The Old Horse Drawn Buggy The year was 1951 and it was the summer we moved to Podunk Road in Trumansburg, New York, from Brook-lyn, New York. It wasn’t until a few years later that we really started to explore the farm property, that was full of antiques. Our best discovery was an old horse drawn buggy that we found on the second floor of the main barn. We decided to take the buggy apart, because there was no way to get it out of the barn. This was a project that took several days of disassembly and another day or so to put the buggy back together. We painted its wheels red and the rest all black. We had the intentions of using this for transportation. We had figured out how to steer it, so we used some old leather straps that we found and hooked up a steering system. We had the original brakes that still worked quite well. On our buggy wheels there was a metal strip that would make a lot of noise when we took it out on the road. We had so many great rides on our buggy for a couple of years, until one fateful day. In our neighborhood we had some great hills. The biggest hill was next to the Uitti’s house, which was until recently the Podunk Ski Shop. That buggy would move easily, even on flat land. We’d get the buggy going at a good clip, going past Stanley and Laura Koskinen’s house, Kauppinen’s, and down the hill past Uitti’s house to the Podunk Bridge. What a ride! We were never afraid the brakes wouldn’t slow us down a little, nor was there any traffic to speak of. Once we got down the hill, it was a chore to get our buggy back home, so we didn’t do that too often. But, we had another hill next to our house on Swamp College Road, and that was our favorite. We would come down hill and coast right into our driveway. One day our younger sister Helen wanted a ride. Helen was three years younger than myself, and she usually stayed home and played with her dolls. We explained to Helen the safety hints, and off we went to Swamp Col-lege Road. It was hard work to push our buggy up the hill, but once there, we were ready to take off. Leo gave a hard push and jumped on. I turned to check on Helen as she sat on the back, hanging on for dear life. Her pig-tails were just flying in the air. I was steering until Leo climbed up front with me. The wheels were going click, click, click down the road. Halfway down the hill, we lost control. Leo yelled, “jump”! Leo and I jumped off and I rolled forever until I landed in the ditch. I heard Leo yelling to Helen to jump, but she stayed with the buggy. Both Leo and I ran toward the creek bed where the buggy had landed on its side in the water. I saw Helen, her dress over her head and still hanging on. Running down there, I knew our parents were going to kill us if we hurt our sister. Helen didn’t make a sound. Leo and I jumped into the water and Leo picked her up, and we washed her off. Helen never even cried and Leo and I ended up with more bruises than she did. We had to leave the buggy there in the creek. The next day, we tried to get the buggy out, but we couldn’t. So, there it sat in the water. A few days later the buggy was gone. Our parents had given the buggy away to someone who got it out of the water. I guess they were afraid we would kill ourselves, probably not far from the truth. My mother told me years before she passed away, that a Finnish couple had come and taken the buggy and put it in their front yard for a lawn ornament. She said they lived somewhere in Waterburg, New York. I’d love to visit our old buggy, if I knew where to go. I think it would be the neatest thing to see that old buggy again. From the May 2005 Newsletter |