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.
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