Tallbikes are really old, I did saw pic of tallbike, label under that did say that it was gas lanter operator's vehicle from 1890's or something like that, street lamps were gas operated in England before electricity and there was special bicycle for the job.
I had no idea before I stumbled on pic of such.
You might be interested from this story:
Practical Origins of the Tall Bike: gas lamp lighting & flood travel - TUBULOCITY