General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

wood barrow with metal frame, wheels, hardware

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

152.0 cm

Width

64.5 cm

Height

52.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Non-motorized Ground Transportation

Category

Human powered

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

ERIE

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

St. Thomas

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

circa 1900+

Canada

An example of a Canadian made farm wheelbarrow, acquired by the source by means at a farm auction just north of Belleville in the autumn of 2003. Erie Iron works was in existence from the mid 1960s to the 1930s. Initially they, like most other agricultural equipment manufacturers, sold directly to a clientele in their part of southwestern Ontario. With the creation of the International Harvester Company around the turn of the 20th century, the form was bought out and came under the distribution wing of that conglomerate.

Function

A small vehicle used for carrying small loads on a farm, with one front wheel and two handles supported and pushed by the operator.

Technical

Most agricultural equipment manufacturers offered wheelbarrows as part of their line of small manual farm equipment. Wheelbarrows, like forks and shovels, were common tools on all sorts of Canadian farms from coast to coast. In fact firms such as Erie also built a line of barrows and carts for construction and industrial use. Although the logo and colours may have varied, the basic design for a wheelbarrow remained unchanged from the 1890s to the arrival of the pneumatic tire. This wheelbarrow has an all steel wheel; wheelbarrows exhibiting this technology were listed in catalogues from about 1900 to the early 1930s. AS with most other farm wheelbarrows of the period, the frame, tray and sides are all made of wood. Like its contemporaries, the sides are held in place by frame members that fit down into stake pockets on the edge of the tray. A broken rear leg has been repaired with a piece of manure car track hanger.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

gold lettering on either side of barrow reads ‘ERIE/ IRON WORKS/ ST. THOMAS/ ONTARIO'/ black handwritten ‘10.95' on side

Missing

broken leg replaced by metal piece

Finish

wood originally painted red/ metal originally painted black

Decoration

N/A