Home Pickwick Bicycle Club

Pickwick Bicycle Club

Object

Pipe

Production date

01/01/1970 - 01/08/1970

Object number

2011.45

Physical Description

Long stemmed clay pipe in rectangular box from the Bicycle Club

Material

Clay
Card

Dimension

Width (Box): 335mmmm
Depth (box): 30mm

Exhibition Label

From the exhibition 'Pubs, Clubs & Carnivals: An exhibition about pleasure and leisure in Hackney' [21 June - 3 September 2016]

The Oldest Cycling Club in the World

In 1870 a group of cycling enthusiasts met at Downs Hotel, Hackney Downs to form a cycling club. With the recent death of the writer Charles Dickens, they named the organisation ‘The Pickwick Bicycle Club’ in honour of his novel The Pickwick Papers.

The group is known for its eccentric rules. Membership is by invitation, and limited to the number of characters in the novel. Members adopt the name of a character, and wear a uniform of straw hats and striped blazers.


As well as cycle rides across the country, the group are known for their meals twice a year at the Connaught Rooms, near Covent Garden. These clay pipes are part of the traditional table setting at these events. Smoking, as the box tells you, was not optional.

On display?

No

Inscription

Pickwick Bicycle Club
Gentleman you must smoke
The oldest bicycle club in the world and the oldest Dickensian Association extant