Bicycling in Hartford

Ladies Cycle Club of Hartford, Fall 1890

Hartford has a long history of bicycling, both that of its citizens riding and of manufacturing. To celebrate National Bike Month I thought we would take a look at some of the bicycling related manuscripts in the CHS collections.

Colt Bicycle Club

Colt bicycle club records, 1890-1896, Ms 56356. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

At the meeting of the Colt Bicycle Club on February 29, 1892, uniforms were on the agenda. Mr. Burch,  reporting for the Uniform Committee, announced the recommendation of a sample from Hartford’s Brown and Thompson department store. The committee consulted with tailors and the club suit, coat and pants only, would cost approximately $10.00 to $13.50. Not everyone was thrilled with this idea, since some members already had decent suits. Another committee was formed to find out how many would in fact purchase new suits. Whether to have a cap and sweater as part of the uniform was also discussed. Including those would raise the price to at least $21.50. Still, some wanted to have a sweater, and it was decided that question would be asked along with whether members would be purchasing a suit at all.  At a special meeting held on March 21, it was reported that 38 members were interested in new suits, without a sweater, and at a cost of no more than $20.

The club was organized in 1890, though the minutes we have only cover 1892 to 1896. All of the minutes are handwritten, and some are on official club stationary. The Colt club was not the only one in Hartford.  Scanning through the records, the Columbia Club is mentioned several times, including this instance on August 29, 1892:

Colt bicycle club records, 1890-1896, Ms 56356. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

Colt bicycle club records, 1890-1896, Ms 56356. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

We still have bicycling clubs in the area. Hopefully a black list isn’t necessary!

Repairs and Service
Another commonality between cycling a century ago and cycling today is the need to repair bicycles.  The account book of a repair shop in the Mystic, Connecticut area listed charges for tires, handlebars, saddles, bells, and other accessories. A sheet found within the account book demonstrates that the shop purchased tires and other items from from Hartford’s Pope Manufacturing Company.

Bicycle repair shop account book, 1899-1900, Ms 95329. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

As found in Bicycle repair shop account book, 1899-1900, Ms 95329. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

Lastly, Columbia Sales Department of the American Bicycle Company (owned by Col. Pope) was anxious to please their customers. Clarence Stirling, according to the 1900 United States Census, was an electrician. When it was necessary for American Bicycle to adjust a repair bill, they sent a typed letter to his workplace in the Courant Building.

American Bicycle Company letter, 1901 August 5, Ms 64029. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

In addition to our manuscripts, we also have a number of bicycling related photographs in our collections. Many of these may be viewed on Connecticut History Online. The manuscripts shown above are all open for research. Ride your bike over and visit.

This season several of our CHS employees are participating in the National Bike Challenge. If you are one of our volunteers or interns, feel free to join the History Nuts team!

Wohelo!

The word Wohelo stands for Work, Health, and Love. Per the Camp Fire USA website, when Camp Fire was founded in 1910, “Wohelo was coined as the organization’s watchword.”

Three years after Camp Fire was founded, in Vermont, it had made its way to Hartford. Louise Blair was a member of the Suckiag Camp Fire club. In a small notebook she recorded the law of the Camp Fire:

Seek Beauty
Give Service
Pursue Knowledge
Be Trustworthy
Hold on to Health
Glorify Work
Be Happy

These seven principles are represented among the pages of another notebook kept by Blair. Meeting agendas began with the Wohelo call.

Louise Blair Camp Fire records, 1913-1915, Ms 79896. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

The group pursued knowledge indoors and out, learning sign language, going on nature hikes, and similar activities. There was a heavy Native American influence, evidenced by the name of the group (Suckiag). Each girl was also given a Native American name. At periodic ceremonial meetings, the girls were rewarded for their efforts with beads, used to decorate their uniforms.

Louise Blair Camp Fire records, 1913-1915, Ms 79896. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

The beads were orange for home crafts, red for heath crafts, brown for camp crafts, green for hand crafts, blue for nature lore, yellow for business, and red, white, and blue for patriotism. Some activities were required, such as tying a square knot and opening windows (presumably for the health benefits).

The optional activities included walking 40 miles in 10 days, preparing eggs in four different ways, keeping notes on raising two families of birds, knowing ten city institutions, and making shirtwaists. Each girl’s accomplishments were noted, along with the corresponding bead she would receive.

Louise Blair Camp Fire records, 1913-1915, Ms 79896. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

Blair typed up a report of the group’s activities in 1915.  Among other events, the report mentions a joint meeting with a Camp Fire group from South Manchester. We do not know what other towns had groups at the time.

When the author of this post participated in Camp Fire in Glastonbury in the late 1980s, it was still exciting to earn beads and patches. Our activities had changed somewhat, though. While we still took nature hikes and completed craft projects, I can’t imagine any of us knew what a shirtwaist was.

Camp Fire was present in Connecticut until the 1990s. Examples of Camp Fire uniforms may be found among the museum collections. Come visit and research!

“Rate Your Date”

I like to tell people that I read other people’s diaries for a living. Today our cataloging project led me to the diary of Eleanor R. Munroe. Quickly glancing over the diary, I have not been able to find that Ms. Munroe had any connection to Connecticut. Her first entries are from the Cambridge, Massachusetts area and later entries are from Brooklyn, New York.  Regardless, Munroe’s diary offers us a glimpse into the life of a young lady in the late 1890s.

The early pages of the diary include typical entries about attending school, being walked home by young men, and ice skating. Toward the end of volume we find that Ms. Munroe was very particular about the men whose company she kept.

Eleanor R. Munroe diary, 1897-1899, Ms 44650. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

Few men met her standards. They were all rated on a scale of 1 to 10 for looks, manners, dress, truth, tact, flirtatiousness, morals, nerve, will, and sense of humor. A passing grade was 75. None of the suitors had a perfect 100. At some other time, Munroe adjusted some of her criteria. Three men are rated on the next page for looks, morals, manners, will, unselfishness, pluck, humor, tact, style, and livableness. Sadly, they fared no better than the others. One received a 67 and the other two each received 71.

The final pages of the diary tell of a girls club of which Munroe was a member. She lists the original members of ΑΒΦ, “a club of girls in the city of Brooklyn.” The club was started in January 1898. The girls received their pins in February and had their first dance in April. A photograph of eight young ladies, most likely the club members, is attached to the title page.

Also on the title page is an instruction that the journal is private and “Anyone who looks in I shall consider very dishonorable.”

Oops.

The diary is open for research. Come visit!