You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart radio and Grimm and Mild

from Aaron Manky.

In October of 1893, it became clear to the readers of the National Police Gazette, a popular

men's magazine, that America was facing a scourge that challenged the decency and the physical

well-being of Americans.

It had been introduced in the country almost a decade earlier and had been a plague on

women's health and happiness ever since.

The object of everyone's displeasure?

The bicycle.

That October, the men who read the Gazette were confronted by the scandalous image of

aspiring model Angeline Allen, riding a bike in a stylish bicycle suit.

While her jaunty cap long-sleeved fitted coat and knee-length bloomers might look conservative

to us, it was downright indecent in the eyes of many gilded-age Americans.

Allen wasn't the first woman to draw the eye of the press for riding a bike.

The bicycle craze that swept the nation was shocking and everyone had an opinion.

The bicycle was invented in 1817 and was originally called a swift walker.

It had no petals and was made of wood with two large wheels trimmed with iron rims and

leather tires.

So it was unwieldy to ride the invention caught on and it didn't take long for people

to make improvements.

More women joined in the Mariamint in the 1880s thanks to the development of the safety

bicycle, which had equal sized wheels and tires that inflated.

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