Surrey (carriage)

A 1909 Studebaker surrey on display at the Northeast Texas Rural Heritage Center and Museum in August 2015

A surrey is a "popular American doorless, four-wheeled carriage of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Usually two-seated (for four passengers), surreys had a variety of tops, ranging from the rigid, fringed canopy-top … to parasol and extension tops."^[1] The seats were traditional, spindle-backed (often upholstered), bench seats. Before the advent of automobiles, these were horse-drawn carriages.

The name is short for "Surrey cart", named after Surrey in England, where they were first made.^[2]

In popular culture

It was famously celebrated in the song "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" from the musical Oklahoma!.

Gallery

• 
  Line-art representation of a horse-drawn surrey.
• 
  1890 Canadian open-top surrey once used in Vancouver.
• 
  1900 Spider Surrey, New York
• 
  1904 Knox Surrey, an early adaptation of the concept to the motorized era.

See also

• Types of carriages

References