Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America's Favorite Spectator Sport
- ISBN-10
- 1613744005
- ISBN-13
- 9781613744000
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 272
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2014-04-01
- Publisher
- Chicago Review Press
- Author
- Matthew Algeo
Description
Strange as it sounds, during the 1870s and 1880s, America’s most popular spectator sport wasn’t baseball, football, or horseracing—it was competitive walking. Inside sold-out arenas, competitors walked around dirt tracks almost nonstop for six straight days (never on Sunday), risking their health and sanity to see who could walk the farthest—more than 500 miles. These walking matches were as talked about as the weather, the details reported in newspapers and telegraphed to fans from coast to coast. This long-forgotten sport, known as pedestrianism, spawned America’s first celebrity athletes and opened doors for immigrants, African Americans, and women. But along with the excitement came the inevitable scandals, charges of doping and insider gambling, and even a riot in 1879. Pedestrianism chronicles competitive walking’s peculiar appeal and popularity, its rapid demise, and its enduring influence.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2014-04-01
- 276 pages
- Paperback
- Chicago Review Press
Similar books
-
America on Foot: Walking and Pedestrianism in the 20th Century
By Kerry SegraveThe book concludes with a legal analysis of pedestrianism as it relates to sharing space with the automobile.
-
The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Literature of Pedestrianism
By Geoff NicholsonA cultural commentator and author of such works as Sex Collectors and The Food Chain evaluates walking from a range of disciplines to consider how the activity has inspired sporting events, mystical revelations, and artistic legacies. 17 ...
-
Rights of Passage: Sidewalks and the Regulation of Public Flow
By Nicholas BlomleyLord Lopes held that the right of the public on the highway was exclusively that of passing and repassing: 'the interest of the public in a highway consists solely in the right of passage'5. Any other use, such as Harrison's ...
-
Pedestrianism; Or, An Account of the Performances of Celebrated Pedestrians During the Last and Present Century: With a Full Narrative...
By Walter 1770-1824 ThomThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.
-
Pedestrianism; Or, An Account of the Performances of Celebrated Pedestrians During the Last and Present Century: With a Full Narrative...
By Walter 1770-1824 ThomThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.
-
The Aesthetics and Politics of Cinematic Pedestrianism: Walking in Films
By Asli ÖzgenThe Aesthetics and Politics of Cinematic Pedestrianism: Walking in Films offers a rich exploration of the cinematic aesthetics that filmmakers devised to reflect the corporeal and affective experience of walking in the city.
-
Romantic Writing and Pedestrian Travel
By R. JarvisDescriptive Sketches, which was published simultaneously with An Evening Walk, is based on Wordsworth's walking tour of 1790, but was written in 1792 in a state of more informed enthusiasm for the French Revolution and under the strains ...
-
The Pedestrian
By Ray BradburyThe Pedestrian
-
Pedestrianism and the General Training of Man - With Information on the History and Records of Athletics
By StonehengeThis antiquarian book contains a wealth of information on the lost art of pedestrianism, as well as having sections on other athletic performances such as running and jumping.
-
The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Literature of Pedestrianism
By Geoff NicholsonGeoff Nicholson, author of Bleeding London and Sex Collectors, turns his eye to the intellectual and cultural history of that most common of activities--walking.