Cars, Trucks, Vans, Cabs, and other Victorian WordsPaul Campbell

A handsome Hansom Cab with a handsome Hansom driver, circa 1880's.

You might think that cars, trucks, and vans would have no place in the Victorian world. When we hear these terms, we immediately drum up images of modern automobiles. Indeed, these modern contrivances would have been unheard of by our Victorian peers, who traveled largely by the power of horses or, later on, by steam. While all this is true, the idea of a motor-car was fairly well-known by 1893. The first 'self-movers' or 'auto-mobiles' were called motor-cars up until fairly recently. You might have even heard your grandparents use 'motor-car' or 'auto' a time or two. We can easily deduce that the prefix 'motor' was added to differentiate the motor-car from any other type of car. In the Victorian era, cars, trucks, vans, and cabs were everywhere, but they looked quite a bit different than they do today.

The First Automobile

The machine that began the automobile revolution was invented by a man named Carl Benz, of Mercedes Benz fame, and would be hardly recognizable today as such. Patented on January 29, 1886, the first 'vehicle powered by a gas engine' was actually a motorized tricycle. This patent is considered the official birth of the automobile, making Mercedes Benz the oldest automobile manufacturer in the world.

In 1893, the same year in which the Callahan Chronicles begin, Carl Benz patented the double-pivot steering system, which solved one of the most difficult problems that self-moving cars faced; reliable steering. It was the start of a new era, but it would not be until 1894 that the first production run of the Benz Velo was produced. Approximately 1,200 of these cars were created, and the reign of the automobile had begun.

The Benz Velo, produced from 1894-1898, topping out at a whopping 15 horsepower

As motor-cars became more common, and other types of cars became less common, the 'motor' prefix from 'motor-car' was eventually dropped. Today, any usage of the word 'car' auto-matically applies to an auto-mobile (and usually an auto-matic, at that. Get it? Maybe I 'auto' stop with these puns....). Before the rise of the motor-car, the word 'car' simply meant a vehicle for transportation. A few vestiges of this still remain, such as trolley car or train car. The complete original word from which 'car' is derived might summon up more reliable Victorian imagery: Carriage. And there were a lot of different kinds.

Th Hansom cab (short for 'cabriolet') is one of the smallest and most iconic London carriage, though there were dozens of other types of carriages as well.

Yes, the word 'car' is simply a shortened version of the word 'carriage' or, to be specific, 'carry-age': that which is being carried. While we might assume cars are modern inventions, 'car' is a term for a conveyance which dates all the way back to Medieval times. By the Victorian era, this original definition of car was all-but-forgotten, replaced with more specific terms for different types of carriages. The suffix '-age' has multiple meanings, often denoting the action, result, or object of a verb. Thus, luggage denotes what is lugged or carried. Baggage denotes that which is bagged. A carriage is what carries or conveys (hence the word 'conveyance,' another synonym of 'vehicle'). Other, more obvious examples would include 'storage,' 'usage,' and 'passage.' The last is most similar, since 'passage' can denote both the act of passing and the opening where one passes. Thus, carriage can be both the act of carrying or the means by which something is carried.

Without diving too deeply into the grammatical etymology and complexities of the English language, we can easily see that the Victorian era was filled with cars—or carriages—of all kinds.

Victorian Truckers

No, I'm not talking about that guy you passed on I-40 driving an 18-wheeler with a top hat and goggles. Before the invention of pick-up trucks, the word 'truck' was most often used as a verb. By now, you should have picked up on the fact that 'pick-up' is used to specify a certain type of truck among others, just like the word 'motor-car.' Even though we still have box-trucks and semi-trucks, we rarely specify the type. Life comes at you fast, and who has time to add in those two extra syllables, when we've mostly forgotten about any other kind of trucking?

A Victorian hand-truck, not too different from modern types

The most common type of truck in 1893 is still rather common today; the hand-truck. Yes, this small, two-wheeled device, used for transporting stoves, refrigerators, washers, dryers, and all manner of furniture, is technically also a truck.

