The Slower Road

Here’s a lovely street scene, also from New York’s Fifth Avenue, c. 1903.

In the foreground (lower left) is a Hansom Cab waiting by the curb. To its right is a Brougham, which might’ve been hired (like a private taxi or town car), or might’ve been privately owned and driven by the occupant / owner’s coachman.

There are also some open-air vehicles.

And to the right of the street sign, but on the other side of the street … there’s what appears to be the same Fifth Ave. Omnibus that we saw in yesterday’s photo. And these horses are still not wearing saddles or breeching, so clearly that setup worked for them.

Today: a horsey watering hole, right in the center of Bellows Falls, Vermont, c. 1907. It sure looks like it was a warm, sunny day.

I would love to be able to see the two vehicles behind the gray horse, the really tall one and the one with the umbrella. But alas …

Because some commercial deliveries were still made with horse-drawn vehicles for quite a few years after automobiles had taken over elsewhere…

Here, a lineup of eleven wagons from the Thompson Dairy, in Washington, DC, c. 1927. Yes, that’s right, 1927.

.

As I run around this week, getting ready for my trip to Germany, I think I’ll keep things simple here on the blog and just offer up one old photo each day. I hope you won’t mind.

Here is a street scene in front of the Worthy Hotel, in Springfield, Massachusetts, c. 1908. As you can see from all the water on the street and the man with the broom, the street has just been cleaned. In this photo are a nice variety of horse-drawn work vehicles / delivery wagons, a horse-drawn passenger vehicle; several early automobiles; and a couple of bicycles. Oh, and the hotel’s rather lovely too.

.