Catherine II's carved, painted and gilded Coronation Coach (Hermitage Museum)

A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters (palanquins) and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light, smart and fast or heavy, large and comfortable. Carriages normally have suspension using leaf springs, elliptical springs (in the 19th century) or leather strapping. A public passenger vehicle would not usually be called a carriage – terms for such include stagecoach, charabanc and omnibus. Working vehicles such as the (four-wheeled) wagon and (two-wheeled) cart share important parts of the history of the carriage, as does the fast (two-wheeled) chariot.^{[1][Full citation needed][2][Full citation needed]}

Overview[link]

Coach of an imperial family, ca. 1870

The word carriage (abbreviated carr or cge) is from Old Northern French cariage, to carry in a vehicle.^[3] The word car, then meaning a kind of two-wheeled cart for goods, also came from Old Northern French about the beginning of the 14th century;^[3] it was also used for railway carriages, and was extended to cover automobile around the end of the nineteenth century, when early models were called horseless carriages.

A carriage is sometimes called a team, as in "horse and team". A carriage with its horse is a rig. An elegant horse-drawn carriage with its retinue of servants is an equipage. A carriage together with the horses, harness and attendants is a turnout or setout. A procession of carriages is a cavalcade.

History[link]

A Gala Coupé, 18th century; Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels

Prehistory[link]

Some horsecarts found in Celtic graves show hints that their platform was suspended in a frame, elastically.^[4] Four wheeled wagons were used in prehistoric Europe, and their form known from excavations suggests that the basic construction techniques of wheel and undercarriage (that survived until the age of the motor car) were established then.^[5]

Chariot[link]

The earliest recorded sort of carriage was the chariot in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. Used typically for warfare by Egyptians, the near Easterners and Europeans, it was essentially a two-wheeled light basin carrying one or two passengers, drawn by one to two horses. The chariot was revolutionary and effective because it delivered fresh warriors to crucial areas of battle with swiftness.

Roman carriage[link]

First century BC Romans used sprung wagons for overland journeys.^[6] The kingdoms of the Zhou Dynasty and Warring States were also known to have used carriages as transportation. With the decline of these civilizations these techniques almost disappeared. It is likely that Roman carriages employed some form of suspension on chains or leather straps, as indicated by carriage parts found in excavations.

Medieval carriage[link]

The medieval carriage was typically a four-wheeled wagon type, with a rounded top ('tilt') similar in appearance to the Conestoga Wagon familiar from the USA. Sharing the traditional form of wheels and undercarriage known since the Bronze Age, it very likely also employed the pivoting fore-axle in continuity from the ancient world. Suspension (on chains) is recorded in visual images and written accounts from the 14th century ('chars branlant' or rocking carriages), and was in widespread use by the 15th century.^[7] Carriages were largely used by royalty, aristocrats (and especially by women), and could be elaborately decorated and gilded. These carriages were on four wheels often and were pulled by two to four horses depending on how they were decorated (elaborate decoration with gold lining made the carriage heavier). Wood and iron were the primary requirements needed to build a carriage and carriages that were used by non-royalty were covered by plain leather. Another form of the carriage was the pageant wagon of the 14th century. Historians debate on the structure and size of pageant wagons however, they are generally miniature house-like structures that rest on four to six wheels depending on the size of the wagon. The pageant wagon is significant because up until the 14th century most carriages were on two or 3 wheels; the chariot, rocking carriage, and baby carriage are two examples of carriages which pre-date the pageant wagon. Historians also debate whether or not pageant wagons were built with pivotal axle systems, which allowed the wheels to turn. Whether it was a four or six wheel pageant wagon, most historians maintain that pivotal axle systems were implemented on pageant wagons because many roads were often winding with some sharp turns. Six wheel pageant wagons also represent another innovation in carriages; they were one of the first carriages to use multiple pivotal axles. Pivotal axles were used on the front set of wheels and the middle set of wheels. This allowed the horse to move freely and steer the carriage in accordance with the road or path.

Coach[link]

One of the great innovations of the carriage was the invention of the suspended carriage or the chariot branlant (though whether this was a Roman or medieval innovation remains uncertain). The 'chariot branlant' of medieval illustrations was suspended by chains rather than leather straps as had been believed.^{[by whom?]} Chains provided a smoother ride in the chariot branlant because the compartment no longer rested on the turning axles. In the 15th century, carriages were made lighter and needed only one horse to haul the carriage. This carriage was designed and innovated in Hungary. Both innovations appeared around the same time and historians believe that people began comparing the chariot branlant and the Hungarian light coach. However, the earliest illustrations of the Hungarian 'Kochi-wagon' do not indicate any suspension, and often the use of three horses in harness. Most importantly, the passengers were typically men and not women.

