The Carriages At Shelburne Museum - free ebook by Lilian Baker Carlisle

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The Carriages At Shelburne Museum

Lilian Baker Carlisle

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THE CARRIAGES at Shelburne Museum

THE CARRIAGES at Shelburne Museum

By Lilian Baker Carlisle Museum Pamphlet Series, Number 1 PUBLISHED BY THE SHELBURNE MUSEUM SHELBURNE · VERMONT COPYRIGHT 1956 BY THE SHELBURNE MUSEUM, INC. SHELBURNE, VERMONT PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE LANE PRESS, BURLINGTON, VERMONT...

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Can You Remember ...

Can You Remember ...

In the 1900 United States census, there were listed 4,571 vehicle-constructing concerns. They employed 126,000 men and paid yearly wages to the amount of $70,000,000. Fifty years later one or two specialists still manufacture a limited variety of vehicles, but during our lifetime the carriage trade has vanished. Persons now living rarely conceive of themselves as a part of history and seldom make provisions for the perpetuation of examples and data of their era. Although most of the carriages th

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HORSESHOE BARN

HORSESHOE BARN

This barn was the first structure erected on the Shelburne Museum grounds. Copied from a barn located in the northern part of Vermont, it was built of timbers from eleven different old Vermont barns and two grist mills. It now houses the collection of carriages and is the only building on the grounds that is not a preservation. Each of the other twenty-four structures located on the twenty-five acres has been chosen for its individual beauty or interest. Although the buildings have been restored

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MAIL PHAETON

MAIL PHAETON

Dark green; cane work at back of seat. Trimmed in eggshell broadcloth. Styles in carriages, like women’s fashions, changed continuously. Speaking of the mail phaeton, a massive, masculine pair-horse carriage, the Duke of Beaufort in 1899 said: “They are much in use by noblemen and gentlemen and frequently employed by bachelors for long posting journeys in England as well as the Continent. They have almost reached perfection in the hands of the builder, Peters.” Just fourteen years later, Francis

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SPIDER PHAETON

SPIDER PHAETON

Black with red; canework at back of seat. Trimmed in blue broadcloth. In 1888, G. N. Hooper (feature writer for Driving magazine) wrote: “For some years the young men of fashion have driven a small Stanhope phaeton. They are now giving place to spider phaetons, a sort of Tilbury body on four wheels, with a neat little seat for the groom behind, supported on branched irons; most of them have a folding head over the front body. “Those first made had a trembling and vibrating motion; but with more

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CUT-UNDER PHAETON

CUT-UNDER PHAETON

Body painted dark green. Trimmed in tan whipcord. A wide variety of carriages are known as phaetons, but usually the name is given to an open vehicle with four wheels which is intended for personal driving by the owner. The name phaeton comes to us from classical mythology. Helios, the sun god, had a son called Phaet(h)on who in attempting to drive the sun chariot through the sky lost control of the horses and lest he burn up the earth, was consequently struck down by a thunderbolt of Zeus. The

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GEORGE IV PHAETON

GEORGE IV PHAETON

Green body with cane work, green gear. Trimmed in tan serge. Although there were other phaetons suitable for ladies’ driving, according to Mr. Underhill, only the Peter’s ladies’ phaeton and the George IV phaeton were considered adequate for park driving. Their graceful outline demanded the smartest possible turning out, but no vehicle was more accommodating in displaying the charming picture of a beautiful well-dressed woman driving a brilliant well-mannered and nicely rounded pair of matched h

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BASKET PHAETON

BASKET PHAETON

Black with basket weave seat. Trimmed in blue broadcloth. The pony basket phaeton was deservedly popular—especially with women—as it required little skill to keep the body in order, was light in weight and of small initial cost. Prices and weights for the best make phaetons showed a wide variety, depending upon which type was purchased. The schedule below was published by James A. Garland about 1900 ( The Private Stable ): Light and airy in appearance, this basket phaeton was used by its owner a

