Cycling
- Early inventions
- Cyclists at Mount Allison
Cyclists at Mount Allison
The first indication of bicycle use at Mount Allison or in Sackville is in an 1888 photograph of the Male Academy class [see picture, previous page]. In it, Male Academy student Harry P. Wisely is seen holding a “penny farthing” bicycle. Another photograph, ca. 1895, shows Male Academy students Fred Dayton, Herbert Mariner Wood and Mansel Shewen on safety bicycles [see right].
Cycling, for women, typified new reforms in physical emancipation and fashion; it allowed women to be self-reliant, and it was easier to ride bicycles in the new fashions that included shorter skirts or bloomers, and soft flexible shoes. In 1897, the Chignecto Post newspaper (21 September 1897) mentioned that there were “in the vicinity of 25 wheels at the [Ladies’] college." Mount Allison teachers were also bicyclists in 1897.
In March 1898, Mount Allison student Ralph E. Smith won a gold brick worth $250 (presented by Goold Bicycle Co., based in Brantford, Ontario) for winning nine out of a possible 11 races in the maritimes. He later attended McGill University and continued to compete with success against other amateur cyclists. Aside from Smith, however, there are no further indications that Mount Allison students raced bicycles competitively before or during WWI.
Fred Dayton, H.M. Wood and Mansel Shewen, ca. 1895
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