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The one directly above is a 'specialty' wagon. It has an old Piano at one end, and a Saloon Bar at the other. Behind the wall sits an old copper sitting bath! This was surely in the Americana class with appropriately costumed riders and drivers aboard.
This old wagon is 103 years old, it has its original paint and ironwork. Supposedly it was used to haul freight in and out of San Francisco in 1906- surprisingly it survived the Big Quake!
This Concord style coach was restored in 1998. It is in beautiful condition, with the thick leather springs holding the coach suspended between the fore and aft wheels. The only thing holding this body to the frame was two heavy leather straps attached to the main frame. This coach sat on the leather springs, and it's weight held it down. Boy did it rock up and down- truely a ship of the desert. It also had its original ironwork and hubs.
This milk wagon must have been restored also, but I found it interesting that the wheels had rubber tires- obviously it was in service into the early 1900's. Coal, Ice and Milk were still delivered by horses into the early 40's.
This is a Fire Hose carrier from the Pennsylvania Fire Co. It was in great shape, and even held some fire hose,folded much like the hoses are folded into the modern fire trucks today.
The Tack was amazing as well. Some teams had really fancy tack and tack boxes, like these from Waring Percheron's. Each set weighs well over two hundred lbs apiece. The collar alone can weight 100 lbs. I think they look a little like artwork. Imagine- these pieces of harness have to be cleaned and polished every time they are used!And they are used at least twice a day during the Classic Show!
Not everyone has such fancy rigs or holders. These collars were placed above the stall along a wall.
And these plywood boxes kept the tack clean and neat and relatively dust free for another team.
Here is a close up look at the Gypsy Cart. It has been restored too, and featured gold leafing on all of the decoration.Even the single tree is painted and gold leafed!
This old wagon was completely restored, oiled and polished. It was beautifully made from Oak, and when you got near it you could smell the wax and oil. Umm!! Notice the larger back wheel. That stabilizes the rig, so the smaller front wheels can spin almost 360 degrees around, which is helpful when you have to 'swing' a team left or right.