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MINIATURE PHAETON

MINIATURE PHAETON

Canework body painted black; wheels black with red striping. Trimmed in black leather. This little phaeton was made especially in a miniature size for Tom Thumb of Bridgeport, Connecticut. P. T. Barnum first heard of the perfectly-formed twenty-four inch sixteen pound child in 1842. He secured his services for $3 per week and exhibited him at his New York Museum. The child was exceptionally bright and Barnum undertook his education, hiring a tutor and a French professor for him. Tom Thumb with h

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CURRICLE

CURRICLE

Body painted dark green; gear green. Trimmed in tan broadcloth. James W. Burgess in 1881 in his treatise on Coach-Building pointed out that in the last years of the 17th and in the early years of the 18th century “a vehicle much in fashion was the curricle, which had been in use for some time in Italy where it was suspended from leather braces. Springs were added by the French ... the English altered the shape, giving the back a graceful ogee curve, improved the hood and added a spring bar acros

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CHAISE

CHAISE

Body painted black. Trimming: black leather top and cushions (restored in 1953). The chaise has been defined as a two-wheeled carriage for two persons with a calash (folding) top and the body hung on leather straps or thorough-braces. This chaise was purchased from the descendants of Gen. John Stark of Dunbarton, New Hampshire where the family homestead is located. Tradition has it that Gen. Stark met the Marquis de Lafayette in Concord, New Hampshire and drove him to the Stark home in this chai

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DOCTOR’S GIG

DOCTOR’S GIG

Body painted black. Trimmed in black leather. The gig was an exceedingly light vehicle and in reality was only a chair fixed on shafts. Well adapted for traveling purposes, it was a favorite of doctors and businessmen. Of particular note is the method of springing used in this gig. Two sloping members are bolted through the shafts to which are attached the suspension leather braces. This ingenious form of suspension is typically American and one which substituted for the heavier and costlier met

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DOG CART

DOG CART

Olive green, picked out with yellow. Trimming: tan tweed. The dog cart, when setters and pointers were used for pheasant and partridge shooting, was a useful vehicle to transport the dogs to distant shoots, but outlived its usefulness for this originally conceived purpose. Over the years it changed its shape, with the high wheels and lofty driver’s seat giving way to a low, rakish line. The profile of the body varied also, sometimes sloping side lines were the fashion; other years the upright li

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TANDEM CART

TANDEM CART

Black body, yellow gear striped with black. Trimmed in tan cord. Tandem driving (two horses, one behind the other) originated with sportsmen in hunting countries who took their hunter to cover in harness as the leader of two horses. He was expected to simply jog along comfortably with the wheeler, or second horse, pulling the cart. This custom of driving became popular and more or less of a sport in itself. Some authorities depreciated tandem driving, but Frederic Ashenden who wrote the notes on

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TANDEM DRIVING

TANDEM DRIVING

“Let anyone while he is young and has strong and steady nerves, a quick eye and patience to learn his business thoroughly, try it, and perhaps he will not repent. Let him begin by learning the uses, places and combination of the harness to the last buckle. Then if he can find a good professor, let him sit beside him, watch, listen and learn.... Then he may go far and certainly might fare worse.” Major-General Sir C. Teesdale. These two photos showing Mr. J. Watson Webb driving the homemade tande

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“GOING-TO-COVER” CART

“GOING-TO-COVER” CART

Black and white with red gear. Trimmed in eggshell corduroy. This dog cart was one of the types approved for tandem driving by the Tandem Club of New York. In design it was copied from a dog cart shown in the print by C. C. Henderson entitled Going-to-Cover , which has been described by authorities as a truly ideal sporting picture of the tandem team. Originally the dogs would have been taken to cover in the capacious boot which was ventilated on either side with louvered spaces. Tandem driving

