Wheeler Etiquette and Femininity

 

“Of course, some of the fashionable women have learned to ride. They are continually seeking for some new distraction. But you can be very certain that they will ride in private schools or on their own private grounds and not through the streets of New York or in the public parks. They are too wise to make guys of themselves for the benefit of the general public.” — A mere 5 years after this article appeared, etiquette books were promoting a more feminine look for ‘wheel-women’ as there was no turning back at that point.

—Photo source, Etiquipedia private library

Women as Imitators

With the tailor made girl an easy walk came in—a walk that did not have a suggestion of a stride, but still, as it was swinging, was perfectly feminine and easy. It was much prettier than the mincing steps attained by walking the ribbon. By the bye, it does seem that while women are talking so much about their rights, they have left very few to men. They have taken his loose, heavy stitched gloves with the big buttons. They have taken his shirt front, his tie, his scarfpin, his watch chain, his cigarettes, his coat pockets, and if some of the bicycle riders continue to divide their skirts, they will have taken his trousers. 

I have tried my very best to be convinced that a woman looks well on a bicycle. She does not. The attitude is an ungraceful, strained one, and if the rider happens to be a fat woman her face gets fiercely red, and she does look an object. No matter how much care may have been given to the get up, they all look pretty much alike, and most of the riders have an untidy look—tumbled hair, negligee cap, and, well, the general loose get up being far from natty looking. Riding the iron and steel horse may be popular, but certainly it is not pretty. 

Of course, some of the fashionable women have learned to ride. They are continually seeking for some new distraction. But you can be very certain that they will ride in private schools or on their own private grounds and not through the streets of New York or in the public parks. They are too wise to make guys of themselves for the benefit of the general public. Occasionally they might do it among their own crowd, but be very sure that they are not going to let tho hoi polloi see them make fools of themselves.— Editor Woman's Page, Boston Globe, 1895

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Danish Bicycling Etiquette

Copenhagen is the most bicycle friendly city in the world. 62% of residents ride a bike daily to work or education in the city – Photo source VisitDenmark.com

On 5th of May in 1849, King Frederik signed the Denmark Constitution, which marked the start of a constitutional monarchy, so every May 5th Denmark celebrates its Constitutional Day, and if the beginning of summer treats them gently, Danish people spend today outdoors enjoying open-faced smorrebrod sandwiches on rye bread paired with hyldeblomstsaft. But there is one activity what they do throughout the year for sure – cycling! Did you know that Danish people have been dedicated cyclists for centuries? 

This is the so called Danish way of expressing equality between all social classes, and Copenhagen prides itself on being one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world. Thanks to Simply Danish Living, I know that more than 45% of all people use the bicycle as their main means of transportation. In the Danish business culture,  many workplaces have a changing room set aside for bikers and it is very common to see top level business professionals in suits biking to and from work. 

So let's briefly explore the Danish cycling etiquette for a safer and more enjoyable ride while in Denmark:

• Use hand signals! Left hand up- you are stopping, Hand out to the right - you are turning right, hand to the left means you are turning left. Simple.
• If you are going fast, stay outside, going slow, stay inside, and please always be aware of others, always look over your shoulder before you pull out.
• Do not listen your music too loudly, because you cannot hear what's going on around you (ambulance, buses, cyclists etc).
• Do not use your phone, no calls no text messages, unless you can manage it handsfree. In Denmark you can easily get a fine for using your phone while biking.
• In the darker months, you have to be even more visible, so be sure you have your lights on, and reflectors.
• Please, don't cycle with your buddy side-by-side - it's annoying.
• For your and others' safety, please always follow the signs and obey the rules.

Imagine, statistics show that three of the busiest bike streets in Copenhagen boast on average 40,700, 36,000, and 30,200 cyclists per day.

