1-158-309 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

'The Military Accelerator - Particularly Recommended to Cavalry Officers', c1820. Cartoon showing a suggested use for the Hobby-Horse or Dandy-Horse which was introduced into the British Isles in 1818. Invented by Baron von Drais in France in 1817, it was a forerunner of the bicycle. The Dandy Horse had no pedals or brakes, but was propelled by the rider pushing on the ground with his feet, and dragging the feet to slow the machine. It was introduced to England by Denis Johnson, a coachmaker of Long Acre, London, who described it as a 'pedestrian curricle'. Johnson started a school where prospective purchasers could learn how to ride the machine, and in 1819 fashionable London society was briefly gripped by a craze for riding a Dandy Horse.