Skaters on the Reservoir at La Villette

What a curious hat. I would love to know exactly what style that is.

[Fashion in Paris: The Various Phases of Feminine Taste and Aesthetics from 1797 to 1897. Octave Uzanne, 1898.]

The “Draisine”

An 1817 invention by Baron Karl von Drais, named by him the “Laufmaschine” (running machine), but called the “Draisine” elsewhere. This was the inspiration for Johnson’s velocipede in England. Unlike Johnson’s velocipede, the frame is straight and low, and limited the size of the wheels with the size of the person. Johnson’s serpentine frame allowed for higher wheels without actually raising the height of the seat.

The Dennis Johnson Wheel

The Dennis Johnson Wheel was the first velocipede to be sold in England. It had no pedals, but had two wheels and was steerable, and was definitely the “in” thing, the summer of 1819. The dandies and Corinthians of the Regency adopted the use of the velocipede, and thanks to that, the public dubbed it the “dandy horse”. However, thanks to a high number of accidents and a high level of wear-and-tear on their fancy boots, the fashion only lasted one year. 

After the two-wheeled velocipede craze, more safety-minded people began to turn to tricycles and quadricycle (four-wheeled) machines. In the end, it was the two-wheeled velocipede that was adopted and modified into the basic bicycle that we know today. But between the Dennis Johnson Wheel, and the advent of the “safety bicycle” with the chain and gears that we know today, there were definitely some crazy machines thought up…

Image from Cycling Art, Energy and Locomotion. Robert P. Scott, 1889.

Title page for “The Dandy’s Perambulations”, a 1819 satirical book poking fun at the “dandy” style.