Systems and Processes
The invention of the bicycle brought along with it the use of several modern systems of advertising and industry. Among the largest examples of massive change are vertical integration, mass production, and aggressive advertising.
Although the bicycle was not the first example of any of these systems of production or marketing, it is an excellent manifestation of their use and it demonstrated their power.
Take mass production, for instance. The bicycle served as a bridge between the McCormick system (which required products to be adjusted annually, thus limiting production capacity). However, bicycles did not suffer from this annual limit. As explained in Hounshell’s From The American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932:
“The American bicycle industry played a transitional role in the development of mass production for a number of reasons. The physical nature of the product itself clearly provided a stepping stone to the automobile. With important exceptions, early automobile chassis consisted of bicycle tubing and tires, and may early automobile makers were also manufacturers of bicycles. In addition, the safety bicycle introduced the American public to the wonders of personalized transportation.”
Additionally, the effect of the bicycle on these individual systems led to a societal and cultural change. The safety bicycle, as thoroughly discussed in Bijker’s King of the Road: The Social Construction of the Safety Bicycle (one of the 10 Things class readings), marked a serious shift in the American idea of transportation.
“During the 1890s, with more and more Americans riding bicycles (sales in 1896 exceeded 1.2 million bicycles), speed in personalized transportation came to be looked upon as a virtue and a necessity for a mobile nation, and this attitude hastened the day of the automobile.”[1].As the bicycle became more popular and cheaper, it developed the American work ethic into one in which speed became a priority. Whereas in the past, getting to and from work was a long task, the bicycle allowed people to skip the long walk and get there as soon as possible. This contributed to the work ethic which the automobile made obvious: the journey was no longer important, only the destination was.
[1] Hounshell, David Allen. “Introduction.” From the American System to Mass Production: the Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States, 1850-1920. 1978. 8. Print.