Vermont Humanities

Of Wheelmen, The New Woman, and Good Roads: Bicycling in Vermont, 1880-1920

Man giving a talk in a bike shop
Speakers Bureau

Image of 1893 bicycle clubIn this lecture, UVM professor Luis Vivanco explores the fascinating early history of the bicycle in Vermont, a new invention that generated widespread curiosity when it arrived here in the 1880s. During the 1890s, enthusiasm exploded statewide as bicycles became safer, women took to the wheel, roads improved, and retailers developed novel advertising techniques to draw in buyers.

By 1920, popular interest in bicycles had waned, but it had not just been a fad: the bicycle was tied to important changes in industrial production, consumerism, new road policies and regulations, gender relations, and new cultural ideas about auto-mobility and effortless speed.

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About the Presenter

Talks by Luis Vivanco

Image of 1893 bicycle club

Of Wheelmen, The New Woman, and Good Roads: Bicycling in Vermont, 1880-1920

Luis Vivanco explores the early history of the bicycle in Vermont, tied to important changes in industrial production, consumerism, and new cultural ideas about auto-mobility and effortless speed.

Vermont Humanities*** June 29, 2016