Stunning vintage Omnibuses New York mirror, John Stephenson, transport vehicle advertising, American collectable.
Beautiful vintage advertising mirror detailing the manufacture of omnibuses further detail below.
It was created in Victorian calligraphy with fonts, tones, and intricate borders. Underneath is a beautifully detailed picture of a Victorian omnibus.
Vintage mirror with a new black wooden frame and backing, excellent vintage condition with minimal signs of authentic patina.
Height: 43cm
Length: 33cm
Width: 2cm
AN AMERICAN COACHBUILDER, John G. Stephenson (1809 in County Armagh, Ireland - 1893 in New Rochelle, N.Y.), invented and patented the first streetcar to run on rails in the United States. Stephenson also designed the New York and Harlem Railroad, formally opening on 26 November 1832. Twelve days later, a horse-drawn streetcar was built at Stephenson?s works and named John Mason after the railroad company president started the public service. Stephenson is therefore remembered as the creator of the tramway.
The John Stephenson Car Company began in May of 1831 when John Stephenson opened a shop at 667 Broadway in New York City to build carriages. Twenty-two-year-old Stephenson had favourably impressed Abram [Abraham] Bower?the owner of an intra-city stagecoach line?who encouraged him to open his shop.
Brower had established the first-ever municipal public transportation system in 1827 when he began operating a regular horse-drawn vehicle up and down Broadway from Wall Street to Bleecker, offering transportation at a fixed fare of one shilling. Brower?s first vehicle was somewhat like a stagecoach but had four rows of seats facing forward, and the entrance to each row was from the side. He called this vehicle Accommodation. A year later, he introduced an improved vehicle, again somewhat like a stagecoach, but with two facing rows of seats and an entrance at the rear. He called this one, naturally, Sociable.
In 1831, Brower commissioned Stephenson to produce a much longer, boxier coach, similar to a French one of which he had seen a drawing. This, too, had facing seats and an entrance at the rear. It was described as ?four and a half feet in width, had elevated or elliptical springs, and swelled very slightly at the sides . . . the word ?Omnibus? was painted on both sides. Brower?s ?invention? was such a success that by 1835 more than a hundred omnibuses were running on the streets of New York. Naturally, Stephenson became the preeminent builder.