Sunday, September 28, 2014

Tidbits About Carriages

A couple years ago I self-published a book "19th Century Carriages & Wagons A Writer's Resource Guide." In the book I have several photos and illustrations of what various Carriages from different parts of the century looked like. Today we can still find carriages in Central Park, Savannah, St. Augustine and a host of other historical places to visit. What you find are fancier carriages, don't get me wrong, padded cushions were developed during the 19th Century, it's just that we have things like foam rubber to pad the seats and our backsides that our 19th Century counterparts did not have.

Today I thought I'd share a couple of photographs and tidbits between a type of single passenger carriages (some had room for two) that look similar but each had a different purpose.

The first is a Sulky.
Sulkies were primarily used for racing. But they were also common for a single gentleman to go to and fro.







The next is a Gig. These were designed for quick travel. Some had places to carry luggage.


The Chair is similar to the Gig but a wee bit heavier in the build.

The Chaise is a bit fancier built to take one around the city in comfort. This image is actually a Lady's Chaise from France note the dash in the front to keep a ladies attire clean and to make certain the wind doesn't blow up the skirt.


And last is the Cart it is a modified sulky, keeping it light but also allowing the user some place for storage.
Here is an example of an 1890 mail cart.

Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 40 years. Lynn's newest novel "Winning the Captain's Heart" was released a couple months ago. It is the first in her Historical St. Augustine, FL. series. In Nov. the second novel of the series will be released. If you are interested in 19th Century Carriages & Wagons follow the enclosed link.
Check out her 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog if you like exploring different tidbits of history. a Rafflecopter giveaway

12 comments:

  1. Awesome! Thanks for sharing the pictures and explaining the differences!

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  2. Interesting! My husband used to drive the large stage coach ones for shows in Chicago. He had to dress up like the time period. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Great post, Lynn! So very interesting! Thank you for sharing!

    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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  4. I love seeing pictures of these old buggies. Thanks for sharing them and explaining the difference.

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  5. I enjoyed these carriage tidbits! Thank you for sharing, Lynn!

    texaggs2000 at gmail dot com

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  6. This was very interesting - makes me appreciate being able to drive a car!

    lindajhutchins@gmail.com

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    1. I totally agree, Linda. I do like being a modern girl who writes historicals, not living them.

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