Search
- Child's Albany Cutter Sleigh, circa 1873 - Sledding became a popular winter activity for children during the 19th century. The most elaborate children's sleds were smaller versions of full-sized horse-drawn sleighs of the period. Though commercially produced sleds became widely available, this elaborate sleigh was built by Stephen Isch of Buffalo, New York, for his son, Rudolph about 1873. It was designed to be pulled by a dog.
- circa 1873
- Collections - Artifact
Child's Albany Cutter Sleigh, circa 1873
Sledding became a popular winter activity for children during the 19th century. The most elaborate children's sleds were smaller versions of full-sized horse-drawn sleighs of the period. Though commercially produced sleds became widely available, this elaborate sleigh was built by Stephen Isch of Buffalo, New York, for his son, Rudolph about 1873. It was designed to be pulled by a dog.
- Cutter Sleigh, circa 1830 - Cutters, two-passenger sleighs, provided reliable wintertime transportation in the pre-railroad northern United States. This particular style was developed in Portland, Maine, in the 1830s and is sometimes referred to as a "Portland cutter." Given the poor condition of early American roads, travel could be easier in the cold months when ice and snow smoothed and hardened otherwise muddy routes.
- circa 1830
- Collections - Artifact
Cutter Sleigh, circa 1830
Cutters, two-passenger sleighs, provided reliable wintertime transportation in the pre-railroad northern United States. This particular style was developed in Portland, Maine, in the 1830s and is sometimes referred to as a "Portland cutter." Given the poor condition of early American roads, travel could be easier in the cold months when ice and snow smoothed and hardened otherwise muddy routes.
- Trade Card for the Kalamazoo Wagon Co., 1880-1900 - Late-nineteenth-century manufacturers used trade cards to promote and sell products. These colorful advertisements also reflected the racial prejudices of the time. Card illustrators typically depicted African Americans with enlarged or distorted features, either wearing colorful clothes or dressed as servants, and often involved in some comical mishap. These depictions affirmed the discriminatory biases that many white Americans -- the consumers of these cards -- held.
- 1880-1900
- Collections - Artifact
Trade Card for the Kalamazoo Wagon Co., 1880-1900
Late-nineteenth-century manufacturers used trade cards to promote and sell products. These colorful advertisements also reflected the racial prejudices of the time. Card illustrators typically depicted African Americans with enlarged or distorted features, either wearing colorful clothes or dressed as servants, and often involved in some comical mishap. These depictions affirmed the discriminatory biases that many white Americans -- the consumers of these cards -- held.
- Perren Speeding Cutter, after 1895 - Winter didn't stop the fun for 19th-century horse racing enthusiasts. They simply hitched their energetic trotting horses to speeding cutters like this one. Abraham E. Perren, a carriage and sleigh maker in snowy Buffalo, New York, built this speeding cutter for Everett L. Smith of Westborough, Massachusetts. Smith used the cutter frequently in wintertime trotting races.
- 1895-1900
- Collections - Artifact
Perren Speeding Cutter, after 1895
Winter didn't stop the fun for 19th-century horse racing enthusiasts. They simply hitched their energetic trotting horses to speeding cutters like this one. Abraham E. Perren, a carriage and sleigh maker in snowy Buffalo, New York, built this speeding cutter for Everett L. Smith of Westborough, Massachusetts. Smith used the cutter frequently in wintertime trotting races.