{"product_id":"estatefreshaustincom-2397","title":"c1880's Penny Farthing Bicycle Humidor or  jar lid","description":"c1880's Penny Farthing Bicycle Humidor or Biscuit jar lid. This is the real\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;deal, extremely rare and desirable. It came to me on a turn of the century clear\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;pressed glass jar shown in the last pic. I'll throw in the jar unless you\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;request otherwise. That Jar has a 3.75\" outer diameter for the lip, the lid is a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;little loose but does catch where it should. So maybe it's the right lid\/base.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;This is an important lid and it should be on an important jar, jar is old with\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;no damage, but not important by any means. Seems like the lis could have went\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;inside a jar as it has a lip. If so it would goi inside about a 4 1\/8\" opening\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;on the jar, I think 4.25\" would be too big. So it can go outside a 3.75\"\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;possibly 3 7\/8\" jar. Total height with jar 9 5\/8\", lid 4 5\/8\". No damage to jar\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;or lid, some brass showing through the silver plating on the bicycle. The right\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;pedal turns. B17\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Penny-farthing\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;early type of bicycle. [1] It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;every rotation of the legs) and comfort (the large wheel provides greater shock\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;absorption).\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;It became obsolete in the late 1880s with the development of modern bicycles,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;which provided similar speed amplification via chain-driven gear trains and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;comfort through pneumatic tires, and were marketed in comparison to\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;penny-farthings as \"safety bicycles\" because of the reduced danger of falling\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;and the reduced height to fall from.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The name came from the British penny and farthing coins, the penny being much\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;larger than the farthing, so that the side view of the bicycle resembles a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;larger penny (the front wheel) leading a smaller farthing (the rear wheel).\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Although the name \"penny-farthing\" is now the most common, it was probably not\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;used until the machines were nearly outdated; the first recorded print reference\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;is from 1891 in Bicycling News. For most of their reign, they were simply known\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;as \"bicycles\", and were the first machines to be so called (though they were not\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the first two-wheeled, pedaled vehicles). In the late 1890s, the name \"ordinary\"\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;began to be used, to distinguish them from the emerging safety bicycles; this\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;term and \"hi-wheel\" (and variants) are preferred by many modern enthusiasts.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Following the popularity of the boneshaker, Eugène Meyer, a Frenchman, invented\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the high-wheeler bicycle design in 1869 and fashioned the wire-spoke tension\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;wheel. Around 1870 English inventor James Starley, described as the father of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the bicycle industry, and others, began producing bicycles based on the French\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;boneshaker but with front wheels of increasing size, because larger front\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;wheels, up to 5 feet (152 cm) in diameter, enabled higher speeds on bicycles\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;limited to direct-drive. In 1878, Albert Pope began manufacturing the Columbia\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;bicycle outside Boston, starting their two-decade heyday in America.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Although the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;late Victorian era. Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;sport.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;History\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Main article: History of the bicycle § 1870s: the high-wheel bicycle\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Origins and development\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Book cover of The Modern Bicycle, published in London in 1877\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Eugène Meyer of Paris is now regarded as the father of the high bicycle[9] by\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the International Cycling History Conference in place of James Starley. Meyer\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;patented a wire-spoke tension wheel with individually adjustable spokes in\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1869.[3] They were called \"spider\" wheels in Britain when introduced there.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Meyer produced a classic high bicycle design during the 1880s.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;James Starley in Coventry added the tangent spokes[3] and the mounting step to\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;his famous bicycle named \"Ariel\". He is regarded as the father of the British\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;cycling industry. Ball bearings, solid rubber tires and hollow-section steel\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;frames became standard, reducing weight and making the ride much smoother.