In the 19th century the horse carriage was a four-wheeled horse drawn passenger vehicle, often of elegant design. Throughout the 1800s the manufacture of the horse carriage was an important industry. The light four-wheeled buggy with open sides was mass produced from the mid- 19th century until the popularity of the bicycle and the horseless carriage (automobile) took over in the 1890s. The "carriage trade" referred to the wealthy patrons or customers of a store who arrived in their elegant horse carriages.
The Victorian wicker baby carriage was popular for mothers in the second half of the 19th century. Wicker companies such as Heywood Brothers and the Wakefield Rattan Company, abounded in the 1880s making carriages to transport babies and toddlers. Today antique baby carriages are favored by wicker collectors, doll collectors and photographers.
The Well-Appointed Victorian Carriage
At the end of the nineteenth century, affluent Victorian women took great interest in the appointments and accessories of their carriages.
