Color comic print of a sulky overtaking a carriage (shay) each drawn by a single horse. The driver of the carriage (Deacon Jones) is leaning forward, hanging on to the reins. His glasses are on his forehead and his hat and papers have flown out behind him.
A color comic print of a race in progress on a country lane. It is between “One Hoss Shay” driven by Deacon Jones and a sulky driven by a middle aged man wearing a jacket, cap, and gloves. The Deacon’s horse is rapidly gaining on his competitor. As the Deacon leans forward, his gasses sit high on his forehead and his hat and papers fly out behind. A little dog scampers to the side of the road for safety.
A one hoss shay is a covered carriage for two and pulled by a single horse. It was adapted from the English model and redesigned in Maine because of an overabundance of national pride as symbolized by the harnessed trotting horse. This print might have been made as an illustration of a satirical poem by Oliver Wendall Holmes about a deacon’s one-hoss shay, supposedly crafted so well it needed no repairs for 100 years, when it totally fell apart.
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