Bicycle craze hit here too

A bicycle craze swept America in the late 1890s, and south Louisiana was just as crazy as the rest of the nation. As a matter of fact, the craze put the town of Jennings in the spotlight, at least for a little while.The bicycles didn’t look like the ones we ride today. They had a huge front wheel and a little wheel in back and hard rubber tires, not air-filled ones like on today’s bikes.According to an old article from the Jennings newspaper, “High wheel bicycle riding was one of the thrilling sports of the era. … A July Fourth celebration was not complete without bicycle racing along with foot races, sack races, and other forms of amusement.”One of the best racers in the nation was Howard L. Cary. He was the son of S.L. Cary, one of the pioneers of Jennings and a tireless promoter of southwest Louisiana.Howard was identified as a “Railroad Mail Clerk through Jennings,” which I think meant he was one of the guys who sorted letters in the mail car as trains ran across the prairie. According to the article, he was more than six feet tall and rode a bicycle with a 56-inch front wheel, “which was among the largest in the state.”Apparently a bigger wheel allowed a higher speed, but it also made it more difficult to get on to the bike in the first place.Cary held the state speed record for bicycles, setting the record in a race with Dr. George H. Tichenor — inventor of “good ole Dr. Tichenor’s, best antiseptic in town,” (according to the old radio jingle.)Other bicyclists were more interested in endurance contests than speed.The old clipping says an old hotel register in Jennings shows that F.E. Vanderbake of New York City was an overnight guest, passing through Jennings “on a wager to travel from New Orleans to San Francisco in one hundred days on a bicycle.” I find no record of whether he won or lost the bet.Scientific American magazine commented on the craze in its edition of June 20, 1896, noting that by then the tandem “bicycle built for two” had become popular, and that racing bikes for four or even six men were being tried.That was about the time that the first “cushion” tires were introduced. They were built like a garden hose and were glued to the rim of the wheel. Pneumatic tires as we know them didn’t come along for another few years.Their invention and other gadgets increased the popularity of the bicycle and, according to the article, turned a bike into “something more than mere toy but a real help in both business and pleasure.”That led to the invention of “all sorts of attachments,” including, eventually a small motor. And that met with such success that some guys decided to make a four-wheeled machine that was also powered by an internal combustion engine.The rest, as they say, is history.You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jhbradshaw@bellsouth.net or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.