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Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Vol 49, no. 1 (Spring 1992), p. 4-8

Bicycles and Nantucket
By Roger A. Young

The first bicycle arrived on Nantucket in 1886, and in 1896 the town voted for the first bicycle path to Siasconset

With the development of resort Nantucket in the late 19th century, the bicycle has become a main attraction to anyone anticipating a "fun" island vacation. When did the first bicycle arrive? Would you believe 1886? The owner was J. Stockley Gary. The bicycle was called an Ordinary. It was what we refer to as a high wheeler with a large front wheel and a small rear wheel and weighed seventy or eighty pounds. Gary would readily lend it to anyone venturesome enough to try it. You see, the streets were not macadam and one trip through Pearl (India) Street was always enough. Somehow this wheel was never popular here.

The next bicycle to arrive on island was the cushioned-tire "Safety" that Charlie Congdon used to ride. He started the pharmacy that carries his name today. When Charlie appeared aboard his brakeless Safety he always got the entire sidewalk.

Willie Swain's Little Giant followed by Merwin Wakeman's Columbia were the next bicycles to arrive. Max Wagner, for whom the east square of Main Street is named, remembered Wakeman racing an ice cart up Orange Street and wondering who would win. He thought the ice cart got up the hill first, but perhaps there was a tie.

Competition between various individuals surfaced with Butler Folger of Surfside riding a forty-eight pound Lovell and Willie Swain a Victor, which was a few pounds lighter, while Rupert Folger made everyone envious with a Columbia track racer that weighed only thirty pounds. There was considerable speculation as to whether such a light machine would really hold up a heavy boy like Rupert. At the Fairgrounds race in the fall of 1893 his axle broke during the first heat. The "I told you so's" resounded through the town.

At the exhibition in the rink during the same fair, Mr. J.W. Brady, the town's first bicycle dealer showed a sample wheel. It was called an Eagle and attracted a great deal of attention. The following spring, Henry P. Brown, Eugene Burgess, George E. Grimes, and Max Wagner each purchased an Eagle from Mr. Brady. Nantucket's first "bicycle craze" was on.

These four fellows would ride down Federal Street abreast and drop back into single file to turn around. This maneuver was repeated many times and numerous townspeople turned out to watch them. All went well until the leader turned right instead of the direction they had always followed, causing such a fall that nothing like it has been seen since. When they picked themselves up the crowd around Jernjgan's (The Hub) was yelling like savages. So the cyclists left in a hurry and did not come back. Oh, there was another accident. It occurred when Eddie Burdick was learning to ride and hit old man Gadsby's horse amidships. I don't know if Eddie ever learned to ride or whether Gadsby's horse had to be destroyed, for the end of the tale was not recorded.

At that time cyclists were pretty rare birds. Now everybody, irrespective of age, sex, or previous condition of laziness, rode or wanted to ride a wheel. The young rode to keep young, and the old to renew their youth. The fat to grow thin and the thin to grow fat. As a matter of fact, the increased appetite that comes from wheeling usually makes the stout stouter still. However, the fact remains that the good accomplished by the bicycle has been little short of marvelous.

In 1894 the first four Eagle owners mentioned above along with Willie Swain Jr., Whittemore Gardner, J.W. Westgate, J.W. Brady, and E.L. Chase were the nucleus of what became known as the Weweeder Cycling Club (W.C.C.). The name was adopted without any thought of its peculiar appropriateness, but solely from the fact that no other organization, whether political, commercial, charitable, or social on the island had been given the name. There were no initiation dues. The first motion of the club was to assess each member ten cents to buy a club pump. The motion was defeated and the meeting adjourned.

With the popularity of bike riding, the club grew. The primary object of the club was to promote the proper use of the bicycle. To this end some of its members joined L.A. W. (League of American Wheelman). Good roads, literature, and ideas were disseminated with such vigor that good fruit was born in 1896 in the form of bicycle regulations that are virtually the same today.

In 1895 Eugene Burgess built a quarter mile bicycle racetrack on his property on lower Orange Street. The Marine Home Center is now located there. The W.C.C. had certain privileges at the track complex, which included tennis facilities.

