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Return to A Stroll Downtown
Bicycles and
Sporting Goods
The regular run of the Central bicycle club will be held this
evening, the bicyclists leaving Central M.E. church at 7:15 o’clock. After the ride
Miss Flora Clark will entertain the members at her home, 735 Allegan street west.
Lansing State Republican, August 13, 1897
Bicycles were so popular that all kinds of stores — stationery, music, jewelry,
hardware — added them as sidelines.
Last week Holmes & Son sold their 100th Fox wheel this season,
and as a mark of appreciation the factory sent the junior member of the firm an elegant
Fox flyer yesterday.
Lansing State Republican, July 21, 1897
Crotty Brothers
In 1897, as today, business success often depended on spotting new consumer trends.
John F. and William E. Crotty added a sporting goods section to their newspaper and
stationery shop on Washington Avenue to take advantage of the growing popularity of
exercise and outdoor recreation. There one might find exercise clubs, swung at arm’s
length to build upper body strength; roller and ice skates; baseballs and gloves; bicycles
or a bicycle lamp.
 The exhibit features the popular Fox Flyer,
manufactured in Grand Rapids. The safety bicycle became popular at a time when American
women were being urged to get more exercise. Parents disapproved of unladylike
"scorching" (fast riding) and worried about their daughters riding off
unchaperoned with young men, but cycling's popularity continued to grow.
The bicycle influenced women's fashions as well. Women recognized the comfort and
practicality of bloomers and adopted them for cycling. Victorian modesty still required
that arms and legs be covered, however, as the reproduction cycling suit in the exhibit
demonstrates.
These establishments in 1897 Lansing sold or repaired bicycles:
- Bascom & Schelling (Wm. B. Bascom, Casper Schelling), Sporting Goods and Repair
Shop, 114 Michigan Ave. e.
- Nelson Beaubien, Repair Shop, 521 Michigan Ave. e.
- Bicycle Repair Shop and Sporting Goods (John H. Larrabee, propr.), 325 Washington Ave.
s.
- Bicycle Store (Fred J. Cole, propr.), 411 Michigan Ave. e.
- Clawson & Son (Hibbert S., Smith S.), Bicycle Sundries, Mnfrs. and Repairs, 326
Washington Ave. n.
- Wm. B. Cross, Bicycle Manufacturer and Repairer, 120 Michigan Ave. w.
- Crotty Bros (John F., Wm. E.), Newspapers, Stationery and Sporting Goods, 206 Washington
Ave. n.
- Irvil A. Harper, Bicycle Repair Shop, 115 Michigan Ave. e.
- Alvin D. Hensel, Hardware and Bicycles, 108 Washington Ave. n.
- Fred L. Holmes, Bicycle Repair Shop, 326 Washington Ave. s.
- W. S. Holmes & Son (Wm. S., Robert S.), Musical Instruments and Bicycles, 122
Washington Ave. n.
- George H. Richmond, Bicycle Dealer, 200 Washington Ave. n.
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