Under King Mathias Corvinus (1458–90), who enjoyed fast travel, the Hungarians developed fast road transport, and the town of Kocs between Budapest and Vienna became an important post-town, and gave its name to the new vehicle type. The Hungarian coach was highly praised because it was capable of holding 8 men, used light wheels, could be towed by only one horse (it may have been suspended by leather straps, but this is a topic of debate). Ultimately it was the Hungarian coach that generated a greater buzz of conversation than the chariot branlant of France because it was a much smoother ride. Henceforth, the Hungarian coach spread across Europe rather quickly, in part due to Ippolito d'Este of Ferrara (1479–1529), nephew of Mathias' queen Beatrix of Aragon, who as a very junior Archbishopric of Esztergom developed a liking of Hungarian riding and took his carriage and driver back to Italy. Around 1550 the 'coach' made its appearance throughout the major cities of Europe, and the new word entered the vocabulary of all their languages.^[8] However, the new 'coach' seems to have been a concept (fast road travel for men) as much as any particular type of vehicle, and there is no obvious change that accompanied the innovation. As it moved throughout Europe in the late 16th century, the coach’s body structure was ultimately changed, from a round-top to the 'four-poster' carriages that became standard by c.1600.^[9]

Later development of the coach[link]

The coach had doors in the side, with an iron step protected by leather that became the 'boot' in which servants might ride. The driver sat on a seat at the front, and the most important occupant sat in the back facing forwards. The earliest coaches can be seen at Veste Coburg, Lisbon, and the Moscow Kremlin, and they become a commonplace in European art. It was not until the 17th century that further innovations with steel springs and glazing took place, and only in the 18th century, with better road surfaces, was there a major innovation with the introduction of the steel C-spring.^{[citation needed]}

It was not until the 18th century that steering systems were truly improved. Erasmus Darwin was a young English doctor who was driving a carriage about 10,000 miles a year to visit patients all over England. Darwin found two essential problems or shortcomings of the commonly used light carriage or Hungarian carriage. First, the front wheels were turned by a rotating front axle, which had been used for years, but these wheels were often quite small and hence the rider, carriage and horse felt the brunt of every bump on the road. Secondly, he recognized the danger of overturning.

A rotating frontal axle changes a carriage’s base from a rectangle to a triangle because the wheel on the inside of the turn is able to turn more sharply than the outside front wheel. Darwin proposed to fix these insufficiencies by proposing a principle in which the two front wheels turn about a centre that lies on the extended line of the back axle. This idea was later patented as Ackerman Steering. Darwin argued that carriages would then be easier to pull and prevent carriages from overturning.

Carriage use in North America came with the establishment of European settlers. Early colonial horse tracks quickly grew into roads especially as the colonists extended their territories southwest. Colonists began using carts as these roads and trading increased between the north and south. Eventually carriages or coaches were sought to transport goods as well as people. As in Europe, chariots, coaches and/or carriages were a mark of status. The tobacco planters of the South were some of the first Americans to use the carriage as a form of human transportation. As the tobacco farming industry grew in the southern colonies so did the frequency of carriages, coaches and wagons. Upon the turn of the 18th century wheeled vehicle use in the colonies was at an all time high. Carriages, coaches and wagons were being taxed based on the number of wheels they had. These taxes were implemented in the South primarily as the South had superior numbers of horses and wheeled vehicles when compared to the North. Europe, however, still used carriage transportation far more often and on a much larger scale than anywhere else in the world.

Carriages and coaches began to disappear as use of steam propulsion began to generate more and more interest and research. Steam power quickly won the battle against animal power as is evident by a newspaper article written in England in 1895 entitled "Horseflesh vs. Steam". The article highlights the death of the carriage as the means of transportation.

Nowadays, carriages are still used for day-to-day transport in the United States by some minority groups such as the Amish. They are also still used in the tourism as vehicles for sightseeing in cities such as Bruges, Vienna, and New Orleans.

The most complete working collection of carriages can be seen at the Royal Mews in London where a large selection of vehicles is in regular use. These are supported by a staff of liveried coachmen, footmen and postillions. The horses earn their keep by supporting the work of the Royal Household, particularly during ceremonial events. Horses pulling a large carriage known as a "covered brake" collect the Yeoman of the Guard in their distinctive red uniforms from St James's Palace for Investitures at Buckingham Palace; High Commissioners or Ambassadors are driven to their audiences with The Queen in landaus; visiting heads of state are transported to and from official arrival ceremonies and members of the Royal Family are driven in Royal Mews coaches during Trooping the Colour, the Order of the Garter service at Windsor Castle and carriage processions at the beginning of each day of Royal Ascot.

