Life, 1891-08-13 · page 10 of 14
Life — August 13, 1891 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page satirizes bicycle culture and etiquette during the late 19th-century cycling boom. The main article "SPORT: CYCLING" offers practical advice for beginners while mocking novice riders' clumsiness and fashion choices. The cartoons illustrate common cycling mishaps: one shows a crowded scene with umbrellas (suggesting cyclists colliding with pedestrians), another depicts someone who "ran away" (likely after an accident). The dialogue mocks gender conventions—a woman asks about keeping clothes clean on a yacht, but the male response suggests women shouldn't ride bicycles in full evening dress. There's also commentary about the "indecorous" practice of riding and the Prince of Wales' attention to yachting (a leisure pursuit). The humor targets both the absurdity of early cyclists' accidents and Victorian attitudes about propriety and gender-appropriate recreation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CYCLING. LMOST any body can ride a bicycle, but a good many of those who do ride, should not. This is particularly true of fools. One fool on a bicycle can make more trouble in a crowded thoroughfare than six runaway four-in-hands. In learning to ride, it is well to select a piece of soft: green turf on which hair-mattresses should be laid to the depth of eighteen inches. Then, after securing an accident policy and making sure that there is a competent surgeon and a well-stocked drug store near at hand, nner may proceed. When you first mount, the machine will probably throw you and chase you around the enclosure two or three times, but do not be armed. It will get tired after a while and settle down to rest. Then, if you move cautiously, you can approach it again with safety. Having mastered the art of riding, a costume is the next consider- ation. Something unusual with long stockings is the proper thing whether nature has built you that way or not. You may carry, if you like, a dinner bell in the day-time and a search light at night to warn people of your approach. ‘This is not recommended because it robs the cycler of one of his greatest enjoy- ments, i.¢., running down foot passengers. You will observe that the machine is equipped with rubber tires to aid you in this pastime. You should by all means join a bicycle club, as it will be pleasant socially, and you can send to your fellow-members to bail you out whenever you happen to run over any one. If you are riding a bicycle to reduce your weight, you will find it more agreeable to keep in the back streets, The sight of a fat man IN THE DAYS FIGARO WAS KEPT ON KEEP HIS TEMPERATURE DOWN ; RUT boc ICE CREAM meee yyetygoue SHAS ONE DAY HE RAN AWAY She (suggestively: Twey MATED BEFORE. THIS. He: YeS; BUT BLESS YOU, THINK HOW FEW EXPENSES THEY HAVE L SAY THE LITTLE BIRDS HAVE ALL pumping away on a bicycle is apt to make people laugh. course ; but it’s only human. If you happen to be a girl, it would be a mistake to learn to ride a bicycle. It’s unjust, of There's a machine made which enables a girl to make some man do all the work, Young women should not ride in full evening costume. A long train is likely to get mixed up in the wheels. Bishop Coxe, an authority on bicycling, has recently pronounced strongly against this practice on the ground of cruelty to bicycles. Gentlemen with fowing side-whiskers should not smoke a pipe when riding. The sparks are likely to cause a conflagration. Metcalfe. THE WAY TO DO IT. M' BUDD: How do you manage to keep your clothes so nice on board the yacht ? YACHTSMAN: Oh, achtsmen only wear their yachting clothes on land. © Prince of Wales should turn his at- tention to survey- ing: in the light of past experience he would know enough to keep the stakesin sight. ALL TALK— Women. comicbooks.com