Child's High Wheel Bicycle, circa 1885

Summary

Adult bicycles have always presented a problem of size to child riders -- especially the high-wheel "ordinary" bikes popular in the 1870s and 1880s. This scaled-down child's bicycle was much easier for a young rider to manage. Built by the St. Nicholas Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois, this wooden bike was more affordable than a comparable metal bicycle.

Adult bicycles have always presented a problem of size to child riders -- especially the high-wheel "ordinary" bikes popular in the 1870s and 1880s. This scaled-down child's bicycle was much easier for a young rider to manage. Built by the St. Nicholas Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois, this wooden bike was more affordable than a comparable metal bicycle.

Artifact

Bicycle

Date Made

circa 1885

Henry Ford Museum
 On Exhibit

at Henry Ford Museum in Made in America

Object ID

00.4.7065

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Metal

Color

Red

Dimensions

Length: 62.25 in

Width: 23 in

Height: 53.75 in

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