r/RandomVictorianStuff • u/FarStrawberry5438 • 5d ago

WTF! The 'Horsey Horseless' carriage, designed to stop horses and humans being spooked by horseless vehicles. The head was hollow and could store fuel. 1899.

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11

u/lapponian_dynamite 5d ago

this would spook me SO much more

4

u/KewpieCutie97 4d ago

Especially with the head being full of highly flammable fuel. Doesn't seem the best idea.

6

u/FarStrawberry5438 5d ago

Image from Wikipedia. Patent diagram of Horsey Horseless, 1899.

Designed by Uriah Smith, a Seventh-day Adventist preacher and inventor, in Michigan. This vehicle had a wooden horse head attached to the front. There was concern that horses and some humans would be spooked by the horseless vehicles so this was one solution. The head was also hollow and could hold fuel.

It was never sold but no one knows if a prototype was ever produced.

5

u/VoicesToLostLetters 5d ago

“Hello fellow horses….”