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SHOOTING CART

SHOOTING CART

Body painted black; wheels and gear yellow. Trimmed in tan printed pinwale corduroy, black pattern. This type of vehicle is also known as a Slat-side Phaeton and is described by Francis C. Underhill ( Driving for Pleasure ) as a modification of a vehicle used on the other side of the water in a lighter construction. It is intended for private use in the country with a team or a pair and would have been found among the vehicles in the coach barn of a connoisseur of carriages. The body work on the

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BROUGHAM

BROUGHAM

Body painted dark green, green gear. Trimmed in green leather. The story of the origin of the brougham about 1837 was published in 1889 by George N. Hooper—at that time president of the Institute of British Carriage Manufacturers. Lord Chancellor Brougham, lawyer, orator, writer, innovator and originator of many ideas on many subjects, took his plans for a refined and glorified vehicle similar to the street cabs, just then making their appearance in London, to his carriage maker who refused to p

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LANDAU

LANDAU

Body painted dark green, black trim with straw color striping. Trimmed in dark green morocco leather and blue broadcloth. The landau originated in the German town of that name and was used from mid-18th century as a posting (traveling) or dress vehicle. About 1850, coachbuilders began to use the lighter elliptic springs on the landau and the whole vehicle became more miniature in size. The landau combined the virtues of both an open and close carriage, as the folding heads could be dropped and t

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PANEL-BOOT VICTORIA

PANEL-BOOT VICTORIA

Body painted black with black wheels. Trimmed in navy blue broadcloth. The victoria became the fashionable park carriage when in 1869 the Prince of Wales imported one from Paris for his mother, Queen Victoria, for whom the carriage was named. When she appeared in it for her daytime drives, it soared in popularity. Known at first as the victoria phaeton, it was in truth a faithful copy of the George IV phaeton with a box added for the coachman to drive from. It was always turned out in formal sty

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SKELETON-BOOT VICTORIA

SKELETON-BOOT VICTORIA

Body painted dark olive green, green gear. Trimmed in dark green. The handsome victoria was well suited for the formal call and the promenade on wheels. In 1877, Mrs. E. B. Duffey, in her Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Etiquette book warned her readers that “morning calls should not be made earlier than twelve noon, nor later than 5 P.M. and the lady should be more richly dressed when calling on her friends than for an ordinary walk.” A lady should “never lay aside her bonnet during a formal call even

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VIS-À-VIS

VIS-À-VIS

Body painted dark olive green, green gear. Trimmed in dark green. The vis-à-vis was known as the sociable in England and appears with a panel body (as in this example) or with a basket-work body. When it was properly turned out, it was formally horsed with two horses of fifteen hands each and carried either one or two “trim dapper servants,” the groom being a trifle smaller and shorter, as it was not good taste to have the groom or footman show more height on the box than the coachman. Given by

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PRIVATE OMNIBUS

PRIVATE OMNIBUS

Body painted dark olive green, green gear. Trimmed in green leather. The omnibus, one of the larger carriage types, was intended for owner driving as well as coachman driving and could be used with two horses; three horses abreast with an adjustment of the two poles, and for long distances over heavy country roads; or (even though it did not class as a proper four-in-hand vehicle) with four horses. At coursing and race meets, the omnibus made an admirable and roomy grandstand. The lazyback and c

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CALÈCHE

CALÈCHE

Body painted dark olive green, green gear. Trimmed in morocco leather and broadcloth. The calèche was a grand carriage and belonged to the “state” order. As Francis Underhill wrote in 1896: “It is not at all suited unless the stable be supplied ... with numerous carriages. It is intended simply for the most formal calling or for park work.” The horses required were of the finest breeding, perfectly matched and with faultless manners. The harness was elaborate and included breeching (that part of

