Figure 1.--Here we have three American children with their billycart. The image is undated. The outdoors image and the children clothes suggest the 1900s decade. The dealer identifies the images as Rochester. That may refer to Rochester , New York where Kodak was located. The boys wear blouses and knee pants. The girl, presumably their little sister, wears a plain white dress. They all wear long stockings. The clothing and the garden background suggest well-to-do children on an family estate.

Propulsion for childens' carts varied. Richer children might have a pony cart. Affluent children might have a goat or dog cart. We think dog carts were more common in Europe. We notice more large breeds thate. we even notice dogs pulling carts for delivery. We have found more images of goats pulling these carts than any other animal, especially in America. This is because a goat was strong enough to pull a light-weight cart with small children, but not pull it very fast so they were safe. And they were a coomon, low-maintenance farm animal. The goats were gentle animals and safe. Because they were commonly pulled by goats, they were often called billycarts. Pony carts were for older children and required more supervision. The children who had pony carts almost by definition were well to do and lived on rural estates of one kind or another. Children with pony carts might live on estates.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor hats] [Sailor suits] [Buster Brown suits]
[Eton suits] [Rompers] [Tunics] [Smocks] [Pinafores]

Created: 4:43 PM 4/6/2019
Last updated: 4:43 PM 4/6/2019