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Penny-farthing bicycles are dangerous because of the risk of headers (taking a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;fall over the handlebars head-first). Makers developed \"moustache\" handlebars,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;allowing the rider's knees to clear them, \"Whatton\" handlebars that wrapped\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;around behind the legs,[14] and ultimately (though too late, after development\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;of the safety bicycle), the American \"Eagle\" and \"Star\" bicycles, whose large\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;and small wheels were reversed. This prevented headers but left the danger of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;being thrown backwards when riding uphill. Other attempts included moving the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;seat rearward and driving the wheel by levers or treadles, as in the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\"Xtraordinary\" and \"Facile\", or gears, by chain as in the \"Kangaroo\" or at the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;hub, as in the \"Crypto\";[15] another option was to move the seat well back, as\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;in the \"Rational\".\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Even so, bicycling remained the province of the urban well-to-do, and mainly\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;men, until the 1890s, and was a salient example of conspicuous consumption.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Attributes\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Man standing next to a penny farthing in Fife, Scotland, 1880\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The penny-farthing used a larger wheel than the velocipede, thus giving higher\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;speeds on all but the steepest hills. In addition, the large wheel gave a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;smoother ride, important before the invention of pneumatic tires.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Although the high riding position seems daunting to some, mounting can be\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;learned on a lower velocipede. Once the technique is mastered, a high wheeler\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;can be mounted and dismounted easily on flat ground and some hills.[citation\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;needed]\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;An attribute of the penny-farthing is that the rider sits high and nearly over\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the front axle. When the wheel strikes rocks and ruts, or under hard braking,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the rider can be pitched forward off the bicycle head-first. Headers were\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;relatively common and a significant, sometimes fatal, hazard. Riders coasting\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;down hills often took their feet off the pedals and put them over the tops of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the handlebars, so they would be pitched off feet-first instead of head-first.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Penny-farthing bicycles often used similar materials and construction as earlier\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;velocipedes: cast iron frames, solid rubber tires, and plain bearings for\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;pedals, steering, and wheels. They were often quite durable and required little\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;service. For example, when cyclist Thomas Stevens rode around the world in the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1880s, he reported only one significant mechanical problem in over 20,000\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;kilometres (12,000 mi), caused when the local military confiscated his bicycle\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;and damaged the front wheel.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;End of an era\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The well-known dangers of the penny-farthing[24] were, for the time of its\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;prominence, outweighed by its strengths. While it was a difficult, dangerous\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;machine, it was simpler, lighter, and faster than the safer velocipedes of the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;time. Two new developments changed this situation, and led to the rise of the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;safety bicycle. The first was the chain drive, originally used on tricycles,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;allowing a gear ratio to be chosen independent of the wheel size. The second was\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the pneumatic bicycle tire, allowing smaller wheels to provide a smooth ride.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;An 1880 penny-farthing (left), and the first modern bicycle, J. K. Starley's\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1885 Rover safety bicycle (right)\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;The nephew of one of the men responsible for popularity of the penny-farthing\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;was largely responsible for its demise. James Starley had built the Ariel\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;(spirit of the air) high-wheeler in 1870; but this was a time of innovation, and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;when chain drives were upgraded so that each link had a small roller, higher and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;higher speeds became possible without the need for a large front wheel.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;In 1885, Starley's nephew John Kemp Starley took these new developments to\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;launch the modern bicycle, the Rover safety bicycle, so-called because the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;rider, seated much lower and farther behind the front wheel contact point, was\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;less prone to a header.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;In 1888, when John Dunlop re-invented the pneumatic tire for his son's tricycle,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the high wheel was made obsolete. The comfortable ride once found only on tall\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;wheels could now be enjoyed on smaller chain-driven bicycles. By 1893,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;high-wheelers were no longer being produced. Use lingered into the 1920s in\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;track cycling until racing safety bicycles were adequately designed.","brand":"sale - www.estatefreshaustin.com Estate Fresh Austin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49310171693272,"sku":"17393189213_91FB","price":1005.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/6284\/7960\/files\/c1880s-penny-farthing-bicycle-humidor-or-jar-lidestate-fresh-austin-341108.png?v=1757923915","url":"https:\/\/estatefreshaustin.com\/it\/products\/estatefreshaustincom-2397","provider":"Estate Fresh Austin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}