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BERLIN

BERLIN

Body painted dark olive green with deeper green trim, green gear. Trimmed in green silk satin. One of the first carriage forms, the berlin was invented about 1660 in Germany, and much used on the European Continent for royal traveling with two or four horses, two men on the box, two grooms standing on the rear, and out-riders for protection. When the berlin here illustrated was harnessed à la grande daumont, the box was removed by loosening the bolts, and the mounted postillions then drove from

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CARROLL COACH

CARROLL COACH

Black with white striping; gear is black with yellow striping. Trimming: gold-on-gold damask. An unusually fine example of a private coach of the mid-19th century, made to carry six persons in addition to the coachman and footman. The woodcarving trim on this coach, which originally was owned by George W. Carroll of Carrollton, Isle of Wight County, Virginia, is of especial note. The carved double leaf motif is in keeping with the size of the coach. The Coach Makers’ Illustrated Hand-Book in its

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FORMAL COACH

FORMAL COACH

Body painted dark green with black top. Trimmed in dark green leather and broadcloth with dark green padded satin ceiling. Traditionally, one of the first carriages in England was the coach brought out of the Netherlands by a Dutchman as a gift to Queen Elizabeth “who had been seven years a queen before she had any coach.” The coach through the years maintained its place as the “chief of every class,” and so while many vehicle-constructing concerns could add the designation—“carriagebuilder”—aft

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IRISH JAUNTING CAR

IRISH JAUNTING CAR

Body and wheels painted black. Also known as outside car, Irish side car, jogging cart. In 1889, the Duke of Beaufort writing his volume on Driving for the Badminton Library Series pointed out that “the outside car, so common in the land of Ireland itself, has made little way elsewhere. It may be described as a dog cart body hung sideways, but the similitude goes no further, for it is suspended on a pair of low wheels which revolve inside, or rather under the body.... The driver sometimes sits o

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HANSOM CAB

HANSOM CAB

Body painted black; gear painted red. Trimmed in black leather. Joseph Hansom, the inventor, patented this type of cab (which is the shortened form of cabriolet) in 1834. Forder, another coachbuilder, redesigned it in 1873 and it became a popular carriage for hire, both in this country and in even greater numbers in England where it was known as the “gondola of London.” Limited amounts of luggage could be carried on top of the cab and in the space between the apron and dashboard. This hansom, as

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ROAD COACH “LIBERTY”

ROAD COACH “LIBERTY”

Body painted maroon and black, red wheels. Trimmed in leather. This famous road coach LIBERTY was built in Paris by Million et Guiet and is a reproduction of the old royal mail coaches used in England. It was built especially for Mr. James Hazen Hyde, one of the outstanding “whips” of the coaching revival, who had it brought over here and ran it as a public road coach from Holland House in New York city to Laurel-in-the-Pines, Lakewood, New Jersey. In 1901 Mr. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and Mr. Hy

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PARK DRAG

PARK DRAG

Body painted dark olive green, green gear. Interior trimming is in green leather; exterior trimming is in tan cord. The park drag resembles the road coach but is a lighter vehicle and is intended for four-in-hand driving by the owner-coachman for his own amusement and that of his friends. The Coaching Club of New York each year sponsored Meets for their members. Sometimes these drives occupied an hour or so and the coaches returned to point of departure and there separated; on other occasions th

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ROAD COACH “DEFIANCE”

ROAD COACH “DEFIANCE”

Body painted black with red gear. Varnished interior; wicker seats. The DEFIANCE was built by Brewster and Company, New York for Mr. C. Ledyard Blair, father of the donor, and belonged to him over a period of nearly 50 years. Originally painted in his colors, primrose and black, the coach was driven in many parades and on coaching club trips. In 1935 Mr. Blair presented this coach to Mr. Richard V. N. Gambrill, husband of the donor, and at that time it was repainted in the regular Gambrill color

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SKELETON BREAK

SKELETON BREAK

Body and gear painted bright yellow with black. The skeleton break (or brake) was used to exercise the four-in-hand team and also for breaking the team to harness. The driver’s seat was placed high and this offered him some protection in his dangerous task of putting-to and subduing the horses when they first commenced their team work. Youngsters or fresh horses would be put-to in double harness to a break with an old and reliable specially trained “break horse” or “schoolmaster.” An additional

