Horses in the City
Horses played a large role in the city when I was growing up.
They pulled the wagons that delivered milk and bread and had extremely
long routes to cover. They surely wouldn't fit into the traffic
today! We go shopping to buy these items now.
Milk, all whole-milk, used to come in quarts,
housed in glass bottles. Today, we have a litre carton or 3-litre
bags and it comes in a choice of skim, 1%, 2% and whole.
The bread man used to deliver cakes, cookies,
pastries - a real assortment, as well as bread and rolls. Now
we have to shop for these.
In my early years, horses were a normal
part of everyday life, and, I guess that I was old-fashioned at
an early age because I thought it all quite romantic, somehow.
Water troughs, that looked like our oldtime,
footed bathtubs were at the curb of the streets. They were painted
dark green and kept clean and filled for the horses. On the opposite
side of the trough, was a little fountain-like place for the dogs
to drink from.
Around noon, 'feedbags' were put on the
horses and they ate as they worked. 'Our' milk delivery came early
in the morning and the bread at mid-day.
It is amazing how the horses knew every
stop enroute and rarely needed any direction from the 'driver'.
In fact, I remember snowy Christmas eves when the bread wagon,
with a single lantern swinging on it, would stop in front of our
house well-after dark, the 'horse' in control, and the driver
full of "Christmas cheer."
When the bread man made his delivery after
Christmas, he told my mother that he knew why she never bought
anything but bread and how much his family had enjoyed her delicious
dark fruitcake with almond paste and icing. That was Mom's gift
to many people and it was a favourite. (I don't think the horses
would mind if I tell you here that, in 1940, she won 1st prize
of $5. from Jewel Shortening Cookbook for her Favourite Dark Fruitcake.
I still have that cookbook.)
I often thought that the horse should have
been given a special Christmas treat of a carrot or a lump of
sugar. After all - it was the horse that made the long rounds.
Clever horses! ~Joan Adams Burchell ~ (copyright)
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Take it and save it and give it to someone
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make someone feel. It was made by a man whose wife always said
that to him. She is deceased now and he would like to pass it
along to as many people as possible.
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