Gabriella Kanyok is a diplomatic protocol, etiquette and communication expert with more than 10 years' experience in working with EU institutes, NGOs, internaionalorganisations, and supporting professionals. She not only advises and trains government- and EU officials, and businessmen in the field of diplomatic protocol and business etiquette, but she leads the communication department of an international organisation. Gabriella holds a Master’s degree in International Studies, and a Master’s in Protocol, Diplomacy and Cross Cultural Relations. She speaks Hungarian, English and French, and is currently learning Mandarin Chinese.

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Road Etiquette for Bicyclers

The basis of good manners in bicycling, as of good manners in everything else, is common sense and kindness. The whole manual of etiquette might be boiled down into the maxim "Use your head." 

Common Sense and Kindness Are the Basis of Action

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“Use Your Head” the Maxim

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What to Do in Cases of Emergency

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Quite Proper to Speak to a Wheelwoman In Distress Without an Introduction

Now that wheeling has ceased to be a fad and become a part of a normal life, a whole ritual is rapidly becoming as necessary to it, as life in a ball room. The basis of good manners in bicycling, as of good manners in everything else, is common sense and kindness. The whole manual of etiquette might be boiled down into the maxim "Use your head." 

Bicycling is more in need of a set of rules for behavior because of the peculiar conditions under which the sport is carried on. Men and women ride side by side for miles, and while a woman ostensibly, and voluntarily, puts herself on the same footing as her escort, by accepting the same conditions, she is still the weak member of the firm and needs a certain amount of helping to enjoyment and forbearance on hiils. 

One should never let his selfish desire to “plug” up a good hill for instance, pull him away from the aide of a lady whose weaker muscles (as well as a heavier wheel) make it necessary to dismount humbly and meekly at the foot and walk up. Of course, you show her how easy it is, and what a strong rider you are, and you can dismount at the top and wait for her, but it isn't kind. It's lonesome walking hills alone. 

It is always proper to speak to a wheel woman in distress without an introduction, but no service rendered to a woman in the road entitles a man to her acquaintance. 

In following a narrow path the rule is, “ladies first and leave a good distance behind them.” 

If a lady's wheel is so damaged tbat it must be taken some distance for repairs, leave your wheel with her while you take hers to the shop. 

As to the rules of the road, they are pretty well understood. Pass an approaching wheelman, vehicle or pedestrian on the right, and pass anything going in the same direction as yourself on the left. 

When you come up behind anything ring your bell. 

The rule for position has always been “ride on the left hand side of the lady,” and the reason is simply that one may have his good right arm ready to assist her, if it be necessary. Following this reasoning, it would seem that a left-handed man should reverse the position. But there is another reason in this rule for position, which is that riding on the right side of the road, the man is always between the lady and any vehicle that may pass them. 

Should you come up to a wagon at such a time that you will be forced to pass between it and another approaching team, take the lead and in a way, force open a passage for her to come through. Ride near the right hand horse as you pass him and do not pull over to the left until the lady has plenty of room in front of the horse.

At a corner, if you see cyclists on the cross street, go a little slow till you find out which of the three possible courses they mean to take. A slight turn to the left by you gives them a better chance to get by, but too much would cut them off from riding down the street up which you have come. Always be ready to give way rather than sprint by. Don't be ashamed to dismount. 

If you meet a runaway, a brass band and a bunch of wheelmen filling up the whole street, you will be better off on the ground than giving an exhibition of trick riding and fancy dodging. 

Lastly, in the city riding, remember that though the car you see may be going away from you, and you have plenty of time to get by the wagon, that cars on the other track come the other way and that if you are sprinting you may not be able to stop in time to clear the hidden foe. Also, an electric car comes out of a collision in better shape usually than either a man or a wheel.

Go slow and turn to the left till you find out what the other people mean to do. Don't cut them off. Look out for this. Don't try to sprint by the team. There may be a second car on the further track which you can't see. In a case of this kind, dismount. — Los Angeles Herald, 1895

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

More Etiquette for Cycling

The instructors in the big academies, where women are taught to ride, their bodies are being educated in the mysteries of the “bike.”

