Know The Game Cycling (1964)

A publishing phenomenon of yesteryear

Educational Productions 50pp 3/6

When this title appeared, publishers, Educational Products (of Wakefield) had more than 60 titles in the series in print, and had already sold 59,000 copies of the Cycling book alone.

The series’ scope was vast. Their list starts with Archery, Angling, Association Football and Athletics and goes on to such esoteric pastimes as Inn Games, Old Time Dancing and Wrestling. Their unique claim was to have been prepared in conjunction with the official association in each discipline – the Cyclists’ Touring Club, in this case.

With their distinctive landscape format, they were a familiar sight in bookshops of the 1970s. I well remember how disappointing it was to find that, of the three books about cycling that was one’s most optimistic expectation of a large general bookshop in those days, one of them was a ‘Know The Game’ title. Because, charming as this is now as a period piece, the truth is that the books were neither fun nor useful.

Half of this title is taken up with describing the bicycle. For example: “The wheel revolves on a spindle contained in the hub and this is usually secured in the forks of the cycle by means of two ordinary nuts”. Helpful if you are describing the miracle of two-wheeled travel to an alien, without the aid of pictures – but in any other instance, a waste of ink and paper. Accessories take up another five pages, followed by some rudimentary advice on performing repairs.

A short, final section describes the various types of riding that one might try: ‘group riding’, ‘cycle touring’; and ‘track racing’, for example. The tone is avuncular, if you take that to mean grudging, and slightly ill-tempered.

I suspect that the Know The Game series is an early example of the book that succeeds as as a gift purchase. It is just the sort of tome that a grudging and ill-tempered uncle might present on one of those occasions when a gift seemed necessary. ‘Ah, little Johnny has a bicycle for Christmas? I know just the book to make sure that he really enjoys pedalling it about!’ is the thought that must have gone though the minds of at least 59,000 unimaginative uncles.

With a bike to play with, of course, Little Johnnys everywhere left the book unopened, which doubtless explains pristine condition in which this example arrived in my hands.

TD July 12