170 YEARS AGO, Thursday, June 28, 1838
At seventeen minutes past three o’clock a Royal salute of twenty-one guns announced that the Sun was then rising upon the joyous day, when the Crown of these great realms was to be placed upon the head of the most popular and beloved Sovereign.
The whole metropolis was literally awakened and presented a scene of bustle and excitement rarely if ever equalled.
At four o’clock, the streets were so thronged with carriages and pedestrians that they were in many places impassable, and the (...)

The United Kingdom from 1819 to 1837
Alexandrina Victoria of Kent was born at Kensington Palace, London on 24th may 1819.
Her father was Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, fourth son of George III. ; Her mother was the Princess Victoria of Saxe-Cobourg-Saalfeld.
Her godfather was the Emperor of Russia, Alexander I, in whose honour she received her first name.
In 1836, when she was just seventeen, Princess Victoria met her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Prince Albert was Victoria’s first cousin ; his father was her mother’s brother, Ernst.
On 28th june 1837, Victoria (...)

Shafts
In the 19th century, children’s carriages were made to fit a variety of dog breeds and many photographs show proud children with their dog carriages. These toy dog carriages were hitched to Chihuahuas, Jack Russell Terriers, Miniature Poodles, sheep dogs, farm dogs, retrievers, Great Danes, Saint Bernard’s, and etc. It appears that in the 19th century, children’s dog carriages were as common as children’s pedal cars are today. Obviously, parents one hundred years ago had similar views about children learning to drive. Small children should be encouraged to learn about driving, but (...)

Today, there are four types of canine cart harnesses used in North America and in Australia. They are the breast harness, siwash (sled racing harness), dorsal hitch harness, and rigid collar and hames.
The breast harness is easy to make and to fit. It is the similar to the horse breast harness.
The Rigid Collar and Hames allows for more efficient pulling from the shoulder area than the breast harness. The "rigid collar and hames" is the hardest draft harness to fit to a dog. Today, this harness type is not commonly used with draft dogs. In past centuries, the breast harness and (...)

Prior to the 1920s, the most common harnesses used with cart dogs were the breast harness and the rigid collar and hames harness. Both types of harness are familiar to people who drive horse carriages. The breast harness (figure 1) is fairly simple to make. It can be made of strong leather or nylon straps. The straps should be at least an inch and half wide. The harness needs to be padded across the chest and back. Real or fake sheepskin fleece works fine as padding. When you make the harness, remember to make the inside surfaces smooth so the harness will not chaff the dog’s skin. (...)

by Rebecca Morris
Click on the bellow pictures ( associated to this article) to read the full article as published in the Carriage Journal and ZOOM to get it full size....
Bibliography:
John Bartram, Observations on the Inhabitants, Climate, Soil, Rivers, Productions, Animals, and Other Matters, 1751.
Editors: Jan Bapist Bedaux and Rudi Ekkart, Pride and Joy, Children’s Portraits in the Netherlands 1500-1700, 2000, Harry N. Abrams Inc., Amsterdam. ISBN: 0-8109-6730-8. Page 225, 246, 247, 279, 283.
Dame Juliana Berners (Barnes or Bernes), Boke of St. Albans. 1486
Chatsworth House (...)

Newsletter May 2008
With this Newsletter we inform you periodically about issues related with our activities on carriages-restorations. If you can’t read this newsletter properly, you can also look here “The White Coronation Calèche” News on the White Coronation Calèche, restored by us, better known as “The Crème Calèche”!
Until the first of November 2008 the carriage is expositioned at the National Carriage Museum at Leek, this time with the gold plated sculptured group. Read more about this exceptional Royal White Calèche in the article published in the most prominent international (...)