Construction[link]

Body[link]

George VI and Queen Elizabeth in a landau with footmen and an outrider, Canada 1939

Carriages may be enclosed or open, depending on the type.^[10] The top cover for the body of a carriage, called the head or hood, is often flexible and designed to be folded back when desired. Such a folding top is called a bellows top or calash. A hoopstick forms a light framing member for this kind of hood. The top, roof or second-story compartment of a closed carriage, especially a diligence, was called an imperial. A closed carriage may have side windows called quarter lights (British) as well as windows in the doors, hence a "glass coach". On the forepart of an open carriage, a screen of wood or leather called a dashboard intercepts water, mud or snow thrown up by the heels of the horses. The dashboard or carriage top sometimes has a projecting sidepiece called a wing (British). A foot iron or footplate may serve as a carriage step.

A carriage driver sits on a box or perch, usually elevated and small. When at the front it is known as a dickey box, a term also used for a seat at the back for servants. A footman might use a small platform at the rear called a footboard or a seat called a rumble behind the body. Some carriages have a moveable seat called a jump seat. Some seats had an attached backrest called a lazyback.

The shafts of a carriage were called limbers in English dialect. Lancewood, a tough elastic wood of various trees, was often used especially for carriage shafts. A holdback, consisting of an iron catch on the shaft with a looped strap, enables a horse to back or hold back the vehicle. The end of the tongue of a carriage is suspended from the collars of the harness by a bar called the yoke. At the end of a trace, a loop called a cockeye attaches to the carriage.

In some carriage types the body is suspended from several leather straps called braces or thoroughbraces, attached to or serving as springs.

Undergear[link]

Beneath the carriage body is the undergear or undercarriage (or simply carriage), consisting of the running gear and chassis.^[11] The wheels and axles, in distinction from the body, are the running gear. Most carriages have either one or two pairs of wheels. On a four-wheeled vehicle, the forward part of the running gear, or forecarriage, may be arranged so as to permit the two front wheels to turn independently of the rear wheels. The wheels revolve upon bearings or a spindle at the ends of a fixed bar or beam called an axle or axletree. In some carriages a crank axle, bent twice at a right angle near the ends, allows a low body with large wheels. A guard called a dirtboard keeps dirt from the axle arm.

Several structural members form parts of the chassis supporting the carriage body. The fore axletree and the splinter bar above it (supporting the springs) are united by a piece of wood or metal called a futchel, which forms a socket for the pole that extends from the front axle. For strength and support, a rod called the backstay may extend from either end of the rear axle to the reach, the pole or rod joining the hind axle to the forward bolster above the front axle.

A skid called a drag, dragshoe, shoe or skidpan retards the motion of the wheels. A catch or block called a trigger may be used to hold a wheel on a declivity.

A horizontal wheel or segment of a wheel called a fifth wheel sometimes forms an extended support to prevent the carriage from tipping; it consists of two parts rotating on each other about the kingbolt above the fore axle and beneath the body. A block of wood called a headblock might be placed between the fifth wheel and the forward spring.

Types of horse-drawn carriages[link]

In Vienna, rentable landaus called Fiacres carry tourists around the old city.

An almost bewildering variety of horse-drawn carriages existed. Arthur Ingram's Horse Drawn Vehicles since 1760 in Colour lists 325 types with a short description of each. By the early 19th century one's choice of carriage was only in part based on practicality and performance; it was also a status statement and subject to changing fashions. The types of carriage included the following:

An old horse trap at Snowshill Manor.

A trap, pony trap or horse trap is a light, often sporty, two-wheeled or sometimes four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage, accommodating usually two to four persons in various seating arrangements, such as face-to-face or back-to-back.

A volante is a two-wheeled, one- or two-passenger Spanish carriage formerly much used in Cuba. The axle was behind an open, hooded body. The carriage was driven by a rider on the horse.

The names of many of these have now passed into obscurity but some have been adopted to describe automotive car body styles: coupé, victoria, brougham, landau and landaulet, cabriolet, (giving us our cab), phaeton, and limousine – all these once denoted particular types of carriages.

Miscellany[link]

Hansom cab and driver adding character to period filming.

Bride descending from a decorated wedding carriage.

