Charabanc

Description

Charabancs were four wheeled vehicles with several long rows of forward-facing seats. They were open and usually had no roof. Commonly used to take guests on liesurely trips.

Quick Facts

• Capacity: 6-20 Persons
• Average Speed: 5mph
• Power: 2-6 Horses

Appearances in Madame Bovary

         The invited guests arrived early in a variety of

    vehicles.  One-horse shays, two-wheeled charabancs, old gigs

    without tops, vans with leather curtains.  And the young men

    from the nearest villages came in farm-carts, standing one

    behind the other along the sides and grasping the rails to

    keep from being thrown, for the horses trotted briskly and

    the roads were rough.  They came from as far as twenty-five

    miles away, from Goderville, from Normanville, from Cany.

    All the relations of both families had been asked, old

    quarrels had been patched up, letters sent to acquaintances

    long lost sight of. (pg 30)

References

Roney, Cusack. Rambles on Railways. London: Effingham Wilson, 1868.

"charabanc." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

            18 Mar. 2008  <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9022495>.

"charabanc." Online Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 18 Mar. 2008         

            <http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-4774>.

“Charabanc.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2008. Wikipedia. 18 Mar. 2008

            <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charabanc>.