Noyes Piano Box Buggy, circa 1910
Add to SetSummary
Factory-built buggies made the pleasures of carriage ownership affordable for a new group of people. Whether in town or on the farm, people loved these inexpensive, lightweight vehicles. The piano box buggy -- named for its resemblance to 19th-century square pianos -- was the most popular of all. Buggy owners quickly became accustomed to the freedom and control offered by personal vehicles. …
Factory-built buggies made the pleasures of carriage ownership affordable for a new group of people. Whether in town or on the farm, people loved these inexpensive, lightweight vehicles. The piano box buggy -- named for its resemblance to 19th-century square pianos -- was the most popular of all. Buggy owners quickly became accustomed to the freedom and control offered by personal vehicles.
Affordable lightweight piano box buggies offered turn-of-the-20th-century Americans more freedom. The Noyes Carriage Company in Elkhart, Indiana built this horse-drawn buggy in the first decades of 1900s -- a period when automobile production began to expand. Both modes of transportation coexisted during this period. The company, whose business doubled between 1903 and 1910, likely found customers in rural areas and among the many commercial firms who used horse-drawn vehicles. This success would not continue however. As the century wore on motorized vehicles would rule the road. In 1914 automobile production finally surpassed buggy and carriage production and by the mid-1920s the Noyes Carriage Company was out of business.
Artifact
Buggy (Carriage)
Date Made
circa 1910
Keywords
On Exhibit
at Henry Ford Museum in Driving America
Object ID
86.68.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ruth Holmes.
Material
Wood (Plant Material)
Paint (Coating)
Metal
Leather
Color
Brown
Black (Color)
Dimensions
Height: 84 in
Width: 61.5 in
Length: 105 in
Wheelbase: 62.5 in
Diameter: 44 in (Wheel Diameter)
Diameter: 40.25 in (Wheel Diameter)
Inscriptions
Plate on rear of body: NOYES CARRIAGE CO. / ELKHART,---IND.
Specifications
Make & Model: Noyes piano box buggy, about 1910
Maker: Noyes Carriage Company, Elkhart, Indiana
Height: 84 inches
Width: 61.5 inches
Wheelbase: 60 inches
Overall length: 105 inches
Number of horses: 1
Number of passengers: 2
Price: approximately $60
Average 1910 wage: $574
Time you'd work to buy this buggy: about 1 month
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