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BODY BREAK WITH PERCH

BODY BREAK WITH PERCH

Body painted dark olive green, green gear. Trimmed in tan cord. The break (or brake) was a most useful adjunct to establishments where four horses were kept, as it could be used to exercise the team, or as an alternative to the road coach for four-in-hand work when the road coach or drag would be considered too “dressy.” This type of break was also known as a wagonette break. It was most often used with four horses, although in the country the unicorn team (three horses, one leader and two wheel

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THREE-SEAT SURREY

THREE-SEAT SURREY

Body painted dark green, green gear. Trimmed in tan canvas. Because of its great popularity the surrey was stocked even at mail-order houses during the latter part of the 19th and early years of the 20th century. As today there is an automobile for each American, no matter what his financial standing, so in those days there was a carriage manufactured especially for his needs, and one of the mail-order houses advertised that its volume of business was so great that it expected to make only $1 pr

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EXTENSION-TOP SURREY

EXTENSION-TOP SURREY

Body painted dark olive green, striped with red. Trimmed in black. The extension top used on this surrey was later incorporated into the early auto designs. This surrey was built in Burlington, Vermont by J. R. and J. H. Lockwood and was used in and around this community for many years by the Wells family, who were connected with the manufacture of dyes and patent medicine. The Wells and Richardson Company commenced business in 1872 and seven years later began an intensive advertising program fo

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DEPOT WAGON OR CURTAIN ROCKAWAY

DEPOT WAGON OR CURTAIN ROCKAWAY

Body painted black with red gear. Trimmed in black broadcloth. There were many types of rockaways, but the distinguishing feature of this vehicle is the roof which projected over the driver, assuring him of some protection in inclement weather. This depot wagon or curtain rockaway also has the enameled leather curtains which could be rolled up on fine days, and yet dropped quickly for protection if caught out in a shower. After a rain storm, the curtains were dressed with sweet or sperm-oil rubb

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COUPÉ ROCKAWAY

COUPÉ ROCKAWAY

Dark green, striped with red. Trimmed with leather seat, green satin roof interior and padded seat back. The rockaway was a popular close carriage of both the affluent and not so wealthy American family; in the year 1900, for instance, only 846 broughams (a comparable close carriage) were built as compared with 3,166 rockaways turned out that year. This vehicle is elegantly fitted out with leather card case, as well as clock case built into the interior lining. It was used by the Wells family of

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SIX-PASSENGER ROCKAWAY

SIX-PASSENGER ROCKAWAY

Body painted dark green. Trimmed in eggshell corded broadcloth, embroidered with green leaf motif on corded silk fabric. Although in excellent condition, this rockaway is one of the older vehicles in the collection and was used prior to 1858 by Gen. J. Watson Webb. His daughter Catherine married James G. Benton of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department in 1858, and the Bentons used the rockaway when they lived in Washington, D. C. Benton, a West Point graduate, was the author of many valuable reports

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BUCKBOARD PHAETON

BUCKBOARD PHAETON

Natural color varnished body. Trimmed in tan cord, black leather top. This buckboard was made by Joubert &amp; White of Glens Falls, New York and was used by Dr. Webb in this community for many years. The natural varnished body was a deceptively simple vehicle finish. In the Coachmaker’s Illustrated Handbook , published in 1875, the chapter on painting pointed out the hazards of the clear varnish finish: “The varnish can crawl, run, enamel, pit, blotch, sag down and hang on the lower edge; s

