Wednesday, March 5, 2014

REMEMBER: CYCLING ON 5TH AVENUE CIRCA 1896

An archival photo from 1896 shows that women also embraced riding bicycles back in the late 19th century. The view is on Fifth just below 125th Street with the cyclers heading south. The brownstones to the left are pretty much there still but the corner building on 125th Street were all replaced by taller or more commercial buildings within the next decade or so.  Mount Morriah Church can be seen in the far distance after the main church on 125th.

 Photo courtesy the Museum of the City of New York
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2 comments:

  1. GregMarch 5, 2014 at 6:00 PM

    I always wondered how women rode bikes and horses with those long, voluminous dresses and then there were the layers of undergarments to consider.

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  2. AnonymousMarch 5, 2014 at 6:15 PM

    Great pic! Do we have any clue as to the ethnicity of the people? I'm told that part of Harlem was heavily Italian, later Jewish. Finally, it appears to be a prosperous crowd; does that make sense for the period?

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