A man whose business was to drive a carriage was a coachman. A servant in livery called a footman or piquer formerly served in attendance upon a rider or was required to run before his master's carriage to clear the way. An attendant on horseback called an outrider often rode ahead of or next to a carriage. A carriage starter directed the flow of vehicles taking on passengers at the curbside. A hackneyman hired out horses and carriages. When hawking wares, a hawker was often assisted by a carriage.

Upper-class people of wealth and social position, those wealthy enough to keep carriages, were referred to as carriage folk or carriage trade.

Carriage passengers often used a lap robe as a blanket or similar covering for their legs, lap and feet. A buffalo robe, made from the hide of an American bison dressed with the hair on, was sometimes used as a carriage robe; it was commonly trimmed to rectangular shape and lined on the skin side with fabric. A carriage boot, fur-trimmed for winter wear, was made usually of fabric with a fur or felt lining. A knee boot protected the knees from rain or splatter.

A horse especially bred for carriage use by appearance and stylish action is called a carriage horse; one for use on a road is a road horse. One such breed is the Cleveland Bay, uniformly bay in color, of good conformation and strong constitution. Horses were broken in using a bodiless carriage frame called a break or brake.

A Carriage Dog or Coach Dog is bred for running beside a carriage.

A roofed structure that extends from the entrance of a building over an adjacent driveway and that shelters callers as they get in or out of their vehicles is known as a carriage porch or porte cochere. An outbuilding for a carriage is a coach house, which was often combined with accommodation for a groom or other servants.

A livery stable kept horses and usually carriages for hire. A range of stables, usually with carriage houses (remises) and living quarters built around a yard, court or street, is called a mews.

A kind of dynamometer called a peirameter indicates the power necessary to haul a carriage over a road or track.

Competitive driving[link]

In most European and English-speaking countries, driving is a competitive equestrian sport. Many horse shows host driving competitions for a particular style of driving, breed of horse, or type of vehicle. Show vehicles are usually carriages, carts, or buggies and, occasionally, sulkies or wagons. Modern high-technology carriages are made purely for competition by companies such as Bennington Carriages.^[12] in England. Terminology varies: the simple, lightweight two- or four-wheeled show vehicle common in many nations is called a "cart" in the USA, but a "carriage" in Australia.

Internationally, there is intense competition in the all-round test of driving: combined driving, also known as horse-driving trials, an equestrian discipline regulated by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (International Equestrian Federation) with national organizations representing each member country. World championships are conducted in alternate years, including single-horse, horse pairs and four-in-hand championships. The World Equestrian Games, held at four-year intervals, also includes a four-in-hand competition.

For pony drivers, the World Combined Pony Championships are held every two years and include singles, pairs and four-in-hand events.

Carriage collections[link]

Australia[link]

• Cobb + Co Museum - National Carriage Collection, Queensland Museum, Toowoomba, Queensland. On-line catalog has photos and text
• The National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Carriage Collection,Telephone Head Office 03 96569800.

Austria[link]

• Museen Laa - Carriage Museum - Info - © Museen Laa Projekt-Team, Laa an der Thaya
• Museum of Carriages and Department of Court Uniforms, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Belgium[link]

• vzw Rijtuigmuseum Bree, Bree, Limburg (Dutch) (English) (French)

Brazil[link]

Permant exhibit featuring carriages of the imperial era at the National Historical Museum of Brazil.

• National Historical Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Imperial Museum in Petrópolis, Brazil

Canada[link]

• The Remington Carriage Museum in Cardston, Alberta, Canada

Denmark[link]

• Royal Carridge Museum, Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen

Egypt[link]

• Carriage Museum

France[link]

• Palace of Versailles
  • The Versailles Stables

Germany[link]

• Museum of Carriages and Sleighs in the former Royal Stables (Marstallmuseum), Nymphenburg Palace, Munich

• Hesse Museum of Carriages and Sleighs in Lohfelden near Kassel

Netherlands[link]

• Nationaal Rijtuigmuseum, Leek in Groningen. (Dutch) (English)
• International site of the Carriage museum

Poland[link]

Łańcut Castle, the exhibit of carriages

• Łańcut Castle

Portugal[link]

• National Coach Museum (Museu dos Coches), Lisbon
  • NCM - Collection. Illustrations and text
• Geraz do Lima Carriage museum

United Kingdom[link]

