Bicycle manufacturing proved to be a training ground for other industries and led to the development of advanced metalworking techniques, both for the frames themselves and for special components such as ball bearings, washers, and sprockets. These techniques later enabled skilled metalworkers and mechanics to develop the components used in early automobiles and aircraft. They also served to teach the industrial models later adopted, including mechanization and mass production (later copied and adopted by Ford and General Motors),[51] vertical integration[52] (also later copied and adopted by Ford), aggressive advertising[53] (as much as 10% of all advertising in U.S. periodicals in 1898 was by bicycle makers),[54] lobbying for better roads (which had the side benefit of acting as advertising, and of improving sales by providing more places to ride),[55] all first practised by Pope.[55] In addition, bicycle makers adopted the annual model change[56][57] (later derided as planned obsolescence, and usually credited to General Motors), which proved very successful.[58] Furthermore, early bicycles were an example of conspicuous consumption, being adopted by the fashionable elites.[59] In addition, by serving as a platform for accessories, which could ultimately cost more than the bicycle itself, it paved the way for the likes of the Barbie doll.[60] Moreover, they helped create, or enhance, new kinds of businesses, such as bicycle messengers,[61] travelling seamstresses,[62

riding academies,[63] and racing rinks[64] (Their board tracks were later adapted to early motorcycle and automobile racing.) Also, there were a variety of new inventions, such as spoke tighteners,[65] and specialized lights,[66] socks and shoes,[67] and even cameras (such as the Eastman Company's Poco).[68] Probably the best known and most widely used of these inventions, adopted well beyond cycling, is Charles Bennett's Bike Web, which came to be called the "jock strap".[69] A man uses a bicycle to carry goods in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso They also presaged a move away from public transit[70] that would explode with the introduction of the automobile. J. K. Starley's company became the Rover Cycle Company Ltd. in the late 1890s, and then simply the Rover Company when it started making cars. Morris Motors LImited (in Oxford) and Skoda also began in the bicycle business, as did the Wright brothers.[71] Alistair Craig, whose company eventually emerged to become the engine manufacturers Ailsa Craig, also started from manufacturing bicycles, in Glasgow in March 1885. In general, U.S. and European cycle manufacturers used to assemble cycles from their own frames and components made by other companies, although very large companies (such as Raleigh) used to make almost every part of a bicycle (including bottom brackets, axles, etc.) In recent years, those bicycle makers have greatly changed their methods of production. Now, almost none of them produce their own frames.