The Cycling Craze
MacRobertons’ first bicycle purchase was a tricycle, bought in the early years of his business in order to help him cover more ground while selling his sugar toys. As his fortune increased, so did his interest in cycling.
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Document - MacRobertson's Chewing Gum advertisement, 1898, Royal Historical Society of Victoria
RHSV MacRobertson Collection
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RHSV MacRobertson Collection
MacRobertson’s love of cycling was also evident in the number of bicycles images that made their way into his confectionery advertising, particularly in promotions for chewing gum.
A print advertisement that appeared in ‘The Australian Wheelman’ in 1898 shows a female cyclist fitted out in the latest cycling fashion. The ad boasts that the gum is ‘specifically prepared for cyclists and athletes’. Other advertisements for chewing gum stated that it could be used to repair tire punctures in an emergency. He also used testimonials from professional cyclists of the day such as Porta, Walne and Martin to promote his product.
A ditty that appeared in ‘The Australian Cyclist’ entitled ‘The Psalm of Scorching’ was product placement disguised as a public safety warning. It contained a safety message to ‘scorchers’, a type of fast and risk-taking rider who terrorised pedestrians and displayed hoonish behaviour. The verse outlined the dangers of riding and cautioned riders to slow down. MacRobertson’s enthusiasm for cycling led to him importing and selling Monarch brand bicycles from America and a bicycle department was soon established in a space adjoining the factory. He followed this up by opening a cycling school run by a Professor C.H. Ekenstein. The skills taught went well beyond road riding and included formation riding, military style riding, musical riding and 'cycling quadrilles'. He even set up a publicity shot promoting bicycle wedding parties with a special side-by-side ‘bicycle social’ for the bride and groom. MacRobertson and his team of cyclists were in demand to perform these novelty displays at charity events and garden parties.
Photograph - Sunbeam Bicycle Social, c. 1897, Royal Historical Society of Victoria
RHSV MacRobertson Collection; cutting from “The Australian Cyclist”, 1 July 1897
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RHSV MacRobertson Collection; cutting from “The Australian Cyclist”, 1 July 1897
As part of his Cycling School and bicycle import business, MacRobertson heavily advertised the 'Sunbeam Bicycle Social', a bicycle where two cyclists could ride sitting next to each other. MacRobertson encouraged their use for wedding parties.
Print - Advertisement image of Professor C.H. Eckenstein, c. 1895, Royal Historical Society of Victoria
RHSV MacRobertson Collection
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RHSV MacRobertson Collection
In the late 1890's MacRobertson set up a Cycling School in his confectionary factory to complement his bicycle import business.
He was keen on novelty cycling such as musical quadrilles and employed Professor C.H. Eckenstein to teach riding skills and prepare groups for public displays.
Film - The Cycling Craze, 2015, History Teachers' Association of Victoria
Film - The Cycling Craze, 2015, History Teachers' Association of Victoria
DAVID THOMPSON: In the 1890s bicycling had become a real craze in Melbourne and Macpherson Robertson, as usual with his eye to the publicity game, decided that he would import bicycles.
So he began importing American Monarch Bicycles and heavily advertising them. He also began to link cycling with his products in particular with his chewing gum, putting forward the theory that chewing gum was of great benefit to cyclists and other athletes. And so there are many advertisements featuring cyclists and chewing gum.
Macpherson Robertson was quite favorably disposed to female cyclists, in fact he sponsored female cycling road races, and in his advertisements – particularly for his chewing gum – they very often featured female persons on bicycles. So he was quite a proponent of female participation in sport, like cycling.
He also introduced so-called ‘sociable’ or ‘companion’ bicycles, which involved two people sitting side by side on one bicycle. He made a great publicity stunt using these bicycles when he proposed the idea that people could have a wedding on bicycles in which the bride and groom would be seated on one of these companion bicycles and all the other members of the wedding party would also be seated on bicycles.
Macpherson Robertson started a cycling school to go along with his selling of bicycles and he hired a gentleman, Professor Eckenstein, who was running the cycling school. The cycling school would teach things like musical cycling, cycling quadrilles, dancing cycling and illuminated cycling. Macpherson Robertson and his cycle team would perform at society events such as garden parties and so on, including doing such things as wrestling on bicycles, which we haven’t quite worked out how exactly that was done and what it would have looked like. [laughs]
The bicycle craze didn’t last all that long and by the early 1900s was starting to die down.
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Filmed and edited by Jo Clyne, 2015
Royal Historical Society of Victoria curator David Thompson speaks about MacRobertson's enthusiasm for cycling in the late nineteenth century.