• Mossman Collection, Luton, Bedfordshire
  • Website Text
• Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, London. The Monarchy Today > Ceremony and symbol > Transport > Carriages
• Swingletree Carriage Collection. John Parker Swingletree Carriage Driving, Swingletree, Wingfield, Nr. Diss, Norfolk
• National Trust Carriage Museum, Arlington Court, near Barnstaple, Devon
• Tyrwhitt-Drake Museum of Carriages, Maidstone, Kent

United States[link]

• Florida Carriage Museum, Weirsdale, Florida. Formerly Austin Carriage Museum. Photos and text: click on The Carriage Museum, then on Classification of Carriages
• Skyline Farm Carriage Museum North Yarmouth, Maine
• The Carriage Collection of the Owls Head Transportation Museum, Owls Head, Maine. Celebrating Transportation History for 30 Years
• The Carriage Museum Washington, Kentucky
• Carriage Museum of America, Lexington, Kentucky
  • Carriage Museum Library Online catalog of extensive research library on animal-drawn vehicles; illustrations and text
  • Carriage museums Descriptions and Web links, searchable by country and state
• Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan
  • Horse Drawn Vehicles Exhibit samples (photos and text)
• The Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, Stony Brook, New York
  • Collection Database Searchable illustrations and text
• Pioneer Village, Farmington, Utah. Carriage Hall
• Thrasher Carriage Museum:: Make The Journey:: Frostburg, Maryland
• The Wesley W Jung Carriage Museum Greenbush, Wisconsin
• Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont
• Forney Museum of Transportation Denver, Colorado
• [1] Mifflinburg Buggy Museum, Mifflinburg, PA. Only museum in US that preserves an original intact 19th century carriage factory.

See also[link]

• Driving (horse)
• Horse harness
• Horse-drawn vehicle
• Howdah (carriage positioned on the back of an elephant or camel)

Bibliography[link]

• Bean, Heike, & Sarah Blanchard (authors), Joan Muller (illustrator), Carriage Driving: A Logical Approach Through Dressage Training, Howell Books, 1992. ISBN 978-0-7645-7299-9
• Berkebile, Don H., American Carriages, Sleighs, Sulkies, and Carts: 168 Illustrations from Victorian Sources, Dover Publications, 1977. ISBN 978-0-486-23328-4
• Bristol Wagon Works Co., Bristol Wagon & Carriage Illustrated Catalog, 1900, Dover Publications, 1994. ISBN 978-0-486-28123-0
• Elkhart Manufacturing Co., Horse-Drawn Carriage Catalog, 1909 (Dover Pictorial Archives), Dover Publications, 2001. ISBN 978-0-486-41531-4
• Hutchins, Daniel D., Wheels Across America: Carriage Art & Craftsmanship, Tempo International Publishing Company, 1st edition, 2004. ISBN 978-0-9745106-0-6
• Ingram, Arthur, Horse Drawn Vehicles since 1760 in Colour, Blandford Press, 1977. ISBN 978-0-7137-0820-2
• Kinney, Thomas A., The Carriage Trade: Making Horse-Drawn Vehicles in America (Studies in Industry and Society), The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8018-7946-3
• Lawrence, Bradley & Pardee, Carriages and Sleighs: 228 Illustrations from the 1862 Lawrence, Bradley & Pardee Catalog, Dover Publications, 1998. ISBN 978-0-486-40219-2
• Museums at Stony Brook, The Carriage Collection, Museums, 2000. ISBN 978-0-943924-09-0
• Richardson, M.T., Practical Carriage Building, Astragal Press, 1994. ISBN 978-1-879335-50-9
• Ryder, Thomas (author), Rodger Morrow (editor), The Coson Carriage Collection at Beechdale, The Carriage Association of America, 1989. ASIN B0017RSRJ6
• Wackernagel, Rudolf H., Wittelsbach State and Ceremonial Carriages: Coaches, Sledges and Sedan Chairs in the Marstallmuseum Schloss Nymphenburg, Arnoldsche Verlagsanstalt GmbH, 2002. ISBN 978-3-925369-86-5
• Walrond, Sallie, Looking at Carriages, J A Allen & Co Ltd, 1999. ISBN 978-0-85131-552-2
• Ware, I. D., Coach-Makers' Illustrated Hand-Book, 1875: Containing Complete Instructions in All the Different Braches of Carriage Building, Astragal Press, 2nd edition, 1995. ISBN 978-1-879335-61-5

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carriages

Footnotes[link]

Notations[link]