Willie Swain, Jr., held the one-half-mile record with a time of one minute and twelve seconds. He was the fastest member of the Weweeder Cycling Club. On Labor Day, 1895, he entered a twenty-five mile bicycle race in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Later he started a coal and lumber business operating from Old South Wharf, which was purchased by the Langs and became known as the Island Service Company. Today this company is known as Island Lumber and is owned and operated by Charles Fisher.

The first ad for bicycles, wheels, and sundries to appear in the Inquirer and Mirror was that of C. Warren Austin in 1895. He was selling Crescents advertised for $40,$50,$75, and Daytons for $100. His ad in the Inquirer and Mirror bicycle supplement of June 13, 1896, touted "More Crescents in actual use in town today than any other make of cycle." You see, business was good.

The ads created sentiment for better roads and this resulted in the macadam roads and cycle paths, which make cycling one more of the pleasures to be enjoyed at this New England resort.

With this interest in bicycles everyone wanted to get on the bandwagon, and bicycle agents sprung up all over town. John R. Bacon advertised the following available bicycles: Stearns, Blue Fellow, Lovell Special, four grades of the Massasoit, and three grades of the Lovell Exclusive. Bicycle companies from as far away as Chicago were advertising in the local papers. For example, one could purchase a Monarch, a $75 bike, for only $35 with a coupon. But where was this coupon? This ad ran for a couple of years in the Nantucket Journal, which then decided to decrease its page size and rid itself of those ads that had not been paid for. It also advised the public that there would be a reduction in the cost of the paper. A copy could be purchased for two cents. However, the same amount of space would be used for news fit to print.

By a vote of the town meeting in 1896, the first bicycle path to Siasconset was built and completed on August 8th. It ran through Levi Coffin's and Sidney Folger's land from Phillips Run to Bunker Hill.

The only celebration held on the following Fourth of July was a W.C.C.-sponsored race from 'Sconset to Town. It was a last-minute arrangement, consequently not put together very well. There was a great deal of anxiety. First, Arthur or Stanley Cook (I don't know which, for the paper just said "Cook") stated that he had ridden the path in twenty-three minutes but that he was not going to ride in this race. Then C. Warren Austin and William Worth both announced that they would be in it. The folks in town got all excited about this potential duel. However, it never came off, for C. Warren did not show. And last of all, William Swain "got ticked" because of the delay in the start, so he withdrew.

However, Worth was joined by Ollie Fisher of Madaket, Charlie Abajian of Nantucket town, and one of the Rogerses from 'Sconset (once again I don't know which). Fisher and Rogers had a collision on Bean Hill. Worth used Abajian as a windbreak and in the last sprint Worth sped on ahead to win the race. Swain raced unofficially but broke a spoke on the way.

In the spring of 1898 a bicycle path was built between Madaket Road and the Water Works under a town appropriation. It was during this year that Ed Morey established a record for bicycle riders, cycling from Town to 'Sconset in eighteen minutes and thirty seconds.

C. Warren Austin continued his bicycle repair shop through World War I, but horseless carriages, better known as automobiles, took over as the attraction of convenience. The interest in bicycles waned. The stock market crash of 1929 marked the end of high living and the beginning of the Great Depression.

My dad, Harvey A. Young, arrived on Nantucket in January of 1929 in response to Jack Ayers1 ad in the Boston Globe for a plumber/steamfitter. My mother, sister, brother, and I arrived in early June. The following year my father went to work for W.B. Marden. During the winter of 1930-31 he was laid off.

It was at this time that he fixed my brother's and sister's bicycles and put them out in the back yard with a sign that read "For Rent." The house was located at 45 Pearl Street, at the intersection of Hussey and Liberty Streets.

Many parents would not let their children ride bikes in the summer, for they thought there were too many cars. There were many children who had broken-down bikes and priorities were such that repairing them was out of the question. Harvey A. Young's idea was simple. "I'll repair your bikes for FREE." Now we all know that there is nothing in this world for free. What he did was to fix their bicycles and then rent them until enough money was taken in to cover the cost of the repair. At that time he returned the bicycle to its owner all fixed at no cost to the owner.

