel Wheelwas - Umted United States " , Weston Westonwas Westonwas mg ing m in the Englishman who brought broughtto was an his native coun coun- country's coun- coun country's country's - - this country to of all kmds kinds kmdsand kindsand try's trys ' love for sports kindsin great deal to m- m in- in mtraduce inand in introduce - and who did a troduce traduce itstroduce cyclingpopularity cycling aand and and increase mcrease Its ItspopularIty itsDopulanty in this country . popularIty p AmerIcan AmerIcanmagazme Americanmagazine Americanmagazine However However , it was an which whlch did more even eventhan eventhan eventhan magazme magazine thesport thesport the than did Weston to foster of wheelIng . In the Febru- Febru February February - - sport Issue of ScrIbner's ScrIbners ScrIbner'sMagazme Scribner'sMagazine ' 1880 , ary , appeared an artIcle under un- un under - der Magazme Magazine the title of ofCIA CIA "A A " Wheel Around Aroundthe Aroundthe the Hub " which told .of of . the first firstovermght firstovernight overmght overnight publ1e public cycl.mg cyclmg cycling . event In InAmerIca inAmerica whIch It had sponsored sponsoredand sponsoredand AmerIca 40 40members 40members financed . It had illvited invited and several . cyclmg cycling cyclmgorgamzatIons cyclingorganizations members S from iruiii oi - " . ' ? the thetour thetour theo organizations orgamzatIons to take part in m tour ? % , the majority of them com- com corn- corn commg cornmg com-mgfrom com mgfrom - mg from the pioneer organiza orgamza- orgamza organiza- - I tion bon clubThe , , the Boston Bicycle club The 40 , dressed in m the variety |