• Six-Wheeled Carts: An Underview, by Alan H. Nelson Technology and Culture © 1972 Society for the History of Technology.
• Erasmus Darwin's Improved Design for Steering Carriages—And Cars, by Desmond King-Hele Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London © 2002 The Royal Society.
• On Inland Transportation and Communication in Antiquity, by William Linn Westermann Political Science Quarterly © 1928 The Academy of Political Science.
• Mediaeval Suspended Carriages, by Marjorie Nice Boyer Speculum © 1959 Medieval Academy of America.
• Colonial Roads and Wheeled Vehicles, © 1899 Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.
• Mechanical Road Carriages: Horseflesh V. Steam. The British Medical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1823 (Dec. 7, 1895), pp. 1434–1435. BMJ Publishing Group

External links[link]

• 19th century American carriages: Their manufacture, decoration and use. By Museums at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, 1987. Long Island Digital Books Project, CONTENTdm Collection, Stony Brook University, Southampton, New York.
• 19th Century Transportation-Carriages. University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
• All About Romance Novels - Carriages in Regency & Victorian Times.
• Appendix to Cadillac "Styling" section (coaching terminology). The Classic Car-Nection: Yann Saunders, Cadillac Database. Drawings and text
• CAAOnline: Carriage Tour Carriage Association of America. Photos and text.
• Calisphere - A World of Digital Resources. Search carriage. University of California. Hundreds of photos.
• Carriage House and Carriage parts. ThinkQuest Library. Illustrations and text.
• Colonial Carriage Works - America's Finest Selection of Horse Drawn Vehicles. Columbus, Wisconsin.
• Driving for Pleasure, Or The Harness Stable and its Appointments by Francis Underhill, 1896. Carnegie Mellon University. A comprehensive overview, with photographs of horse drawn carriages in use at the turn of the 19th century. Full text free to read, with free full text search.
• An Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy, Comprising Subjects Connected with the Interests of Every Individual..., by Thomas Webster and William Parkes, 1855. Book XXIII, Carriages. Google Book Search.
• Doctor Brown with horses and carriage, Charters Towers, ca. 1890 This photo is held by John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
• English Pleasure Carriages: Their Origin, History, Varieties, Materials, Construction, Defects, Improvements, and Capabilities: With an Analysis of the Construction of Common Roads and Railroads, and the Public Vehicles Used on Them; Together with Descriptions of New Inventions by William Bridges Adams, 1837. Google Book Search.
• Four wheeled vehicles. The Guild of Model Wheelwrights.
• Galaxy of Images | Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Carriages and sleighs.
• Georgian Index - Carriages. Georgian Index. Illustrations and text.
• The History of Coaches, by George Athelstane Thrupp, 1877. Google Book Search.
• Horse-drawn Transportation Clipart etc. Educational Technology Clearinghouse, University of South Florida. Drawings.
• JASNA Northern California Region. Jane Austen Society of North America. Illustrations and text.
• The Kinross Carriageworks, Stirling (Scotland), 1802-1966.
• Lexique du cheval! Lexikon of Carriage driving.
• Modern carriages, by W. Gilbey, 1905. The University of Hong Kong Libraries, China–America Digital Academic Library (CADAL).
• Online Information article about carriage Originally appearing in the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.
• Passenger Vehicles The Guild of Model Wheelwrights. Illustrations and text.
• Science and Society Picture Library - Search Illustrations and text.
• Treatise on Carriages. Comprehending Coaches, Chariots, Phaetons, Curricles, Whiskeys, &c. Together with Their Proper Harness. In Which the Fair Prices of Every Article are Accurately Stated, by William Felton, coachmaker, 1794. Google Book Search.
• TTM web Texas Transportation Museum, San Antonio. Photos and text.
• Wheeled vehicles. The New York Times, October 29, 1871, page 2.

Howard Shore
Shore in New York on October 7, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Howard Leslie Shore
Born	(1946-10-18) October 18, 1946 (age 65) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Classical, Orchestra, Film Score
Occupations	composer, orchestrator, conductor, music producer
Years active	1978–present
Website	howardshore.com

Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg, having scored all but one of his films since 1979.

He has also composed a few concert works including one opera, The Fly, based on the plot (though not his score) of Cronenberg's 1986 film premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 2 July 2008.,^[1] a short piece Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a short overture for the Swiss 21st Century Symphony Orchestra.

