{"product_id":"trekking-across-america-an-up-close-look-at-a-once-popular-pastime-9781609389796","title":"Trekking Across America: An Up-Close Look at a Once-Popular Pastime","description":"For several decades following the end of the Civil War, the most popular sport in the United States was walking. Professional pedestrians often covered 500 miles or more for up to six grueling days and nights in pursuit of large money prizes. Walking was also a favorite amateur sport; newspapers often noted a \"pedestrian mania\" or \"walking fever\" that only began to give way in the mid-1880s to fast-rising crazes for baseball, bicycling, and roller skating. \u003cbr\u003e As competitive walking faded, a new kind of spectacle walking, which had also begun in the late 1860s, came to full flower. Between 1890 and 1930, hundreds of men, women, even children and entire families were on the nation's roads and railroad tracks trekking between widely separated points, sometimes moving in unusual ways such as on roller skates or by walking barefooted, backward, on stilts, or while rolling a hoop. To finance their attention-seeking journeys, many sold souvenir postcards. The public usually found these performers entertaining, but public officials and newspaper editors often denounced them as nuisances or frauds. Tapping vintage postcards and old newspaper articles, this is the first book to bring back to view this once-familiar feature of American life. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-16876937\"\u003eLyell D. Jr. Henry\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Iowa Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/30\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 278\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.83lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781609389796\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1609389794\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SPO\"\u003eSports \u0026amp; Recreation\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SPO019000\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SPO\"\u003eSports \u0026amp; Recreation\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SPO050000\"\u003eWalking\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS036040\"\u003eUnited States | 19th Century\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLyell D. Henry Jr.\u003c\/b\u003e is professor emeritus of political science at Mount Mercy University. He is author of \u003ci\u003eThe Jefferson Highway: Blazing the Way from Winnipeg to New Orleans\u003c\/i\u003e (Iowa, 2016). He lives in Iowa City, Iowa. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Iowa Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48459774886125,"sku":"9781609389796","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/files\/img_5e021bf9-9593-45ea-bb84-8877d184e52d.jpg?v=1753648461","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/trekking-across-america-an-up-close-look-at-a-once-popular-pastime-9781609389796","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}