Coaches, Carriages & Carts covers the first hundred years of Australia’s initial land transport conveyances. It is a wonderful history of a period, which sadly has been overlooked with our current forms of landtransport. All kinds of wheeled vehicles - Hansom cabs, Charabancs, Horse-trams, Wagonettes and Jingles - moved the masses to work six days a week and on weekends, took them to picnics and sightseeing. Little visual or written evidence remains of this period in Australia’s history, and very few representative collections of vehicles have been developed to inform and educate. This book will in some way overcome this lack of exposure to the days of horse, carriage and cart, allowing our current generation a unique insight into an enthralling period in our transport history.

Entertaining guidebook offers wealth of information about horses, harnesses, coaches, stables and liveries. Over 100 captioned photographs of carts, landaus, phaetons, broughams, more.

A history of coaches and carriages.

Horse-drawn vehicles are the foundation of modern transportation. These vehicles produced many innovations used today, such as the spring. Other than observing a horse put to a carriage, there are proper ways to identify these vehicles and their unique characteristics. One style of driving, called "four-in-hand", required the training of four-horses and exercising them well in order to pull large, heavy coaches with many passengers or freight. These vehicles, designed for working horses, gave way to many styles of sporting vehicles and pleasure vehicles. And in turn, as it became fashionable for a lady to drive in public, the distinctions among carriages were drawn even further between which carriages were suitable for a lady and which carriages were suitable for a gentleman. Just as there were many types of carriages and types of coaches, there were also various ways to hold the reins, types of a harness, and variety of breeds to choose from for putting to a coach or carriage. Come explore the type, use, design, and industry of coaches and carriages.

This reprint of a rare catalog contains descriptions, prices, and finely detailed engravings of customized models of a curtain coach, child's chaise, light French coupe, cabriolet, six-seat beach wagon, Portland sleigh, and many other vehicles. Rich source of royalty-free art as well as an intriguing browse.