Since the eighteenth century, the word 'truck' has been used to describe either the act of moving commercial goods or a heavy-duty vehicle used to do the moving. Victorian truckers would have mostly worked on the docks or railyards, unloading cargo ships and trains, then moving the cargo into warehouses or boxcars. Often, large wheeled platforms would be used to haul the merchandise around the yards, pushed by hand or pulled by horses, and these were also called trucks. Railway trucks were much the same: low, flat platforms on wheels, smaller than a full train car. Railway trucks were used to transport rails, cross-ties, and other equipment to the men working on the lines, like the one seen below.

Van Go! (No Vincent required)

Plot twist: the word 'mini-van' is strictly modern. Victorian vans were large, boxy, horse-drawn vehicles. The police used them. A police van or paddy-wagon was used for transporting prisoners. Vans were used for deliveries, traveling workmen, and peddlers. They were sturdy, economical machines that kept goods dry in inclement weather and could be locked up for protection. Another type of van was the coffin-van. I don't have to tell you what it carried.

A genuine Victorian van. It's even labeled. This workhouse van was likely used to transport day-workers to and from the factories which hired them.

Another type of van was the railway van. Railway vans were a type of train car, used to carry large loads of goods or people, often in less luxurious conditions than a standard train car. Today, we would call this a box-car, but 'van' would be more technically accurate, since vans were larger and more industrial, as opposed to cars (carriages).

Just like the word 'car' is short for 'carriage,' 'van' is a shortened version of the word 'caravan,' which originally meant a group of travelers, and later came to mean a group of people transporting trade goods. Speaking of cars, just how many types of carriages were there in the Victorian era?

Carriages, Carts, and Buggies

Just a few of the most common conveyances in the Victorian era. All but two of these are technically cars.

Just how many types of carriages were there? The short answer? A lot. Or in French: Beaucoup. Carriages largely fall into two categories: two-wheeled vehicles and four-wheeled vehicles, but they can be broken down into countless categories based on style, location, or the name of their inventor. You might hear of coups, sedans, gigs, chaises, and phaetons, just to name a few! There were just about as many different types of horse-drawn carriages in Victorian times as there are horseless carriages today! And, like today, some of the terms were interchangeable and often confused. It can make research and proper terminology in books like the Callahan Chronicles a bit tricky!

Let's run through a few of these terms quickly, so that when you encounter them while reading your favorite Victorian or Regency novel, you won't get confused!

Buggy: a buggy was any two-wheeled vehicle for one person, usually without a top.

Carriage: a wheeled vehicle for transporting people or things. The term was most widely used for a vehicle intended to transport people.

Cart: any wheeled vehicle. Often used to indicate a heavy vehicle for rough work.

Chaise: a vehicle for pleasure. Originating from the French word for 'chair,' a chaise was either a two-wheeled vehicle for two people, pulled by one horse, or a four-wheeled vehicle with three or four seats.

The four-wheeled chaise was the most common vehicle for well-to-do middle class families.

Coach: probably the most well-known carriage type today other than the wagon. A coach was a large, enclosed, four-wheeled vehicle, often pulled by four, six, or eight horses.

Coupe: a small carriage cut down to the bare essentials. The term comes from the French word meaning 'to cut.' The size varied; it could be two or four-wheeled, but was often a smaller and sleeker version of whatever type it copied.

Curricle: A two-wheeled cart designed to be pulled by a pair of horses and driven by the owner with room for a passenger.

Dashboard: Yes, the Victorians knew what a dashboard was! The dashboard was an essential part of a carriage, and pre-dated the automobile by a good long time! The dashboard was the front-most part of a buggy or cart that angled forward to protect the driver's legs from dirt and rocks—literally a board to protect against objects which the horses might kick up and 'dash' against the driver: a dash-board. Now you know.

Dog cart: a buggy with a space on the back to place a dog cage. Originally for carrying dogs, the dog cart quickly became a quick means of hired transportation. The space for the dog cage was replaced with a rear-facing seat. The dog cart's small size made it ideal for navigating the busy streets of major cities.

