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Paris Nouveau no. 2314 – Les Femmes Cocher

Source:
www.delcampe.net (Item no. 12507499). Click here to view source.

Les Femmes Cocher / 84

Cab Horses / 4

Picture (left): The horses no longer have anything to complain about; they are envied.

Most drivers rented a cab and a pair of horses from large or small cab companies or individual owners (cab shifts were so long that a change of horses was essential). Cab rents fluctuated based on owner estimates of potential returns; for example, rents were jacked up on lucrative public holidays. This diminished a driver's ability to make up for money lost on slow days when fares might total less than the day's rent.

As a result all too many drivers became trapped in a desperate daily struggle to make enough to live on. If a horse proved too weak or exhausted to do its part the usual remedy was a savage whipping.