1. The Forgotten Contributions of Central
Illinois to the Bicycle Boom of the 1890's
Les Contributions Oubliées de l'Illinois
Central à l'essor de vélos des années 1890
Chris Sweet
Illinois Wesleyan University

2. What comes to mind when you think about Illinois
and bicycles during the 1890’s?
Ce qui vient à l'esprit quand vous pensez à l'Illinois
et aux vélos dans les années 1890?

3. How did I end up here?
• I’ve lived in Central Illinois most of my life
• My undergraduate degree is in History
• My graduate degree is in Library Science and
includes archival work
• 2015 Sabbatical Project: History of Cycling in
Illinois
• Life-long cyclist and triathlete

4. Let’s get oriented!

6. Some Early Illinois Bicycle Statistics
• 1879- Chicago Bicycle Club Founded (second oldest in the U.S.?)
•1891 Chicago’s Pullman bicycle race attracts an estimated 100,000 spectators
•“Two-thirds of this country’s output of bicycles and accessories comes from
within a radius of 150 miles around Chicago” The Chicago Bicycle Directory,
1898.
•1900 Census of Manufacturers lists 60 Illinois manufacturers whose principal
product was bicycles.
•Total product value of these manufacturers was nearly $9 million or 28% of
the national total

7. Thesis:
Central Illinois played a significant role in the bicycle boom of the 1890’s. This role has
been forgotten and overshadowed by the better-known Chicago history.
Presentation Elements:
• Manufacturing
• Charles Duryea
• Racing
• Cycling Culture and Characters (a selection)

8. Peoria Bicycle Manufacturing
• In the 1890s Peoria was the second largest city in Illinois. According to the
1900 census there were 89,000 people living in Peoria.
•Like Chicago, Peoria’s geographical proximity to rivers and railroads let to it
becoming a major manufacturing center.
•During the 1890’s there were 5 major bicycle manufacturer’s in Peoria
• Luthy
• Peoria Rubber and Manufacturing
• Patee Bicycles
• Ide
• Rouse and Hazard

9. Luthy Bicycles
• Founded in 1887 as a manufacturer and
distributor of carriages and agricultural
implements
• Made bicycles 1894-1900
• Employed 25-30 and produced 1000-2000
bicycles
• 1899 catalog claimed 35-40 World and
American Records (Every mile between 4-
26 on an unpaced tandem!)
• Were exported and sold in France by Felix,
Fournier & Knopf

10. Luthy Tandem

11. Peoria Rubber and Manufacturing Co.
• 1895-1899
• At peak it employed 600
• Manufactured 10,000 bikes annually
• Manufactured 25,000 pairs of tires annually.
• 1899 Purchased by the Rubber Trust /
American Bicycle Trust

12. Patee Bicycles
• Manufactured by
Peoria Rubber and
Manufactuing Co.
• Fred Patee,
President
• 1896-1900
• Employed 40-50
• Up to 5,000 bicycles
annually

13. Ide “High Art” Bicycles
• Founded by Ferdinand F. Ide- a former watch maker and machinist
• 1893-1899
• Employed 300, made up to 3,000 bicycles annually
• Multiple patents including elliptical cranks and frame lap brazing reinforcement

14. 1894 Elliptical Spring Crank Patent
• Under pressure the crank
straightens out and provides
more leverage.
• Claimed 12.5% increase in
power
• “will not transmit any
perceptible jar to the rider”
(Patent application)
• “In every hill climbing contest
that we have knowledge of,
where our machines were
used, riders of them took every
prize.” (1895 Ide Catalog)

15. Rouse, Hazard & Co.
• 1864 Established as agricultural implement wholesaler / distributor
• 1879 Bicycle department established
• Initially a wholesaler, distributor, and importer
• One of the oldest and largest wholesalers in the country (before
Montgomery Wards and Sears)
• First wholesaler/mail order company to sell bicycles on an installment plan
• 1893 Warehouse contained 3,800 bicycles and the showroom had 300-500
cycles on display. (1893 catalog)
• 1893 Official American Rudge Factory, also sole agents for Rudge
Circa 1889 Sylph spring-
frame safety. (Sold by Rouse
and Hazard, but not
manufactured in Peoria).
Pryor Dodge Collection. You
might recognize this image
from David Herlihy’s book!

16. American Rudge Factory
and Wholesaler
“We import the English made and
finished bearings, forgings, parts,
etc., from the parent factory of the
Rudge Co. at Coventry, Eng and in
our American Branch Rudge Factory
at Peoria, the machines are
assembled and finished according
to the latest improved American
methods by skilled American
workmen under the rigid inspection
of American experts of high repute.”
(1893 Rouse, Hazard and Co.
Catalog, p. 16)

17. Sylph and Overland Bicycles
• 1892 Rouse and Hazard begin manufacturing Charles Duryea’s Sylph
and Overland bicycles
• 1893 Sylph bicycles win highest award at the Chicago World’s Fair.
• 1895 Sylph Track Racer: 16 pounds
• 1896 New factory employed 350 and manufactured 7,500 bicycles
• 1894-1898 222,000 bicycles (Peoria Star, Tuesday, May 11, 1943)
Your’s truly with a 1898
Sylph Model S from the
Peoria Riverfront
Museum / Marty Potts.