Gig: Victorian musicians didn't want to get gigs: they'd never have room for their instruments! The gig was a two-wheeled cart pulled by a single horse for one or two people. No room for that drum set. Darn. Better buy a van instead.

Hackney: any team of horses (and the coach to go with them) kept for hire. A 'hackney coach' was the predecessor of the modern taxi, but the original term was a broad description of any vehicle and horse (or team of horses) which one could rent.

Hansom: a two-wheeled carriage with a low, closed front and an elevated seat on the back for the driver. Named for its inventor, Joseph Hansom, this was the most common form of public transport in London, and most common type of hackney coach.

Phaeton: named for a character in mythology, the phaeton was a high-seated, four-wheeled carriage with open sides.

Postchaise: a chaise used for delivering the post, often doubled as a hackney coach, available for rent to those in need of a carriage—such as travelers who arrive by train, but need a carriage to continue their journey.

Rig: any vehicle along with its horse(s) and harness(es).

Sedan: Yes, there were even sedans in the Victorian era! Not sedan cars, no, but sedan chairs! A sedan chair is an enclosed box with poles, carried on the shoulders of four or two people. Most commonly used by royalty, the sedan chair was popular in Europe up until the 19th century. Sedan chairs were narrow, and could go where a horse and buggy could not (if you could talk someone into carrying you, that is). While a coupe mostly retained its original meaning of a sleek vehicle, the sedan chair of old is not exactly the four-door automobile we think of today.

Taxi!

There is still one means of conveyance we have only briefly mentioned: the taxi-cab. Unsurprisingly, 'taxi' is another shortened word, derived from a fantastic device called a 'taximeter,' which was used to calculate the 'tax' or payment due. The original taximeter was invented by Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn in 1891, and was a device used to calculate fares based on distance traveled and waiting time. Although the device itself was invented two years before the Callahan Chronicles starts, the first motorized taxi-cab was not built until 1897. While modern taximeters are all electronic, the original design by Bruhn was strictly mechanical, relying on clockwork and pulleys to calculate the passengers' fare. While ingenious, it needed regular maintenance and repairs. Before the invention of the 'taximeter cab,' which calculated fare by both distance and time, taxis were just called 'cabs,' and passengers could choose whether to pay by the mile or by time.

Yet again, 'cab' is simply short for 'cabriolet,' a light, two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse. (Those Victorians did love their Shortened Language or 'Slang.') The most common type of hackney coach in London was the Hansom cab (as noted in the list above). Their popularity permanently affixed the term 'cab' to any transport vehicle for hire. It should come as no surprise that they are mentioned regularly in the annals of Sherlock Holmes. By 1900, there were 7,500 Hansom cabs in London alone. Less than fifty years later, there were none, as the new gasoline-powered 'taximeter cab' overtook the horse-drawn Hansom cabs.

In its heyday, the Hansom cab was truly revolutionary. With a low, enclosed front that could sit two or even three (slim) people. The driver sat above and behind the low cab and could operate the carriage without ever needing to step down to help his passengers or to take their fare. Payment was accomplished via a small hole in the roof, where the passenger could pass money and verbal directions up to the driver or close it for private conversations. Later models even had fully-enclosed cabs with doors in the front to keep out inclement weather. And of course, all of them had a dashboard to protect the low-seated passengers from the kick-up from the horse.

Originally called the 'Hansom Safety Cab,' the hansom kept the weight low, allowing for faster turns. The small size made it ideal for navigating narrow and busy streets quickly and safely, while the driver could remain seated at the rear, in full view of his machine and its occupants. It was also cheaper than the much larger, four-wheeled hackney coaches, which were quickly overshadowed by their smaller cousins.

There is, however, one particular aspect of the four-wheeled rental coach which has not been forgotten, and has become tied to the modern taxi-cab just as much as the Hansom Cabriolet. We must return to the postchaise, which was a carriage used for delivering letters for the postal service. When not in use, this vehicle was also rented out to visitors who needed transportation. Often, families would take a train into the country to visit relatives or for holiday. If the train could not take them directly to their destination, they would need to rent a coach. The postchaise was often available for just such occasions, and it was easily notable by its distinctive color: yellow.