Each object in the cases is marked with a corresponding number unless otherwise noted.
Reproduced on panel:
Ice Wagon, Waterloo, Iowa
Cedar Falls Historical Society
Panel Text:
Among the many commodities horses had to deliver to humans in wagons were heavy blocks of ice, which were used for refrigeration. On the Iowa City map, note Dostal Brothers Ice House on East Bloomington near North Linn and the Ice House behind the Union Brewery at 221-227 East Market. The two horses pulling this wagon are well matched not only in color but in size, which was important for evenness of draft. They are wearing nets for fly protection because these large beasts of burden are so sensitive to touch that they can feel a fly land anywhere on their hide, and their humans want to spare them irritation. Such nets could be purchased in Iowa City at harness shops such as Fryauf Harness at 4 South Linn Street.
In the case:
4. Horse Pulling Four-Wheeled Buggy with Umbrella
Graham Family Papers, Iowa Women’s Archives
5. Two Men in Horse-Drawn Buggy
Graham Family Papers, Iowa Women’s Archives
6. Livery Stable, post-1905 fire
(owned by Nancy Pacha’s great-grandfather, and current site of Englert Theatre)
Graham Family Papers, Iowa Women’s Archives
7. Graham & Son Livery, Feed, & Sale Stable, ca. 1915
200 block S. Clinton St., Iowa City, IA
Graham Family Papers, Iowa Women’s Archives
Livery stables were a key part of the urban horse-powered economy. The Sanborn Fire Map and the business directory show that Iowa City had eight livery stables in the downtown area in 1899. Individuals and businesses who did not have horses of their own for driving or riding could rent them from these establishments. Livery stables also served as places of lodging and upkeep for horses of downtown visitors on an hourly basis and, longer term, for horses of urban residents who did not have or want to maintain their own stables. As Alfred B. Caine, Professor of Animal Husbandry at Iowa State University, wrote: “More than just a ‘hotel’ for horses while their owners transacted business or attended school and church, these livery stables became community centers and clearing houses where hundreds of horses were bought, sold, and traded each year. Horse buyers frequently would make the livery barn their headquarters. Most stable keepers had both saddle horses and horses and buggies for hire. These were widely used by salesmen in visiting clients in the country or in small towns not yet reached by the railroads.
8. C.O.D. Laundry Wagon, ca. 1907
Graham Family Papers, Iowa Women’s Archives