Are You Up to Bike Manners?

There Is a Need of a Leader in Wheeling Etiquette

A Fashionable Girl's Lament

Polite Rules of the Road As Laid Down Her Instructor— What She Must and Must Not Do

NEW YORK— Young ladies of the fashionable world, and for that matter the older ones too, who have become late of the wheel, have recently been discussing the urgent need of a recognized formula of bicycle etiquette. 

As far as wheeldom is concerned, the sport is in its infancy; everything is crude and unconventional to the delicately nurtured social eye, and the young buds of the ballroom are all at sea when they find themselves out on the road spinning along on the democratic "bike." 

It may not be long before regular professors of bicycle deportment will be making the rounds of the homes of the rich, instructing the maids and matrons of the etiquette of the wheel, just as the little boys and girls are now being taught the polite arts of the ballroom. 

But at the moment everything is chaotic in this most important field of the fashionable woman. She uses her good common sense, and her innate gentility is sufficient guide to correctly meet the ordinary happenings of life a-wheel, but bicycling is no ordinary sport, and happenings of an extraordinary kind continually occur. 

The laws of conventional life cannot apply to these unforeseen events, and the well-bred woman who insists upon being conventional and at the same time a bicyclist, does not know quite where she is at. The instructors in the big academies, where women are taught to ride, their bodies are being educated in the mysteries of the "bike."

Here are some of the etiquette rules which a fashionable girl said she received from the woman instructor of the academy where she rides. Be acknowledged that she may have forgotten some of them, just as she forgets the vital point in the art of dismounting, and frequently comes a nasty cropper in consequence. 

                     

• The 
  first one was, never criticise a fellow bicyclist, particularly if she is a woman and inclined to stoutness. The moral of this is that you may be stout yourself in a few years, and a bicycle rider for the sole purpose of reducing weight. 

• Another is, when you are riding in the park or on the road and a cranky horse comes along which rears and plunges at sight of your bicycle, always dismount without delay and turn your wheel flat on the ground. Serious runaway accidents can sometimes be averted by a little courtesy of this kind. It only takes a minute or two of time, and as all women bicyclists ride for pleasure, that much lost time is of little consequence to them. 

• Always keep to the right in riding. You may be called names if you forget this rule on a crowded road. 

• In passing a vehicle or wheel going in the same direction, it is usually safest to go by them on the left. 

• Try to foster the feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood among all wheelers. Remember that accidents happen to the best bicyclists, just as they do in the best regulated families. 

• If anything goes wrong with a man or woman wheeler, render any assistance you can. No man will take advantage of such assistance to thrust his acquaintance upon you at a future time, he would run the risk of ostracism by fellow bicyclists who, perhaps, have sisters, wives or sweethearts devoted to the sport. 

• If you are unfortunate enough to have an accident happen to your wheel, do not hesitate to accent the proffered assistant of the first wheelman who comes along. If he is the right kind, as he probably will be, he will set your wheel right and then pursue his journey. Should he ever pass you again he will give no sign that he had ever met you before. 

• Don't be afraid to mention the word bloomers in the presence of a man. If he be versed in bike manners, as all true wheelers should be, he will regard the word purely as one for ordinary conversation, as it surely is in bicycle talk. 

• If one fears the attention of pedestrians wear a veil, but not thick enough to affect the vision. It will protect the face from dust and thoroughly conceal identity. 

• Don't try to ride rapidly. Fast riders meet with accident sooner or later, and a woman in a smash-up does not appear to advantage. It's bad bike form too. 

• For the same reason, be careful about coasting and always be certain in advance that the brake is in good working order. 

• Always respect the feelings of pedestrians, and be careful of their safety. In streets frequently crossed, ride as slowly as possible. Kindly consideration of the pedestrians will beget the same for the wheeler. 

Thus it can be seen that the true woman wheeler has more to learn in bicycling than the mere pushing of pedals. – New York, 1895

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Bicycling Etiquette of Yesteryear

Don’t try to raise your hat to the passing “bloomer” until you become an expert in guiding your wheel.