He then offered them an opportunity to earn some money. If they would let him keep their bicycles, he would split 50/50 on any money he made renting their bikes. A single bicycle rented for twenty-five cents per hour, a dollar for twenty-four hours, and five dollars per week. This is how Young's Bicycle Shop started back in 1931. Harvey A. Young actually opened the doors to a second bicycle craze that has developed into an important contribution to our community's recreation and economy. It is still serving island residents on a year-round basis.

My parents operated a small convenience store built on the side of the 45 Pearl Street house. From this store they dispensed milk, Bushway ice cream, penny candy, roasted peanuts, homemade caramels, peanut brittle, and popcorn. They sliced potatoes and cooked their own potato chips. My mother rented rooms in the summer while my father worked as a plumber days and repaired bikes nights. They were busy.

In the meantime, my father was purchasing used bicycles and storing them in the back shed of our house. When the number of bicycles exceeded the storage space, he had to use the kitchen. At this stage my mother made a valid point. "The kitchen is my domain and I don't want any bicycles stored in it. Find some other place for your bicycles."

Well, my dad persuaded J. B. Ashley to rent his garage at 10 Broad Street, with one stipulation. Mr. Ashley rented space to the Lindsay family of Hulbert Avenue to keep their Packard convertible overnight. My father could rent the garage as long as he moved his bicycles every night so that the Lindsays could park their car.

The publisher of the summer guide" This Week in Nantucket" was the man responsible for the catchy slogan "The Cycle-logical Way to See Nantucket Island." My father adopted it for his ad in that publication. That was in 1936. The slogan has been used in every ad for Young's Bicycle Shop ever since.

Harvey A. Young's Bicycle Shop had an inventory of about thirty bicycles and two tandems. The bikes were Bay State, made by the Columbia Bicycle Company. The tandems were Colson's, made in Dayton, Ohio. The sign with the wheel on top was a converted ice cream sign. My father welded a frame to hold the wheel, putting fins in the spokes to make the wheel spin in the wind. When the wind blew too hard, the sign would topple over. Slats were then attached to the feet of the sign. These were fine, unless the wind blew harder. When it did, the sign toppled. So the cure for this problem was a wooden apple box filled with cement, with the feet of the sign in the box. Wind has not blown the sign over since.

Bicycle renting to the summer visitor became popular. Byron Pease of Pease and Ayers garage set up a shop. This was located in the building now occupied by Vincent's Italian Restaurant. John Terry and Son set up a shop at his taxi stand on Middle Pearl Street. A few years later, Earl Cook set up his shop in his garage on Charter Street. Franklin Lamb followed suit setting up his shop in his garage also on Charter Street. However, the latter soon abandoned the business.

Terry gave up bicycles. Roy Pease had his shop on South Water Street. Earl Cook moved his operation to South Beach Street in what was Clint Folger's garage. A man named Whitfield came to town and opened up the Nantucket Tennis and Cycle Club on South Beach Street, right next to Cook's Cycles. Then there was the BX, better known as the Bicycle Exchange from Cambridge, Massachusetts. They opened their shop in the building that now houses Henry's Sandwiches. They lasted a year at that location. Then there was John Salvas, who operated in 'Sconset. In fact, he was so very friendly that anyone riding a bicycle from town who needed their tires checked was charged ten cents per tire.

Young had no balloon tires on his bikes, except the tandems. Not having the financial means to purchase the most expensive bicycles, he gradually improved his stock by purchasing a Lovell Diamond Lightweight. This was the cheaper model that was manufactured by the Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Company of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. It took several years before Harvey A. Young could afford the top grade Iver Johnson Lightweight. Although balloon tires were popular, he refused to buy them to rent, for he figured the more tire friction on the road, the more difficult to pedal. A lighter bicycle to ride meant thinner tires and less friction. Cook's Cycle operated with the Columbia models and Whitfield's had the new fangled 3-speed imported British Raleigh bicycles.

Finding a permanent home for his bicycle shop became my father's top priority. One of the first large post-Depression land transactions took place in 1938, instigated by my father. He entered into an agreement to buy the Murad property, located at Four and Six Broad Street and Twenty-eight Easy Street.

Four Broad Street housed the Railway Express Company offices for many years. It is now the Nantucket Bike Shop #1. Six Broad Street housed what was previously known as Wharf Tavern, run by Frank Sylvia. He later set up his own antiques business, which still flourishes under the direction of his two sons. The building now serves as the main operation of Young's Bicycle Shop.

Twenty-eight Easy Street was formerly the William H. Smith stables. Later this became known as Harbor Light Tea Room. This building was torn down in 1958 and much of the wood saved was used in the construction of Harvey A. Young's personal residence. Today my wife and I make our home there.

The late Grace Henry was my father's lawyer, and she later expressed to me that she thought "your father was crazy to pay so much, but it turned out he was crazy like a fox." I liked that. You see, he was the eleventh of sixteen children and his father died when he was nine. When he reached twenty-one he lost the coin toss to his brother who was the tenant on the farm. Due to this, he had to move off the farm and make his own way.

After his move to this location, Harvey Young started his collection of high-wheel bicycles. Today they include a Columbia 54"; a 56"; an Eagle with the small wheel in front; a couple of Starr's with the ratchets; a wooden-wheeled mini-high wheeler; a part of a chainless; an early Safety, with original tires, dry rotted; and a three seater (one of six made by the Schwinn Bicycle Company).

Today Cook's Cycles is the second oldest bicycle rental shop. A few years after Earl Cook moved his operation to South Beach Street, his first wife died. A few years later Earl Cook married Ellen Ring. Unfortunately, Mr. Cook passed away within a short time, but his wife carried on the business. She later married Jim Winters and together they continued to operate Cook's Cycles. A few years later Mr. Winters died. Daughter Lucille Ring Sanguinetti and the grandchildren assisted Ellen in running the business. Since Mrs. Winters passed away, Lucille has left the running of Cook's Cycle to her son Sheddon, who has worked the re since 1971. She has left the bookkeeping to her daughter, Lee Holmes.

Mr. Whitfield opened the Nantucket Tennis & Cycle Club next door around 1936. He was the Raleigh 3-speed bicycle dealer in town, and the Raleigh Industries of America would not allow more than one dealer to a town.

To keep up with the competition, Young's had to install 3-speed bicycles. Since Nantucket Tennis 6s Cycle had Raleighs and Cook's had Phillips, Young's had to settle for BSA, Birmingham Small Arms, built in Birmingham, England. These were slowly replaced with Rudge 3-speed bicycles, a division of Raleigh.

The Raleigh Cycle Company manufactured three bicycles that were identical except for the construction of the front forks and the decals. They were the Raleigh, Rudge, and Humber. The Raleigh bicycle decal denoted that it was "The All Steel Bicycle," the Rudge was known as "Britain's Best Bicycle," and the Humber as the "Aristocrat of Bicycles." The Raleigh people would not allow more than one distributor of each name in a town, so we opted for the Rudge 3-speed. When Whitfield's operation ceased, Young's received the Raleigh franchise.

When World War II came upon us, so did rationing. In those days bicycles we re shipped in wooden crates that one could see through. Well, once again, Harvey Young ordered a hundred Iver Johnson bicycles. What people saw when they arrived on Steamboat Wharf was a shipment of bicycles that had no tires on their rims. The word spread that "Old Man Young" was cracking up. It turned out that Old Man Young had the last laugh, for during the course of the war he was able to secure tires through rationing. Over a period of time, Young's had more new bicycles available for rental than any other rental shop on the island.

During World War II Irving Wyer rented bicycles from his stables on North Centre Street. Jimmy Moriarty, who retired from the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1954, bought out Mr. Wyer's inventory and took the bikes to the dump. In 1958 Moriarty built his own bicycle shop at 4 Chester Street and called it Holiday Cycle.

Following World War II Adam Mastai arrived on island from Europe to start a new life. He purchased the Captain Swain House at 76 Main Street. Since there were no zoning laws, Adam renovated the house and built a motel in its backyard and a garage to house the bicycles he rented from that location. This was called the White Eagle.

Harvey A. Young, my father, made me a partner of Young's Bicycle business in 1954. When Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle went out of business, Young's picked up the Schwinn franchise. Schwinn's motto was "Buy American," so they painted their bicycles red, white, and blue. What Americans did not know was that all the component parts of the Schwinn bicycle were imported. Chains from Germany, spokes from France, etc. Oh yes, they were assembled in America. They were good.

In 1955 Byron Snow opened up his bicycle shop in his property on Main Street. It was appropriately called Snow's Cycle. He operated this shop until 1971 when he sold it to Allen Reinhard, who had been working for him the previous ten years. Allen operated it under the same name until 1982 when he sold it to Peter Burns. Mr. Burns was more interested in moped rentals than he was in bicycles, but he operated the shop under the same name until 1985.

In 1960 I purchased Young's Bicycle shop from my father. In 1977 I incorporated the shop along with Mid-Island Bowl, calling it Harvey A. Young Industries, Inc. In 1980 I sold the corporation to my son Robert. Today the shop is managed by another son, Stephen A. Young, who is assisted by his wife Valerie.

After World War II, Morgan Levine also opened a shop on Straight Wharf. His bikes were all white and shared space in Quilly Cormie's blacksmith shop, along with Four Winds Gift Shop. He sold out to Donald Boyd who has since passed away.

Jimmy and Irene Walsh bought the J.B. Ashley building at 10 Broad Street. He moved his wife's weaving shop from the comer of Easy and Broad, on the Scully property, to the corner of Broad and South Beach. Today the weaving shop building is a fast-food taco outlet. The main building, which once housed Young's Bicycle Shop, was made into a restaurant called Lucky Pierre's. It had a gravel floor covering, and whenever people paid their tab, the owner, James Beard, the noted author of cookbooks, rang a bell to let Lucky Pierre know there had been a customer. The life of the restaurant was short lived, for the Nan-tucket Board of Health did not approve of the gravel floor. It was a novel idea but unsanitary. Nice hamburgers, but without the gravel floor there was no attraction. Johnny "Sunbeam" McLaughlin salvaged the sign from the Madaket Gardens (dump).

John Simpson opened a cycle shop at 10 Broad Street in the building vacated by Lucky Pierre. This was called Alden's Bike Shop. It was around 1960. He operated there for about fourteen years. In the fall of 1974 he moved his inventory to 4 Broad Street, at that time owned by Sherburne Associates. They had leased it to Island Tours, the Avis rental car agency on the island. Alden's operation used this location until John Simpson died unexpectedly. His heirs sold part of his Nantucket holdings to William C. Cameron and Wayne Mosher. This partnership opened their shop at 4 Broad Street with the name Nantucket Bike Shop.

Mr. Walsh's daughter, who inherited the property at 10 Broad Street, opened Porter's Bike Shop in 1975. This operated until 1982. The owners of Nantucket Bike Shop leased Porter's with an option to buy in 1983. It became Nantucket Bike Shop #2 in 1984.

In 1990 this partnership expanded by opening another operation that was located on Straight Wharf, named Nantucket Bike Shop #3, replacing a bicycle shop that was operated there for several years by the Burns family.

Peter Burns arrived on Nantucket on the late boat in the late 1970s. His mopeds were dropped off at the South Beach Street end of the SSA parking lot. Borrowing tools from a nearby bicycle shop, he actually assembled these mopeds on the spot! That first summer he rented, from Sherburne Associates, the lot across from the police station. He used the former Gordon Ford garage as a place of storage. The second year he was at the same location. He added Puch bicycles to his fleet of mopeds. He opened a second shop on Straight Wharf in 1986. The name of his operation changed to Fun Rentals. At the end of 1989, Fun Rentals and Snow Cycles no longer operated on Nantucket.

In 1980, Jimmy Moriarty sold Holiday Cycle to Charles Mayhew, for he did not wish to get involved with the mopeds. They were being introduced to the island about this time.

1992 finds Nantucket with six bicycle paths: 1, To Sconset; 2, to Surfside; 3, to Madaket; 4, on Cliff Road, joining Madaket; 5, on Old South Road adjoining the South Valley development; 6, the newest path, connecting the 'Sconset path with J.J. Clammp's miniature golf complex, Nobadeer Road. Spring, summer, and fall you will find them all well tr avele d as the bicycle continues to delight both visitors and island residents.
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Roger A. Young owned and operated Young's Bicycle Shop for over twenty years. He has been a director of the Pacific National Bank since 1976 and has conducted very popular walking tours of Nantucket Town since 1985.