Love on wheels: American cycling-romance novels of the early 1880s
Author
Faculty Advisor
Date
2021
Keywords
cycling romance, romantic bicycling fiction
Abstract (summary)
Romantic fiction about cycling—sometimes called “cycling romance” (Chen) or “romantic bicycling fiction” (Hanlon)—is usually considered to have emerged in the 1890s, during the great “bicycle boom” that peaked mid-decade in North America, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere (Herlihy 251). High-wheel cycling had been popular in certain circles (mainly among well-off athletic men) as far back as the 1870s, but, in the late 1880s, the rise of the more affordable and accessible safety bicycle (with same-size wheels, much like bicycles today) and technical innovations (such as the pneumatic tire) led to an explosion in cycling’s popularity.
Publication Information
Buchanan, D. (2021). Love on Wheels: American Cycling-Romance Novels of the Early 1880s. Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature, 39(1), p1-24.
DOI
Notes
Item Type
Article
Language
Rights
All Rights Reserved