How very complicated it seems to have been to go on a bicycle ride in Victorian times!

This is Bessie Hammell and Addie and Arthur McClain, ready to go on a bicycle ride about 1909. Love the hats. And gloves (Addie, at least). Bessie and Addie seem to be wearing some sort of over-garment worn over a dress to protect it, maybe? Not sure. I noticed that Addie’s bike (and presumably Bessie’s also) has a cage around the sides of the back wheel to keep flowing garments from getting caught in the spokes. I’m surprised that the ladies’ bicycles, at least, don’t have a front fender. (Arthur’s bicycle doesn’t appear to have fenders front or back.)

This photo was taken in front of the Hammell residence (122 N Sherman). The house in the immediate background is 130 N Sherman. According to the Linn County Assessor’s office, 130 was built in 1907, so it would have been practically a brand new house when this photo was taken.

The photographer was probably John Hammell.

This photo was printed on postcard stock. There is a note on the back written by Grandma Addie to an unidentified individual (it was not sent as a postcard). The note is interesting enough that I am including it here:

In case you can’t make out the writing, I’ll transcribe…

This is taken in front of my old home [that is, her parents’ home at 122 N Sherman]. The first girl is my sister Bess. I am next then Arthur. I have my new wheel which Arthur surprised my [sic] with. Dear me, that was three months ago. The sun was shining pretty bright.

Addie & Arthur

So evidently a bicycle was called a “wheel” at this time.

This note helps date the photo even though no date or year is mentioned. Clearly the note was written (and presumably the photo was taken) after Addie and Arthur were married in June 1908, but before Addie became noticeably pregnant with Florence (Mom), which would have been late in 1909. Bright sun doesn’t necessarily mean summer, but probably it was. So it could have been taken in summer 1908 or summer 1909. I went with 1909 to give the newlyweds a year before they’re going bicycle riding with the sister-in-law. ;–)

(Yes, if you really wanted to push the chronology, you could argue that since the note was written three months after the photo was taken, the photo could have been taken before Addie and Arthur were married, and the note written after they were married. Seems unlikely, and anyway, we aren’t dealing with a chronology with that level of precision. It still comes out to 1908 or 1909, probably summertime.)