Lorne Shields of Thornhill, Ontario, has been an avid collector and researcher of early bicycling history for over 50 years. Some of his collection has been displayed at the Smithsonian Institution, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Canadian Science and Technology Museum. His collection includes virtually every facet of early cycling ephemera, photographica and memorabilia as well as bicycles.
Lorne has given talks on early cycling history at museums, historical societies, universities and symposia in Europe and North America. Some of these venues include The Photographic Historical Society at George Eastman House in Rochester NY, the Photographic Historical Society of Canada, the Ephemera Society of America in Greenwich Conn., the Bicycle Museum of America, and the Museé de Science et Industrie in St. Etienne, France.
These are three excellent images he shared with The Bicycle Museum!
Above, is an 1896-97 American advertising calendar (lithograph about 7x 11”).
“Just WONDERFUL graphics,” Lorne said. “Speaks for itself. One of my best images.”
This delightful 4-1/4” x 6-1/2” post card that shows Queen Victoria on a Starley Royal Salvo Trike is about a Bicycle Club meeting to be held on April 4, 1887.
This cyanotype “black and white” photograph is the oldest of these three, and features three unusual bikes. Left to right: The Star American-made high wheel. The couple is on a Sociable tricycle. The man on far right is a on a high wheel, or, ordinary bicycle. The high wheel only become known as the “penny farthing” after they were obsolete. The photograph is from the Capitol Bicycle Club from Washington, DC, c. 1884.
You can see more pieces from Lorne’s collection here and here.
The Bicycle Museum 
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