Originally posted on Society of Three Speeds When most people think about my home state of Connecticut (when they bother to think about it at all), the things that come to mind are rich people, picturesque New England countryside, Yale University, and a place to transit between “better places” like New York or Boston. But... Continue Reading →
Originally posted on Society of Three Speeds
When most people think about my home state of Connecticut (when they bother to think about it at all), the things that come to mind are rich people, picturesque New England countryside, Yale University, and a place to transit between “better places” like New York or Boston. But the Constitution State was a manufacturing powerhouse from the dawn of the Industrial Revolution until the late 20th Century, when much of the state’s factories shuttered or moved to “better” locations (i.e. places with cheaper property and unskilled, ununionized labor), leaving a few token industries like Sikorsky and United Technologies to remind folks about what the Nutmeg State used to produce. As someone who grew up in the very industrial Lower Naugatuck Valley, I was aware of the factory past and saw it wither away.
Connecticut’s industries played an integral part in American bicycle manufacturing, right from the very start of bicycles–in fact, my hometown of Ansonia is where Pierre Lallement landed and arguably built and test rode the first pedal bicycle in 1865! The excellent blog The Bike Shed has a nice write-up on the various companies that built bikes and bike parts in The Land of Steady Habits.