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PONY BUCKBOARD

PONY BUCKBOARD

Natural varnished body, yellow gear striped in black. Trimmed in brown corduroy. This buckboard was used by the Webb children and was pony-drawn. It was made by J. B. Dubuc who was the Shelburne town blacksmith, and whose smithy is now located at the museum, having been moved to the grounds in January of 1956 from its location next to the railroad tracks. Dubuc came to Shelburne in 1869 from Canada and with his capital of $55 and his trade as a blacksmith set himself up in business. He was the o

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DOUBLE BUCKBOARD

DOUBLE BUCKBOARD

Body painted black; gear painted red. Trimmed in brown leather. The true buckboard has been defined as a light four-wheeled vehicle in which the body and springs are replaced by long, elastic boards, supported at the ends directly by the axles. The driver’s comfort, as well as that of his passengers, depended upon the resiliency of the boards themselves, and the buckboard proved a far more comfortable vehicle for long trips than might be expected. This buckboard was used at the Kildare Club in t

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TRIPLE BUCKBOARD

TRIPLE BUCKBOARD

Body and gear in natural varnish finish. Trimmed with black leather. Single and double buckboards are often found, but this triple buckboard is considered a rare example. It was made for Dr. E. D. Ferguson of Troy, New York about 1885 to his order in Glens Falls, New York. It descended to his grandson, the little boy sitting with his mother in the rear seat of the buckboard in the old photo below, who gave it to the museum in 1953. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Everard Childs, Manchester, Vermont

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RACING SULKY

RACING SULKY

Framework and wheels painted yellow. This type of two-wheel cart was used for exercising and racing trotting horses. Built as light as possible with practically no body work, these sulkies were really mere frames supporting the single seat. From mid-19th century, trotting parks and race tracks were established in the New England states. These were the natural outgrowth of the impromptu brushes between drivers on the road. The trot is the most comfortable for the driver and the easiest gait for t

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SKELETON WAGON

SKELETON WAGON

Body and wheels painted red. This light racing cart was found in Westford, Vermont and shows the webbed seat and pencil-slim spokes of the early skeleton wagon. Rural communities here in Vermont have enjoyed harness racing for many years, and Bertha Oppenheim ( Winged Seed ) depicted the Fourth of July races held in the early years of this century in Ferrisburg, a small community just south of the Shelburne Museum. The brass band had been engaged far in advance; ice cream and lemonade were on sa

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TUB CART

TUB CART

Natural color varnish; metal-rimmed ties. Trimmed in brown leather. Each of the Webb children in turn learned to drive in this little cart dating from about 1883 and made to Dr. Webb’s specifications by a local wheelwright. Wheelwrights often made entire vehicles and served as village carpenters. Wheel-making consisted of several processes—the hub was first turned by hand lathe and then mortised to take the spokes. Felloes or fellies (the wooden outer rim of the wheel), cut by the bow saw and ad

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KENTUCKY BREAKING CART

KENTUCKY BREAKING CART

Body painted red. Trimmed with brown leather. Not a carriage in the true meaning of the word, this type of vehicle was intended solely for breaking horses. The very long shafts kept the float body and its occupant at a comfortable distance from the heels of the young horse being schooled, and because of the placement of the seat, the driver was given better control and greater security. This cart could also be used for exercising horses. Manufactured by the H. H. Babcock Company of Watertown, Ne

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CONCORD WAGON

CONCORD WAGON

Body originally painted old blue color. The concord wagon was the name given to this type of vehicle, although companies other than the Concord, New Hampshire firm of Downing and Abbot manufactured them. In 1813 Lewis Downing started building vehicles in Concord. He formed a partnership with Stephen Abbot, which was later dissolved. Abbot continued manufacturing vehicles and later a new company, Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire was formed. Stage coaches, mountain wagons, horse-dra

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PLEASURE WAGON

PLEASURE WAGON

Green, red wheels, picked out with black. This vehicle, with its light green acorn stencilled pattern, is one of the oldest carriages in this collection. It was licensed in 1815 in Vergennes, Vermont by Beldon Seymour. It is of hand construction and follows the principles of early framing with the use of mortising and pegging the parts together. This carriage transported President James Monroe during his tour of the Northern States in July of 1817, and Commodore MacDonough of Lake Champlain fame