18. Charles Duryea
• 1861, 1869 Charles and younger brother Frank
were both born in Central Illinois
• 1879 Builds himself a bicycle out of scrap parts
• 1886 Moves to Washington D.C. and goes to work
for H.S. Owen (Psycho Cycles)
• 1887 H.S. Owen produces some Ladies drop-frame
safeties based on Charles Duryea’s design
• 1890 Contracts with Ames Manufacturing in
Chicopee Mass., to build his Sylphs
• 1892 Building Sylphs in Peoria under Rouse and
Hazard
• 1895 Duryea wins first automobile race in Chicago
• 1896 Duryea car involved in first recorded auto-
bicycle accident in New York City
• 1898 Duryea Manufacturing Company formed in
Peoria, built first American-made “mass” produced
3-wheeled automobiles (about 12 were made)
1899 Duryea Motor Trap (Henry Ford Museum)

19. • Many bicycle inventions. Some patented, some
not. Some significant, some not.
• 1884 Hammock-style suspended ordinary seat.
(Patent # 432,125). Bought by G&J, then
contested.
• 1886 Improved ordinary handlebar (Patent
#350,683)
• 1890 Spring-frame Safety Improvements
(Patent #432,124)
• 1900 Improved bicycle chain (Patent #657,526)
• Gummy liquid to inject into tires to seal
punctures (not patented)
Duryea Inventions

20. John Deere- 1894-1900 (Some models were Re-
badged Chicago-made bikes)
Leclaire Bicycles, 1896-? Leclaire
Bloomington Area:
Harber Brothers, 1892-?
Bloomington Manufacturing Company, 1892-?
W.J. Matern, 1896-?
West of Chicago (but not Central IL)
Belvidere Sewing Machine Company, Belvidere
Elgin Cycle Company, Elgin
Stover Bicycles, Freeport
Other Central Illinois Bicycle Manufacturers

21. Bicycle Racing in Peoria
• During the 1890’s, Peoria’s
Lakeview track was part of
the national “Grand Circuit”.
• Peoria hosted the L.A.W.
National Meet 1889, 1890,
1891, 1892 and 1899
• Attracted the best national
and some international
competition
• 8-10,000 spectators
• Deep prize lists that include
thousands in cash, a grand
piano, solid gold medals for
records and even a lot in the
city of Chicago

22. 1890 National Tournament
• A. A. Zimmerman beat
the previously
undefeated W.W.
Windle in both the
quarter mile and 10
mile race.
• H.E. Laurie and E.J.
Willis brought the first
pneumatic bicycle tires
from England. Banned
from the main races,
allowed to race
exhibition

23. Major Taylor in Peoria
[Peoria’s Lake View Track] “…was known throughout the cycling
world as one of the finest that ever staged a bicycle race. As a
matter of fact the Peoria track, and those in Springfield,
Massachusetts, Waltham, Massachusetts, and Asbury Park,
New Jersey were four of the most famous bicycle tracks in the
earlier days of cycle racing in this country.” (Taylor
Autobiography)
Some of Taylor’s earliest races were in Peoria. He definitely
raced in the 1890 (Ordinary) and 1891 Boys Under 16 races.
1899 LAW 5 mile race: “Even now I consider that five-mile race
the climax of the most grueling day’s work I ever put in on the
bicycle track during my whole racing career covering almost
seventeen years on both sides of the Atlantic.” (Taylor
Autobiography)

24. World? Records set in Peoria
Distance Time Rider Date
½ Mile 1:10 4/5 W.W. Windle Sept. 11, 1890
½ Mile 1:13 1/5 P.J. Berlo Sept. 15, 1890
¾ mile 1:49 2/5 W.W. Windle Sept. 15, 1890
¾ Mile 1:51 P.J. Berlo Sept. 15, 1890
1 mile 2:30 P.J. Berlo Sept. 15, 1890
1 mile 2:25 3/5 W.W. Windle Sept, 15, 1890
2 mile 4:59 3/5 W.F. Murphy Sept. 18, 1891
6 miles 16:08 2/5 C.W. Donntage Sept. 22, 1891
10 miles 26:46 2/5 C.W. Donntage Sept. 22, 1891
15 miles 40:55 2/5 C.W. Donntage Sept. 22, 1891
20 miles 53:56 3/5 C.W. Donntage Sept. 22, 1891

25. Central Illinois Bicycle Culture and Characters (a selection)
Peoria Bicycle Club
Founded 1881
Peak Membership: 400
Bloomington Bicycle Club
Founded 1883

26. Leonard “Baby” Bliss
Bloomington, IL
World’s heaviest cyclist (565 pounds)
Baby Bliss and
Ignaz Schwinn

27. Thomas W. Davis, Centurion
• Peoria and Bloomington
• Claimed to have ridden the most
miles of any cyclist in the world
• Began riding at age 61 (1889)
• By age 85 he had ridden 141,200
miles
• Kept meticulous logs including
how long various bicycle
components lasted
• He used a Patee bicycle for
34,441 miles and a single saddle
for 70,000. A set of Peoria Tires
lasted 6,233 miles.

28. Questions?
csweet@iwu.edu
Thanks to:
Illinois Wesleyan University
• Artistic and Scholarly Development Grant
• Re-centering the Humanities Grant
Marty Potts: Peoria images and catalogs
Bradley University Special Collections
Peoria Public Library Special Collections