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A real fashion breakthrough occurs in the late nineteenth century with the notion of specific costumes for sports. As early as 1888, advertisements show models of “bicycle-gowns.” This would lead to the adoption of bloomers and divided, or bifurcated, skirts. Modesty and seemliness were deplored in vain.

Why, that pernicious bicycle would even bring about a man and woman riding in tandem! How tame does costume of this era seem today when compared to our lycra and spandex sports outfits. Yet the revolutionary nature of this small first step toward sports clothes is more than evident. Bicycling was one more breakthrough on the road to women’s rights and liberation from confining corsets and billowing skirts. Look in the Digital Gallery under the headings Bicycle and Cycling for a visual glimpse of this “road to ruin.”

Driving along Staten Island’s North Shore from St. George to Mariner’s Harbor one passes a string of marine industries: tug boat companies, dredging companies, marine electric companies, dry docks… ending at the sprawling Howland Hook container ship terminal. The marine industry has thrived along the shore of the Kill Van Kull since the days of sail. At points along the drive views of it’s early history can still be seen in the ruins of old wooden piers dry docks.

Many of the current marine businesses are hidden behind high walls and fences, visible only through their driveways. Driving by, one can occasionally catch a glimpse of a large propeller sitting in a yard or a ferryboat in dry dock but most of the work of the modern marine industries is hidden from public view. A new book seeks to change that. Readers can get a comprehensive overview of the past and present operations of New York Harbor’s oldest dry dock in Caddell Dry Dock: 100 Years Harborside.
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