Frederick Victor
On the warm evening of Thursday, June 16, 1898, the main avenues of the Bronx were transformed into a moving spectacle of light and color. This was the night of the annual floral bicycle parade, the largest public celebration organized by the Associated Cycling Clubs of the Bronx. The event was the peak of the borough’s “bicycle craze,” a time when cycling was both a serious sport and a popular social pastime for men and women alike.
Well before the 8:30 PM start time, massive crowds began to gather. An estimated 50,000 spectators lined the parade route, standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the sidewalks, looking out from apartment windows, and even climbing onto rooftops for a better view. The parade began at the busy intersection of 149th Street and Third Avenue, the commercial heart of the South Bronx.
More than 2,000 cyclists from dozens of clubs across the Bronx and Manhattan assembled for the procession. These were not modern racing bikes, but the heavy steel “safety bicycles” of the era, and each one was a unique creation for the night. The central theme of the parade was decoration, and participants spent weeks preparing their machines. Bicycles were wrapped in flowers, with roses, daisies, and carnations woven through the frames and handlebars. Miles of silk ribbons in every color streamed from the seats and wheels.
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As dusk settled over the city, the parade’s most brilliant feature came to life. Thousands of colorful Japanese paper lanterns, each lit with a candle from within, were attached to the bicycles. The procession became a slow-moving river of bobbing lights, casting a festive glow on the faces of the onlookers.
Led by a platoon of mounted police and the event’s chairman, D. J. M. O’Callahan, the cyclists rode up the main thoroughfare of Third Avenue. The parade then turned west at 170th Street to reach the Grand Boulevard and Concourse, the wide, Parisian-style roadway that was the pride of the borough.
Competition was a key part of the evening. A panel of judges was stationed at a reviewing stand to award prizes in several categories. There were awards for the most “Comical” and “Grotesque” designs, which often featured riders in elaborate costumes with outlandish additions to their bikes. The most coveted awards were for the “Most Handsomely Decorated Wheel,” with separate divisions for men and women. That evening, the first prize in the ladies’ division was awarded to Miss Mamie Morgan. Her bicycle was covered entirely in pink roses and flowing pink ribbons, a display that captured the highest praise from the judges.
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