carriages / carriage types

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July 1, 2013

carriages without horses

Posted by Jennifer under CAA Carriage Festival, carriages / carriage types
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As one of the non-pleasure-driving-show attractions at this year’s CAA Carriage Festival, we had our annual Carriage Showcase. In the showcase, carriage owners place their vehicles on display for spectators and fellow carriage enthusiasts to enjoy and for the Showcase judges to inspect each one carefully, in terms of how well the vehicle’s restoration was done (if restored) or how well the vehicle is built (if new). The vast majority of entries in the Showcase are restored antique vehicles or newer reproductions based on antique originals.

A few of the vehicles on display this year …

Colonel Davis, the CAA’s most recent past president, chaired the Showcase committee for many years. But now that he’s no longer an officer or the committee chair, he was finally able to enter his own vehicle in the Showcase. And it won! Colonel & Kathi’s Brewster-made Stanhope Gig won a gold certificate, the Sidney Latham Memorial Trophy (awarded to the highest-scoring vehicle in use), and the Ken Sowles Memorial Trophy (awarded to the People’s Choice winner).

The winner of the Carl Casper Trophy (awarded to the highest-scoring restored vehicle) was Katrina Becker’s Park Drag, built in 1903 by Brewster and recently restored by Tom Shelton …

Nancy Jackson’s early (mid-nineteenth century?) crane-neck Brett, built by J.M. Quinby, won the Davis Documentation Award. Here, a few details …

June 17, 2013

… and one more

Posted by Jennifer under carriages / carriage types, history, reference
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Here’s another view of Main Street in Littleton, New Hampshire, again c. 1908.

This photo features a number of horse-drawn vehicles, most of which are drawn by single horses. But parked by the sidewalk in the foreground are both a light delivery wagon, which appears to be hitched to a pair, and a three-seat Summer Resort Wagon hitched to a four-in-hand team.

The Resort Wagon in the photo looks remarkably like this one, from the Elkhart Carriage & Harness Mfg. Company’s 1907 catalog:

In his Carriage Terminology book, Don Berkebile wrote the following caption to accompany this image:

“This three-seat Platform Wagon or Platform-spring Wagon was called a Summer Resort Wagon by the manufacturer, giving some indication of the uses to which it was put. It was offered with a black body on a red or dark green gear, and imitation leather trimming, for $77.”

June 12, 2013

those pesky modern conveniences

Posted by Jennifer under carriages / carriage types, history
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In case you haven’t already heard my whining (whether on the CAA’s Facebook page, the CAA’s Twitter account, or my own Twitter account), it’s HOT here in the CAA office. Today is the hottest day of the year so far, and our air-conditioning isn’t working … so it’s above 80 degrees here in my office, although the ceiling fan does help a bit.

This situation is making me want to revisit these old horse-drawn vehicles, which have appeared here on the blog before …

And to cool off a bit more, I think I might just re-watch this old (silent but chilly) video of a 1919 ice harvest, as well.

June 10, 2013

an American buggy

Posted by Jennifer under carriages / carriage types, CIAT Cuts, horses & driving, Studebaker
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I’ve already posted a (partial) photo of this American vehicle, but I’m in the midst of going through all my photos from the recent CIAT Cuts, and I wanted to highlight this lovely Corning Buggy again. It was made in the late nineteenth century by the Page Bros. Buggy Co. of Marshall, Michigan, and it’s owned and driven by Fiorenzo Erri of Italy. The horse is a Dutch Warmblood.

The Corning Buggy also reminded me of this Studebaker Goddard Buggy, illustrated by C. Gray-Parker, and featured on the cover of The Carriage Journal back in March 2011.