The Cycling City: Bicycles and Urban America in the 1890s By Evan Friss

Abstract

In 1890s America, the bicycle became, somewhat suddenly, the object of a national craze. Bicycles and the industry that produced them occupied a prominent role in the creation of new consumer imaginaries and desires for speed and automobility, and contributed to ongoing transformations in industrial capitalism and social relations. Evan Friss, a professor of history at James Madison University, observes in this new book that it was “a rare moment in history when a single, new piece of technology seemed to offer the chance for a complete reconceptualiza-tion of American life” (p. 4).