Paris World’s Fair of 1900

Bicycles and tricycles were among the new forms of technology that were on display at the Exposition Universelle of 1900. The catalog from the Exposition Centennale des Moyens de Transport, published in Paris in 1901, shows a row of bicycles arranged in the transportation hall to illustrate the evolution of the machine.

Studio photos also provided a closer look at the development of early bicycles. The catalog lists the following: a vélocifère from 1798 is shown with a Draisienne from 1810 and a Velocipede from 1847. Below that is a Draisienne from 1795. The model, also called a hobby horse (or dandy horse), had a wooden frame carved in the form of a horse–complete with a horse-head at the front and tail at the rear.