Every bicyclist in the land will rise up and call the inventor of the ammonia gun for dogs blessed. Nothing is more annoying to the rider than to have a mongrel dog barking at his pedals and scurrying across his pathway in such close proximity to the front wheel as to be a constant reminder of a possible "header." The gun is calculated to make an annoying dog sneeze and sniff away all future ambitions to investigate the pace of a rider. It is said to be a perfect instrument in every way. The advantages enumerated for it are: Positively will not leak; has no spring to press or caps to remove, and will shoot from five to twelve times from fifteen to thirty feet with one loading.    

Don't absent yourself from church to go wheeling, as you and your bicycle are welcome at most houses of worship.

A Few Don’ts for Cyclers:

Don't try to raise your hat to the passing "bloomer" until you become an expert in guiding your wheel.


Don't buy a bicycle with down-curve handles. It is impossible to sit erect and hold that kind of a handle.


Don't go out on a bicycle wearing a tail coat unless you enjoy making a ridiculous show of yourself.


Don't travel without a jacket or loose wrap, to be worn while resting. A summer cold is a stubborn thing.


Don't allow a taste for a bit of color in your make-up to tempt you to wearing a red or other gay-colored cap.


Don't get off the old gag about "that tired feeling" every time you stop by the roadside for a little breathing spell.

                                                   

Don't smile at the figure others cut astride their wheels, as it is not given you to see yourself as others see you.

Don't absent yourself from church to go wheeling, as you and your bicycle are welcome at most houses of worship.


Don't leave your bicycle in the lower hallway of your flat-house for the other tenants to fall over in the dark.


Don't believe the farmer boy who says that it is "two miles to the next town." It may be two, four, six or twelve.


Don't be more than an hour passing a given point, although wheeling on a dusty road is honestly conducive to thirst.


Don't smile at the figure others cut astride their wheels, as it is not given you to see yourself as others see you.Don't coast down a strange hill with a curve at its bottom. There is no telling what you will meet when it is too late.    


Don't ride ten miles at a scorching pace, then drink cold water and lie around on the grass, unless you are tired of life.


Don't try to carry your bike downstairs under your arm. Put it on your shoulder, or you will come to distress.


Don't laugh the watchful copper to scorn because your lamp is burning brightly. He can afford to wait his time to laugh.


Don't dress immodestly or in the costume of a track sprinter. Sweaters worn like a Chinaman's blouse are almost indecent.


Don't forget that the modern law of the road requires you to turn out to the right in passing another bicycle or other vehicle. —From Maude C. Cooke's "Social Life," 1896

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Cycling Etiquette and Romance

A proper woman’s “Cycling Costume” from 1901

The Bicycle In Love-Making from 1895

Extraordinary Number of “Scorchers'” Who Become Bridegrooms! 

"All our best racers are getting married like winking; in fact, there is an epidemic of marriage going on among them just now!" That is the testimony that comes over from London, and it would seem to be an undoubted fact that throughout England and France, at least, the wheel is rapidly augmenting marrying and giving in marriage. 

The London County Cycling Club has recognized this tendency, and has provided for it by offering prizes for the season's racing that gentlemen competitors may find acceptable and suitable to present, to their wives. The trouble is that while a cyclist is still in his salad days, and before he thinks of matrimony, he is generally interested in racing, and delights in posing as a champion "scorcher" for the benefit of lady cyclists who are there to view.
                         

