Elmhurst History Museum’s, The Bicycle: Two Wheels to Adventure, opens June 9

The Elmhurst History Museum's new summer exhibit, "The Bicycle: Two Wheels to Adventure," is an ideal fit for Elmhurst, where bike routes crisscross the city for travel ranging from family outings to daily commutes.

Museum officials note that the bicycle has evolved over the last 200 years into a vehicle that opens doors to new adventures and experiences for all ages. From transportation and infrastructure to manufacturing and recreation, this humble 19th-century invention has significantly impacted life in the Chicago area, redefining an era of newfound leisure and independence.

"The exhibit takes a general look at the impact of bicycles on society," museum Curator of Exhibits Sarah Cox said. "Particularly during the 1890s, Chicago was the center of the bicycle world."

By the mid-1890s, Cox said that the Chicago area had more than 400 bicycle manufacturers.

Museum visitors will learn about the history of the bicycle through examples of iconic bicycles, artifacts and timeless photographs. The exhibit includes photos and video as well as bicycles and gear from different eras interwoven with interactive displays.

In one of those interactive displays, visitors can climb aboard a stationary modern Schwinn bike and "ride" along and through one of four paths displayed on a video screen.

Visitors will have an opportunity to "ride" a stationary Schwinn bike along one of four video screen paths. (Graydon Megan/HANDOUT)

The exhibit also will shine a spotlight on J. Hart Rosdail, who was at one time listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "World's Most Traveled Man."

Exhibit visitors will learn colorful tales from Rosdail's record-setting journeys across the globe on his trusted bicycle, Jacqueline, which is included in the exhibit. The adventurer, credited with visiting 223 countries before his death in 1977, lived for a time in Elmhurst and taught at Glen Hill Elementary School in Glendale Heights.

The exhibit will also look at the history of the Illinois Prairie Path, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The path, a main artery for area walkers, runners and bicyclists, runs through Elmhurst providing a "rails-to-trails" recreational pathway linking the western suburbs.

A high-wheeler and an iron-and-wood "bone shaker" are part of the Elmhurst History Museum's new exhibit on The Bicycle. (Graydon Megan)

In addition to Rosdail's bicycle Jacqueline and other artifacts from the Elmhurst History Museum collection, the exhibit includes a few rare bicycles loaned by a private collector, including a "velocipede" iron and wood bone shaker from the 1860s and an 1888 high-wheeler. A women's cycling outfit circa 1890, on loan from the DuPage County History Museum, illustrates how bicycles were a liberating "freedom machine" for turn-of-the century women.

"Bicycles are such a great topic for a summer exhibit due to their wide appeal, and because everyone can relate to stories of their first bicycle or riding around their neighborhoods with friends and family," Cox said in a news release.

The exhibit runs from June 9 — Sept. 17 at the Elmhurst History Museum, 120 E. Park Avenue, Elmhurst.

Museum hours are Sunday and Tuesday through Friday from 1-5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays. Admission is free, and limited free parking is available.

The museum has planned a number of exhibit-related programs, including a community bike ride on June 22. More information is available at Elmhurst History Museum.

Graydon Megan is a freelance writer for Pioneer Press.