Shore is a three-time winner of the Academy Award, and has also won three Golden Globe Awards and four Grammy Awards. He is the uncle of film composer Ryan Shore.^[2] Shore serves on the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, Berklee College of Music.^[3]

Early life and career[link]

Shore was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Bernice (née Ash) and Mac Shore.^[4] He studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston after graduating from Forest Hill Collegiate Institute. From 1969 to 1972, he performed with the group Lighthouse. In 1970 he was the music director of Lorne Michaels and Hart Pomerantz's short-lived TV program The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour. Shore wrote the music for Canadian magician Doug Henning's magical/musical Spellbound in 1974, and he was the musical director for Lorne Michaels' hugely influential late-night NBC comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980, appearing in many musical sketches, including Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band, and dressed as a beekeeper for a John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd performance of the Slim Harpo classic I'm a King Bee. Shore also suggested the name for The Blues Brothers to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.

Film scoring[link]

1979–2000[link]

Shore's first film score was to David Cronenberg's first major film The Brood (1979). He would go on to score all of Cronenberg's subsequent films, with the exception of The Dead Zone (1983), which was scored by Michael Kamen. The first film he scored that was not directed by Cronenberg was Martin Scorsese's After Hours.

Following After Hours, he scored The Fly (1986), again directed by Cronenberg. Two years later, he composed the score to Big (1988), directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks. He then scored two more of David Cronenberg's films: Dead Ringers (1988) and Naked Lunch (1991).

During 1991, Shore composed the score for the highly acclaimed film The Silence of the Lambs, starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, and directed by Jonathan Demme. He received his first BAFTA nomination for the score. The film became the third (and most recent) to win the five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress). Shore is the only living composer to have scored a "Top Five" Oscar winning film.

During 1993, he composed the scores for M. Butterfly (another collaboration with Cronenberg), Philadelphia (his second collaboration with Jonathan Demme), and Mrs. Doubtfire, directed by Chris Columbus. The latter two films were highly successful; Philadelphia winning Tom Hanks his first Oscar.

Shore scored another three films in 1994: The Client, Ed Wood, and Nobody's Fool. Ed Wood is notable for being one of the two films directed by Tim Burton that did not feature a score by Danny Elfman.

Shore continued to score numerous films from 1995–2001, including two David Fincher films, Seven (1995) and The Game (1997); also, he collaborated on two films with Cronenberg along with Tom Hanks' directorial debut, That Thing You Do!. Shore composed the score for the 2000 film The Cell.

2001–2005[link]

Shore at LOTR press conference at Wellington, New Zealand in 2003.

Shore's major success came in 2001 with his score to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in the highly acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The news that Shore would score the trilogy surprised some, since he was primarily associated with dark, ominous films and had never scored an epic of this scale. However, the score was hugely successful and won Shore his first Oscar, as well as a Grammy Award, and nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.

The following year, Shore composed the scores to Panic Room, Gangs of New York (replacing Elmer Bernstein), and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the second film in the trilogy. The latter two films were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, although neither won. Shore's score for The Two Towers was deemed ineligible for submission to the Academy, due to a new rule that disallowed the submission of scores which contained themes from previous work. This rule proved very unpopular, due to the fact that had it been present in earlier years, it would have invalidated various other sequel scores (such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones) from being nominated. As a result the Academy dispensed with this rule for future years. Shore did, however, receive a BAFTA nomination for Gangs of New York.

In 2003 he composed the score for the final film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The film was the most successful film in the trilogy and the most successful of the year. Shore won his second Oscar for Best Original Score, as well as a third for Best Original Song for "Into the West", which he shared with Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox. The film was nominated for, and won a total of eleven Academy Awards, a record for the number of Oscars won by a single film, and a record that only two other films—Titanic (1997) and Ben-Hur (1959)—have matched. Shore also won his first Golden Globe, his third and fourth Grammy (the fourth for Best Song), and was nominated for a third BAFTA. The scores of The Lord of the Rings became one of the most successful film scores ever written, and the biggest success in Shore's career.

In 2004, Shore again collaborated with Martin Scorsese, scoring his epic film The Aviator. He won a second Golden Globe for the score, becoming the second composer to have won consecutive Golden Globes in the Original Score category. He also received his sixth Grammy nomination, and his fifth BAFTA nomination.

He collaborated again with David Cronenberg in 2005 to score A History of Violence, starring Viggo Mortensen. The film was a success and received two Oscar nominations. In 2006, he collaborated for the fourth time with Martin Scorsese, this time to score The Departed. The film was highly successful and won four Oscars, including a long awaited win for Scorsese, and Best Picture.

Although Shore was originally commissioned to compose the soundtrack for King Kong (indeed, he had already recorded most of the music), he was later replaced by James Newton Howard due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" on his and the filmmakers' parts. This was a mutual agreement between himself and Peter Jackson. Despite this, Shore has a cameo near the end of King Kong as the conductor of the pit orchestra in the theater, performing portions of Max Steiner's score to the original 1933 version of the film.

