GOING, GOING, GONE:

                               ANIMAL-DRAWN VEHICLES, PART ONE

                             (Source of images: Florida State Archives)

CLICK HERE for more muscle-powered vehicles

CLICK HERE for three other animal-drawn conveyances

TOP PICTURE -- What an interesting way to go to school!  Hopefully, an ocean breeze cooled things down in this old-fashioned school bus.  Some Duval County students rode in horse-drawn wagonettes during the late 1800s.  This vehicle gathered students in Pablo Beach (Jacksonville Beach) in 1898.

MIDDLE PICTURE -- Bananas & pineapples make up a bountiful wagonload for this African American driver.  The hand-colored photo dates from the early 1900s, and it reportedly shows a Jacksonville scene.

TOP PICTURE -- If a circus wagon rolled through downtown Jax today, no doubt it would garner a lot of attention.  This one must have done so in October 1938.  Most likely, the picture shows the visit that month by the Robbins Circus, which gave the city its first circus parade in years.  Too bad the photo isn't in color. 

BE KIND TO ANIMALS -- In the days of our great grandparents, vehicles were often pulled by horses, mules, and oxen.  On special occasions, Jacksonville carts might even be towed by ostriches, goats, or gators!  Many Floridians did treat their work animals with respect.  The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals operated in the state, and it reaped some results.  In 1915, for example, a Jacksonville president of the group arrested a hack driver for beating his horse.  (A hack is a carriage used as a taxi.)  Authorities revoked the abuser's drivers license, and he received a sentence of 30 days at the county prison farm.

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