"One of the most popular sporting activities was bicycling. A favored costume exists of a double-breasted jacket with large leg-of-mutton sleeves. Underneath a lady was wearing a shirt blouse with a stiffened collar and a man's tie. She also has on wide knickerbockers, coloured stockings made of cotton and a straw hat with stand-up trimmings and a face veil. For a game of tennis, a lady wore a blouse and a short skirt (two inches of the ground!), a cap, a tie and gloves. A bathing costume was made of cotton with insets of embroidery. These outfits may appear very cumbersome to us, and it is difficult imagine participating in sport hampered by so much material. These clothes however were quite revolutionary in their time and were frowned upon by many as quite scandalous. At this time, women were beginning their struggle for emancipation and it is interesting that their desire to be on an equal footing with men is reflected in the clothes that they wore. The wide leg-of-mutton sleeves gave ladies a masculine, rather aggressive appearance rather than emphasizing their femininity." From AngelPig.net

If there is anything a wheelwoman appreciates, it is a man who is strong, powerful and enduring on his cycle, and who can put up a century at very nearly record-speed. The men who can do this the best are the favorites for women to ride with. Long trips, the participants being a man and a girl alone, naturally follow, and after a few of these an engagement results. 

Watch out, scorchers... Fall in love and your cycling speeds may drop! Unless of course, your wife fancies a new brooch.

After marriage the "scorchers" begin to subside, and their pace becomes much gentler. Several of the leading cycle clubs of London have lost many of their swiftest members through marriage. In an attempt to do something to break this tendency the prizes for the 100-mile race which is to take place in London on the Herne Hill track have been so designed that they can either be used as clasps for gentlemen or as brooches lor ladies. It is hoped that the married women desirous of acquiring these will force their husbands to practice and enter.

A late 1800's Cycling Costume and Riding Habit

The effect of cycling on the matrimonial market in this country has not been especially marked here, but it is likely to be within a few months. That is, if one may judge from the number of engagements that are probably "on" at the present time. Claremont and the Casino in the park have countless couples who dismount shyly from their wheels and come into the restaurant each evening with a "Don't speak to us, don't look at us, please." style. Daisy Bell's bicycle that was built for two, never panned out half so well as these solitary wheels that scurry around through the darkness of New York in pairs. 

The bicycle wedding pictured the other day in one of the comic papers, wherein everybody in the wedding procession was cycling to the church, may yet be witnessed in New York. This picture was a joke, but as a matter of fact, and an absolutely truthful one at that, there was a bicycle wedding a few days ago in the sleepy little village of Astead, in Surrey. Every member of the bridal party went to the church mounted on a bicycle. When the procession started from Leatherhead, about two miles from the town where the ceremony was to take place, it aroused the utmost enthusiasm among the villagers, who cheered it vociferously. At the head of the company rode the bride and bridegroom, astride of a tandem cycle. The bride, who occupied the front seat and attended to piloting her better half that was to be over the rough bits of road, was a striking picture. She wore a fawn-colored costume appropriate for cycling, and her leggings were of the trimmest and neatest. Upon her head was a wreath of orange blossoms, to which was attached a long white veil which streamed out straight in the wind caused by their rapid flight and occasionally slapped in the face of the bridegroom, causing him to find vent for his annoyance by pedaling a little harder. 

Fashions for the Gilded Age Sportswoman

The bridegroom was also a thing of beauty. His raiment was light-colored, like the bride's, and it is a fact well worth noting and moralizing over that the veil and orange blossoms were the only distinguishing marks between the two. The bridesmaids and the best men hurried perspiringly in the wake of the happy pair. The best men wore "scorcher" breeches presented by the bridegroom. 

The party finally reached the church in great good humor, and after the ceremony wheeled away to the hostelry where a wedding feast had been commanded. On the road they passed that famous inn where the landlady refuses to recognize knickerbockered ladies unless they consent to wear skirts. The speechless indignation of this innkeeper is said to have been very funny.        

Undoubtedly, the innkeeper would have approved of this non-knickerbockered cyclist.

Doubtless before long there will be as rigid a system of etiquette established for bicycle weddings, as exists to-day for the ordinary sort. Probably in the near future it will be considered more common in fact for the bride and bridegroom to wheel up to the church on separate bicyles and, after they have been made one by the minister, to ride away on a tandem which might be ridden to the church by the principal bridesmaid and the best man. -1895, New York

 🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia