The Six-Day Ladies’ Bicycle Race

by Erin Doane, Curator

Starting on August 28, 1900, Eldridge Park hosted “the greatest and most novel athletic event ever conceived” – a six-day-long ladies’ bicycle race. The management of the park contracted with promoter J.L. Keller to bring six professional lady cyclists in for the event. A special “saucer-shape” board track was constructed on the plot of land between the statue of American Girl and the deer reserve. The oblong wooden track was 86 feet wide by 154 feet long. The sides on the straightaway portions were banked at 22 degrees while the ends were set at a 45 degrees. Sixteen laps around the track equaled a mile. Seating for 8,000 people was also constructed around the track.

Lady bicyclist in Eldridge Park near the American Girl statue, 1899

The race promised to draw in thousands of people from a radius of 75 miles to witness the spectacle. Previous ladies’ bicycle races put on by the promoter in New York City, Chicago, Pittsburg, Grand Rapids, and many other smaller cities had drawn upwards of 10,000 people each day of the event. Elmirans were very fond of bicycling – over 7,000 bicycle licenses had been issued in the city since April 1 of that year – so there was no doubt that people would come out to watch the race.

Leading up to the event, there seemed to be some concern about the propriety of watching women race bicycles. An article in the Star-Gazette assured readers that, while professional male riders typically wore armless shirts and very abbreviated trunks, the women would all be neatly attired in sweaters, knickerbockers, and stockings. The paper also reported that when the women raced in Philadelphia, there were several clergymen in the crowd who had come specifically to see if there was anything objectionable or immodest about the race. They all went away perfectly satisfied and one promised to return the next day to see the finish.

Women wearing casual cycling outfits, c. 1890s

The six women who came to Elmira for the race – Rossie Hatch, Mary Petchard, Margaret Gast, Emma Bayne, Lucy Berry, and Clara Harvey – were seasoned professional racers. These “heroines of the diamond frame” could all easily make the 18-mile-an-hour speed required for entry. Miss Hatch was not yet twenty years old but had been racing for five years. She won $500 worth of diamonds in Chicago in 1896. Miss Gast had recently become world champion for long-distance cycling after riding 1,000 miles in 113 hours and 23 minutes. Mrs. Bayne was also a distance rider. She rode 4,500 miles in 29 days, 21 hours, and 50 minutes and then led the dancing at the ball held in her honor the same day she finished the ride. Miss Berry sang in the choir of St. Paul’s Episcopal church in Indianapolis until her voice suddenly forsook her and then she took up bicycling as a profession.

Racing began in Eldridge Park on the afternoon of August 28. The track was nearly filled with spectators. Tickets for the grandstand cost 15 cents while seats inside the track, the best place to get up close to the action, cost 25 cents. If a person rode their own bicycle to the event, they could check their wheel for 10 cents and receive a free admission ticket. Similarly, if one bought a 10 cent round-trip ticket to the park on the Maple Avenue or West Side trolleys he or she also got a free ticket to the races. It was noted that more than half the seats in the grandstand were occupied by ladies.

Races took place for two hours twice each day starting at 2:30 in the afternoon and again at 8:30 in the evening. The first day of racing was filled with excitement. Accidents were common on the track as the riders jostled for position and it seemed that every one of them was physically giving their all. Two riders fainted dead away while riding and toppled over the handlebars of their wheels onto the track. They were given restoratives and went right back to racing. Miss Gast was in the lead after the first four hours of racing with 60 miles completed. The following days of racing provided more thrills and spills as the growing crowd cheered on their favorites.

Star-Gazette, August 29, 1900

Those who attended the races found some of their own excitement outside of the track as well. A fight broke out on the Elmira & Horseheads street car after it picked up a large crowd at Eldridge park following the end of the first day of racing. One man stood up to give his seat to a lady and another man took the space. The first man punched the seat stealer in the eye. The stealer’s niece then started yelling at the man who had done the punching. The lady friend of the puncher started yelling back. The wordy fight turned into a first class hair pulling match between the two women. The fight reportedly caused considerable excitement on the packed trolley.  Earlier that same night, Morvalden Ells was arrested and charged with malicious mischief in climbing a fence at the park to witness the six-day bicycle race.

At the end of the six days of racing, Miss Margaret Gast came out the winner with 358 miles. Mrs. Bayne came in a close second with 354 miles. Miss Hatch finished in third place despite having her left arm bandaged from elbow to wrist because of several hard falls. Miss Petchard managed to get back into fourth place after taking a header over the bars of her wheel on the second to last night of racing. Miss Berry came in fifth but had to give up on the race after she fell into her trainer’s arms and was carried from the track unconscious. Miss Harvey, unfortunately, suffered a great deal of neuralgia caused by the climate in Elmira.

Star-Gazette, September 5, 1900

Historical Tips For a Safe and Sane 4th of July

By Kelli Huggins, Education Coordinator

This 4^th of July, take some inspiration from the past while planning your celebration. While some things have changed, more have stayed the same. Remember, people in the past liked to party as much as we do!

Hostesses, make sure your table decor is on point
No pressure, but your reputation as a host is riding on your ability to create a festive, yet tasteful, decorative scheme. Fear not, here are some tips from 1915 to help you out: find red, white, and blue flowers and “arrange the blossoms in moist sand in pyramidal form.” Also “at each place there may be a miniature drum concealing bon-bons in its depths.” You can’t go wrong with a drum full of bon bons! Serve thematically colored foods, like tomato soup, whipped cream, jellied bouillon, crabs, and tartar sauce. Mold Uncle Sam and Miss Columbia out of ice cream and you’re ready to go. Quiz your guests on American History and give a special, dubious award to the “greatest ignoramus present.”

Looks easy, right? Just add some jellied bouillon and you're ready to entertain.

Leave the fireworks to the professionals

This one has always been controversial, but in 1910, Dr. Charles Haase implored Elmirans to do away with the dangerous tradition of amateur fireworks. The American Medical Association attributed 215 deaths to fireworks in 1909. These also included conditions like lockjaw (Tetanus) contracted from fireworks-related injuries. He argued that if Elmira was really a “progressive” city, it would eliminate “this barbarous way of celebrating.”

You probably shouldn't let your small children play with fireworks, no matter what this early 20th century postcard depicts.

On the same note, keep your fireworks out of the bear pit.

Stock up on flags
Iszard’s has got your back on this one. Check out these amazing deals on flags from 1911! Every home should have one! And while you’re there, make sure to get your ice cream-making supplies: how else are you going to mold Uncle Sam out of ice cream. Think of your guests!

When invited to parties, make sure to bring your lady
Being the popular person you are, certainly you’ve been invited to a lot of parties this 4^th. Do your best to make an appearance at them all, like these parties on the same day at the same time in Wellsburg and Southport in 1867. And make sure you bring both yourself and your lady.

The Eldridge Park Casino is the place to be
These pictures are from the Centennial celebration in 1876. Looks pretty fun! Go out and plant a celebratory tree!

Play pin-the-goatee on Uncle Sam
This was all the rage for children in 1914. Flag hunts are good, too. 

When in doubt, just get a big flag and a small dog
You can’t go wrong with this combination, as evidenced below:

Going for the Brass Ring: The Eldridge Park Carousel

by Erin Doane, curator

In just a few weeks Eldridge Park will be open for the season and this year marks the 10^th anniversary of the restored carousel there. It was opened to the public on May 27, 2006 after years of rebuilding and restoration. The history of the carousel goes back over 100 years and is filled with its share of ups and downs.

Eldridge Park Carousel, mid-1980s

In 1924, Robert A. Long came to Elmira in response to an ad seeking someone to bring a merry-go-round to Eldridge Park. Long was just 23 years old at the time but he had long been involved in building and operating carousels. His father and uncle had a shop in Philadelphia where they assembled amusement park rides. From 1909 through 1916, he helped his father operate a carousel in Elmira during the summer months. Long purchased an old Looff carousel and installed it in Eldridge Park. The machine was built in the late 1890s and had been operated at Young’s Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It measured 50 feet in diameter and had three rows of stationary animals including horses, a sea serpent, giraffes, greyhounds, a billy goat, and a lion.

The carousel’s lion, 1988

In 1942, Long converted the stationary mechanism into a jumping one. He re-carved the legs of some of the horses to become jumpers. This new version of the carousel had 34 stationary animals and 20 jumping horses. The goat, the lion, and the tiger were the only menagerie figures to remain on the machine. Long also installed a mechanism that dispensed metal rings. Carousel riders could reach out and capture the rings as the ride was moving. Most of the rings were made of iron but if you got the brass ring, you won a free ride.

Vinton Bovier Stevens reaching for the brass ring

Iron rings from the Eldridge Park carousel

Long operated the carousel for over 55 years making improvements and repairs along the way including in 1972 when the park was flooded by Hurricane Agnes. He retired in 1980 and passed away three years later. Long’s daughter and her children continued to run the carousel until 1988. The last few years of operation were difficult ones. Visitation was down and the park suffered from a severe problem with vandals. Steel doors were added to the carousel building but that still did not deter vandalism. In its last summer of operation, the carousel was broken into and damaged 14 times. Most of the damage was to the building’s lights, speakers, and columns but the leg of one horse was broken.

Robert A. Long on his carousel, 1966

In 1989, the family removed the carousel from Eldridge Park. They contracted with Guernsey’s Auction Centers in New York City to manage the sale. The original hope was that the ride could be sold in one piece but when the reserve for the auction was not met, the individual horses were sold off. Other than five horses kept by family members as keepsakes, all the other horses and animals were sold. The carousel mechanism itself, however, did not sell and was donated to the city.

Catalog from Guernsey’s Auction Centers, 1989

Page from the catalog showing horses

 from the Eldridge Park carousel, 1989

In 1991, the building that had housed the carousel found new life as part of the Carousel Farm and Craft Market in the park. At that time, the Windmill Farm and Craft Market of Yates County was looking to expand its operations and the city agreed to bring it to Eldridge Park. The Windmill Market provided at least 45 vendors and many other local and regional businesses and individuals also signed on. The Carousel Market opened in June 1991 with around 120 vendors. Some 15,000 people went to the market on its opening day. The market was open every Tuesday from June through September. The attendance for that first season was estimated at about 125,000.

Carousel Farm and Craft Market at Eldridge Park, early 1990s

In its first couple of years, the Carousel Market seemed to be a great success. The 1992 season was extended through October. By 1994, however, annual attendance had begun to drop. Those who still visited the market commented that it looked kind of small as there were only about 80 vendors rather than the 120+ in previous years. The revenues were not covering expenses so the city decided not to open the market for the 1996 season.

Inside the carousel pavilion at the market, early 1990s

The next chapter in the life of the Eldridge Park carousel began in 2002. Bob Lyon was at the park to speak at Elmira’s September 11 anniversary memorial program. The Elmira dentist was trained in forensic dentistry and had been asked to go to New York City after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center to help identify the bodies of the victims. While at Eldridge Park for the memorial, Lyon saw the carousel mechanism and was inspired to restore it to its former glory. The Eldridge Park Carousel Preservation Society was founded and Lyon quickly started to make his dream into a reality.

Watercolor painting of the Eldridge Park

carousel by Talitha Botsford, c. 1980s

Lawrence Pefferly of Cornersville, Tennessee agreed to carve wooden animals for the carousel’s outer row. His wife Jerry painted the animals. Over the course of just three-and-a-half years, the couple created 20 new animals for the carousel. Each one was a replica of one of the original horses or menagerie animals. In 1989, Guernsey’s had photographed and measured each piece of the carousel for its auction so the Pefferlys had detailed examples from which to work. Other carvers were also found to complete the work including John Kolanach, an Elmira native living in Catlin, Oscar Pivaral of San Francisco, Frederick Dilworth of New Holland, Pennsylvania, Dave Albrecht of Minnesota, John McKenzie, and carvers from Bud Ellis Studios in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee.

Photograph of the restored carousel in 2006 from

the Eldridge Park Carousel supplemental magazine

published by the Star-Gazette in spring 2006

On May 27, 2006, the newly restored carousel opened to the public. Close to 20,000 people were at the grand opening gala and the carousel had over 40,000 riders that first season. Today, the Eldridge Park carousel has 56 animals including a horse named “America” that was unveiled on September 11, 2011 to honor those who lost their lives ten years earlier. There are also two dragon benches. The carousel is one of fewer than 20 in the United States that still has brass ring feeders and it is thought to be the fastest carousel in the world moving at 18 miles per hour. Eldridge Park will be opening for the season on Memorial Day weekend.