Overview

Rediscovering an overlooked linchpin of Illinois manufacturing and social life In the 1890s, the bicycle became a sensation that impacted the whole of society. People flocked to races while Progressive Era reformers boosted bicycle-related benefits that ranged from fitness to women's rights. As American industry exported two-wheelers around the globe, Chicago and Illinois emerged as a center of bicycle manufacturing. Tracking the bicycle's up-and-down popularity, Christopher Sweet shows how the bicycle's varying fortunes affected the industry and the thousands of Illinoisians laboring for iconic brands like Schwinn and Western Wheel Works. He also details forgotten history such as the bicycle's many associations with the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, national and international interest in Illinois bicycle races, and the role of the Illinois bicycle industry in the rise and fall of Midwest manufacturing. An engaging blend of social and business history, A History of Bicycling in Illinois rediscovers the people, companies, and events that made Chicago and Illinois synonymous with the bicycle.

Full Product Details

9780252046988

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Sweet's book is a meticulously researched and eye-opening account of Illinois' centrality to bicycle history."" —Robert J. Turpin, author of Black Cyclists: The Race for Inclusion ""An indispensable guide to the history of cycling in—and beyond—Illinois."" —Evan Friss, author of The Cycling City: Bicycles and Urban America in the 1890s

""An indispensable guide to the history of cycling in--and beyond--Illinois."" --Evan Friss, author of The Cycling City: Bicycles and Urban America in the 1890s ""Sweet's book is a meticulously researched and eye-opening account of Illinois' centrality to bicycle history."" --Robert J. Turpin, author of Black Cyclists: The Race for Inclusion

Author Information

Christopher Sweet is Information Literacy and Scholarly Communications Librarian and Professor at Illinois Wesleyan University's Ames Library.

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