Comic by Kate Beaton
Brain Pickings has dug up a list of 41 “don’ts” for female bicyclists from an 1895 New York newspaper, and they are downright breathtaking in their amazingness. Here are some of our favorites:
- Don’t be a fright.
- Don’t faint on the road.
- Don’t wear a man’s cap.
- Don’t wear tight garters.
- Don’t criticize people’s “legs.”
- Don’t wear loud hued leggings.
- Don’t cultivate a “bicycle face.”
- Don’t wear laced boots. They are tiresome.
- Don’t imagine everybody is looking at you.
- Don’t go to church in your bicycle costume.
- Don’t wear a garden party hat with bloomers.
- Don’t chew gum. Exercise your jaws in private.
- Don’t wear white kid gloves. Silk is the thing.
- Don’t ask, “What do you think of my bloomers?”
- Don’t use bicycle slang. Leave that to the boys.
- Don’t let your golden hair be hanging down your back.
- Don’t allow dear little Fido to accompany you.
- Don’t scratch a match on the seat of your bloomers.
- Don’t discuss bloomers with every man you know.
- Don’t scream if you meet a cow. If she sees you first, she will run.
- Don’t appear to be up on “records” and “record smashing.” That is sporty.
Don’t discuss bloomers with every man you know. DON’T DISCUSS BLOOMERS WITH EVERY MAN YOU KNOW.
I love this list more than anything and I am going to go out and do every one of these things right now.