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CANADIAN CALÈCHE

CANADIAN CALÈCHE

Body painted black; red and yellow striping; light grey wheels. Trimming: beige broadcloth with beige lace. The Canadian calèche differs greatly from the French calèche, which is a four-wheeled vehicle. The body of this two-wheeled Canadian example rests upon leather braces which are suspended from C-shaped supports. This vehicle displays an extensive use of striping for decoration, but in a restrained manner. “The variety of styles in striping are limited,” said I. D. Ware in his instructions t

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MOUNTAIN WAGON

MOUNTAIN WAGON

Body painted very dark green, striped in red; gear black. Trimmed in black leather. This mountain wagon was originally owned by the Mount Pleasant Hotel up in the Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. At the turn of the century, these elegant resort hotels in the White mountains used these wagons to take their guests to the summit where an elaborate picnic lunch was served to them. Note the hand brake—it is exceptionally sturdy, for one of these vehicles carrying its full quota of passengers weighed a

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BARGE

BARGE

Green and yellow body, yellow gear. Lettering Lady Oxford in straw color shadow-outlined in red (recently repainted) . Mr. Jabez W. Peterson, 75 years old in 1954, was the driver of this barge from 1908 to 1918 when it carried passengers to the Brant Rock Beach section from the Marshfield, Massachusetts depot. The barge was built in Concord, New Hampshire by the Abbot-Downing Company and was one of 6 or 8 that regularly plied the beach circuit. Baggage was carried free, and the income from this

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SCHROON LAKE CONCORD COACH

SCHROON LAKE CONCORD COACH

Body painted yellow with orange trim. Interior is russet leather. The Concord coaches have become a more familiar sight, perhaps, to the youngsters of today than to their parents, for television with its Wild West movies has made the Concord the trademark of the west. The opening of the gold fields in California—the Comstock Lode, the Nevada silver camps—the famous Wells Fargo saga—all these were made possible because of the Concord coach. The men who drove the coaches and their exploits have be

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CONCORD MUD WAGON

CONCORD MUD WAGON

Body painted Indian red, remnants of yellow paint on gear. This type Concord, known as the California mud wagon or poor man’s Concord, incorporated the same principles of construction found in the finer Concords, but the joinery was done in a simpler manner and the body was shaped with flat sides instead of the egg shape of the regular Concords. This mud wagon was used in Herkimer County, New York and was probably built by Abbot and Downing, for it is identical with their style number 208....

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HIGHLAND & ALPINE HOUSE CONCORD COACH

HIGHLAND & ALPINE HOUSE CONCORD COACH

Red with gold and black trim; interior is heavy crimson mohair. This coach, completed April 5, 1852, was used by the Highland and Alpine hotels in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In blurred pencil markings on the inside door where the lining has fallen away can still be seen the names of the men who worked on this coach—John L. French, wheelwright; William L. Pearson, trimmer; John Bergum, painter. Great care was lavished on the painting of the scrolls, striping and decorative scenes on th

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Bibliography

Bibliography

Adams, William Bridges , English Pleasure Carriages, London, England 1837 Beaufort, Duke of , Driving, Badminton Series, London, England 1889 Belloc, Hilaire , Highway and its Vehicles, London, England 1926 Burgess, James W. , Practical Treatise on Coach Building, London, England 1881 Downing, Paul H. , Carriage Gallery at the New York Historical Society, New York Historical Society Quarterly, October 1950 Earle, Alice Morse , Stage Coach and Tavern Days, New York 1900 Felton, William , A Treati

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Catalog of Vehicles at Shelburne Museum

Catalog of Vehicles at Shelburne Museum

Note —Sleighs, commercial and farm wagons, miniatures, and fire equipment will be included in subsequent publications....

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