Harry Pop Kramer Bicycle Tricks Newsreel
Popular again on social networks, via many different sources, is a bicycle tricks newsreel of Harry Pop Kramer and from Appalachian History, we learn…
He was a vaudeville trick-cyclist who performed along the Appalachian mountains. He designed and fabricated his own trick bicycles and unicycles. He could ride his bicycle while standing on his head or jump rope while riding on a buggy wheel. Pop also built a bicycle on which the front wheel could be detached from the rear while in motion. But most importantly, he could hold the attention of an audience. My cousin Cheri boasts, “Pop dazzled people with his dare devil antics.”
The commentary is as entertaining as the tricks. Pop was the Danny MacAskill of his day and reminds us that the bike has entertained audiences since it’s invention, a century ago. Also see another vaudeville performer, the Golden Ballerina on a Bicycle, who also dazzled audiences…she’d take her bike apart as she rode it.