"The Meadowlark"
More photos soon forthcoming!
This glimmering black vis-à-vis seats six passengers and affords lots of leg room. It is hand striped with gold accents and sports a gold crushed velvet headliner, patent leather fenders and polished brass fittings. Beautiful carriage lamps add an extra romantic touch at dusk. This gorgeous vehicle was built by Paul Raber of Montgomery, Indiana.
The roof of the Meadowlark can be adjusted to several positions. In the folded flat position, the bride and groom can look back over the roof and pose for departure picture showing a “just married” sign on the back of the carriage. In rainy or chilly weather- the roof can be raised to completely cover the rear of the carriage and side curtains with velvet lining button on to keep you comfortable.
Over the course of many years driving commercially, I have driven carriages of most every color, all of them beautiful. In my experience, the more colorful a carriage, the less likely it would coordinate with the spectrum of wedding color schemes. American Heritage Carriage is a small company, and this left me with a decision of what color my one carriage should be, the two most obvious choices being black or white. Although a white carriage may be very popular with brides, my professional opinion went with the choice that Henry Ford would have offered- “Any color, as long as it’s black.”
A black carriage sets off the white dress of the bride; it does not compete with her in photographs, but provides a neutral backdrop for the wedding couple in their photos. The carriage glitters in the sun, when the wheels turn- light flashes off the spokes. A black carriage presents a beautiful silhouette in photographs, which makes the day timeless. The elegant Meadowlark lends itself to decorating in all seasons and every color scheme and is perfectly suited for situations when a more historically accurate look is called for.
Fast Facts and some carriage vocabulary:
Vis-à-vis means “face to face” in French. To ride in this style of carriage denotes a level of social class as one who would be able to employ or hire a coachman to drive a carriage while they sit- “face to face” to socialize. A vis-à-vis is to a limousine what a buggy is to a family car.
Like how a boat is named, some commercial vehicles were traditionally given names. I named the Meadowlark for her black and gold and the beautiful song of this midwestern prairie bird.
Carriages are “driven”. The word drive was not borrowed from how you get around in a car, after all carriages came first. To drive, (like a cattle drive), or to be driven (like a straight A student bound for college) means to move something forward with a force from behind (or within). Carriages are driven by encouraging a horse to move forward, cars are merely steered, but people were so used to the idea of “driving” their horses that the word stuck as the horseless carriage caught on.
The entire set-up is called a “turnout” – horse, harness, carriage, driver and the driver’s attire all together combine to make the turnout.
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