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Friday, June 5, 2009 at 1:05PM
Timebinder in BEAST DRIVEN VEHICLE, VOCATIONS

This collection is replete with the horse-powered delivery vehicles that were as ubiquitous as internal combustion vehicles today; you had to be careful crossing the street but the "by product" made work for street cleaners and was more useful (though you imagine the atmosphere could be heady on a warm day since catalytic converters for horses never made it to market).

We think more often of residential milk and ice delivery by wagon, but fresh vegetable vendors were making their rounds in urban areas in season. Here is W. Cormly's butcher rig from the Pompton region of New Jersey in the 19th century (as early as 1870, or maybe later); it is nicely painted; the horses have a corded blanket-like drapery that I have never seen (I'm no expert on horse gear and have no idea what purpose it may have served beyond adornment – the pinstriping of the day?). This original print showed a partial view of a canopied buggy at the far left, but the condition of that portion was too damaged for any quality restoration.

Article originally appeared on Antique Photography & Photo Collecting (http://timebinder.net/).
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