My only difference with this is that Major Taylor, from what I've read, was more than successful "for that time". He was a major international sports star, and probably more famous in America than Lance Armstrong is today. Remember, at the turn of the (20th) century, bicycling was actually a major sport in America, in the early days of college football, before pro football or any form of basketball. Hockey was almost entirely a Canadian sport then, and the NHL had not yet been formed. Golf and tennis were elistist country club pasttimes. The "big three" sports in America appear to have been baseball, boxing and cycling. So most American sports fans were probably not only familar with Taylor's name but with his specific achievements, whereas today, most American sports fans are pretty vague as to exactly what this "Tour de France thing" is that Lance has won three times.
One other observation on Taylor in light of the above. I think I read that a couple of years ago the LAW (by then LAB), in a fit of political correctness, issued a posthomous apology to Taylor for having barred him from some LAW event or other on the basis of his race (LAW was also a competition-sanctioning body in those days). Other than the general sillyness and uselessnes of posthumous apologies and political correctness, this overlooked the fact that Taylor, despite the undisputed bias, became famous and won quite a lot of money in cycling in the late 19th and early 20th century, while baseball, the top American sport of that time, barred black players until the 1950's.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX
> Hello,
>
> "Major Taylor" was the first successful (for that time) Fro-American bike
> racer during the 1920-30s. In fact, Indianapolis has a decent velodrome
> named after him. Further details of the his life and times use to be
found
> at the following URL: http://members.aol.com/
>
> Prehaps they may know who made these stems since their velodrome is named
> for him!
>
> Regards, Steve Neago
> "Starting to warm up at 48 degrees Farenheit in Cincinnati, OH"
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Andrew Gillis" <apgmaa@earthlink.net>
> To: "Warren Young" <wyoung@stonehenge.ca>; <CYCLETRUCK@aol.com>;
> "Classicrendezvous (E-mail)" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 12:34 PM
> Subject: Re: [CR]WTK: Anything about this Major Taylor stem....
>
>
> > All:
> >
> > I believe the stem was a "Major Taylor" because MT invented an
adjustable
> > stem for his own track bikes.
> >
> > Andrew Gillis (warm & sunny in Long Beach, good riding weather!)