Tricycle, ca. 1875
date: label: date made
content: ca 1875
notes: label: Description
content: This unusual, unidentified tricycle is one of the few adult machines of the velocipede era to be found in United States collections. It has tentatively been dated at about 1875 because its general construction agrees with that of early velocipedes and with patent drawings of the early and middle 1870s. It has not been possible, however, to identify it with any specific patent. It is a simple, yet well-constructed machine. Undoubtedly the maker of this tricycle patterned it on the velocipedes so popular in 1869, and added the third wheel for stability.
label: Description
content: This tricycle has wheels, front fork, handlebars, and twin backbones made of wood. The backbones join together at the front ends with an iron steering pin that engages a pair of iron fittings on the forks. The lower ends of the forks have split bronze bearings, with oil holes that are neatly inletted in the wood. Wooden spool-pedals are attached to the 5-inch iron cranks, as on a common velocipede. In the rear, the lower ends of the backbones are attached to the iron axle with a pair of ordinary axle clips of the type employed in the carriage-building trade. A leather-covered saddle stuffed with horsehair is mounted on the backbones, these being of bent wood to provide the only spring action for the rider's comfort.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
label: See more items in
content: Bicycling
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content: America on the Move
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content: Transportation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.333771
label: catalog number
content: 333771
label: accession number
content: 304886
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Tricycle, Adult
label: Other Terms
content: Tricycle, Adult; Road
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 49 in; 124.46 cm
label: Measurements
content: front wheel: 38 in; x 96.52 cm
label: Measurements
content: rear wheels: 24 1/2 in; x 62.23 cm