2006–present[link]

In 2007, he composed the music for Soul of the Ultimate Nation, an online multiplayer video game. The soundtrack is notable for being the first video game soundtrack to feature Lydia Kavina on the theremin. During 2007 he also composed the scores to The Last Mimzy, and Eastern Promises, the latter of which was another collaboration with David Cronenberg and earned Shore his fourth Golden Globe nomination. In 2008 he scored Doubt, starring Meryl Streep and directed by John Patrick Shanley. The film was a success, earning five Oscar nominations.

In 2010, Shore composed the score to the third installment in the highly popular Twilight film series, following Carter Burwell and Alexandre Desplat, who scored the first and second films, respectively. He also replaced John Corigliano to score Edge of Darkness, starring Mel Gibson.

Shore's 2011 projects are A Dangerous Method, continuing his long-term collaboration with director David Cronenberg. He also composed the score to Martin Scorsese's Hugo, his fifth collaboration with the director, which earned him a sixth Golden Globe nomination and fourth Oscar nomination.

Shore's future projects include Robert Sigl's The Spider^[5] and Peter Jackson's The Hobbit,^[6] which is currently in production. He is also set to compose the music to Sinatra,^[7] and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,^[8] both of which are being directed by Martin Scorsese and are due for release in 2013.

Conducting and performing[link]

Since 2004, he has toured the world conducting local orchestras in the performance of his new symphonic arrangement of his highly acclaimed Lord of the Rings scores. The new work is entitled The Lord of the Rings: Symphony in Six Movements. There are two movements for each of the movies, and an intermission between the second and third (or first and second, in some cases) movements. The concert presentation of the symphony also includes projected still images relating the music being performed to scenes from the films. Recently, however, Shore has been busy with other projects, leaving other conductors including Markus Huber, Alexander Mickelthwaite, and John Mauceri to lead the orchestras. April 24, 2008 marked the North American Live to Projection debut of Fellowship of the Ring, with the score performed live by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ludwig Wicki. Wicki also conducted the Filene Center Orchestra at the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, Virginia on May 21 and 22, 2008 in the U.S. premiere of the Fellowship of the Ring Live to Projection. September 16, 2010 Shore conducted the RSO Vienna (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra) which performed "In Dreams from The Fellowship of the Ring" at Hollywood in Vienna in Vienna, Austria.

Television[link]

• Shore was commissioned by Macy's to write a Fanfare for the Store's 150th anniversary featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Wanamaker Organ, the world's largest playing pipe organ. The work was debuted in the Grand Court of Macy's Philadelphia Store on September 27, 2008 in a concert that drew reviews from most of the major East Coast newspapers.
• With John Lurie, Shore wrote the theme song for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The theme was carried over to The Tonight Show when O'Brien succeeded Jay Leno as host.

Radio[link]

• Shore narrates a one-hour CBC Radio documentary/soundscape on music in thriller/suspense film genres also including references to radio dramas and other media. The episode was called "Unsettling Scores"^[9] and premiered on the program called Inside the Music.

Awards[link]

Shore has received four Academy Award nominations, winning three, two for Best Original Score, for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). He also won the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Into the West" from Return of the King. He received his fourth nomination for his work on Hugo.

Shore has also received six Golden Globe nominations, winning three consecutive awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song - "Into the West" for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and The Aviator (2004), making him the only the second composer (after Alan Menken) to have received consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Score. He also won three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Score for each of the Lord of the Rings films, and received a second award in 2003 for the song "Into the West" from "Return of the King" in the category of Best Song. He has also received five BAFTA nominations, but has not won.

On June 11, 2007, Shore was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from York University in Toronto for "his sweeping artistic vision".^[10]

Shore has also been honored with awards from The National Board of Review, Recording Academy Honors, The Broadcast Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics, Genie Award, World Soundtrack Award, New York's Gotham Award, and The Saturn Award for Science Fiction.

Shore is the first recipient of the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Science Fiction Feature Film for The Last Mimzy.

On September 16, 2010 he was awarded with the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award by the City of Vienna at the yearly film music gala concert Hollywood in Vienna.^[11]

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of noted film producer and composer collaborations

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Howard Shore

• Official website
• Howard Shore at the Internet Movie Database
• Howard Shore at Soundtrackguide.net
• Howard Shore at The Danish Filmmusic Society (DFS)
• Howard Shore Interview at Tracksounds