Zebra taxi cab in Brixton Road!

editor · Jul 12, 2009

I had this fascinating photo forwarded to me by a poster here (thanks!) of a zebra-driven taxi cab leaving Brixton and heading for Stockwell.

The photo wasn't dated, but I'm guessing that it was taken around 1915. The only real clue is the advertisement for Quin and Axtens on the railway bridge, although that seems to have changed regularly - witness the different styles seen in 1920 and a year later.

The lower poster on the corner of Brixton Station Road is for a piano shop, while just past the bridge can be seen the original Woolworths, on the junction of Brixton Road and Atlantic Road.

More info anyone?

5t3IIa · Jul 12, 2009

It wasn't advertsing some long gone Brixton zoo or anything was it?

editor · Jul 12, 2009

What's odd is that nobody seems particularly phased by the zebra.

5t3IIa · Jul 12, 2009

That boy to the right looks fascinated :cool:

Pip · Jul 12, 2009

5t3IIa said:
It wasn't advertsing some long gone Brixton zoo or anything was it?

I think the nearest zoo then was in Camberwell.

London_Calling · Jul 12, 2009

I wondered if the carriage has pneumatic tyres, or any kind of rubberised track - might be a prety rickety journey given the absence of tarmac. Does the absence of tarmac help pin it down?

The number plate is the only other thing I can see.

My guess from no where would be 1924 . . .

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

Maybe they used to belong to Lord Rothschild and he got bored with them and sold them off?

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

Maybe it belonged to Lady Meux

http://www.thetemplebar.info/theobalds_park/index.html

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

Zoological Society, but again, there's four of them

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2563090.ece

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

Rothschild didn't always use four zebras though

Hocus Eye. · Jul 12, 2009

Remember when you cross the road to make sure there isn't a zebra crossing in front of you pulling a carriage.

EDITED TO ADD: The image in the OP also turns up on the site linked to below. Its heading is London in 1900. It is the second image as you scroll down.

http://www.taringa.net/posts/imagenes/1015358/Londres-en-el-1900.html

editor · Jul 12, 2009

Pretty sure it's not Lord Rothschild driving the cab.

London_Calling · Jul 12, 2009

Indeed, you wouldn't catch him south of the river.

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

editor said:
Pretty sure it's not Lord Rothschild driving the cab.

Well, it doesn't look like him, but hard to see if he's got a beard, but he may have had a chauffeur? Not like he was poor

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

London_Calling said:
Indeed, you wouldn't catch him south of the river.

Brixton was quite posh in them days you know :mad:

editor · Jul 12, 2009

It's not a taxi cab either - I got that bit wrong. It's more of a trap, or maybe it's a gig, a fly or one of the zillions of vehicle classifications available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cart

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

London_Calling said:
Indeed, you wouldn't catch him south of the river.

Lady Meux's family were at Temple Bar which is only across the River

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

editor said:
It's not a taxi cab either - I got that bit wrong. It's more of a trap, or maybe it's a gig, a fly or one of the zillions of vehicle classifications available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cart

It is a phaeton?

So that could have been a chauffeur

Now, apparently a zebra's stripes are as unique as fingerprints. All we have to do is study the stripes and compare it to the others :hmm:

Hocus Eye. · Jul 12, 2009

In addition to the site I posted above this is another site which has the picture. Scroll down to about picture ten or so. This set looks similar to the other ones of London but I think there are one or two more. They are smaller here though:

http://doseng.org/raznoe/9391-london-nachalo-xix-veka-32-foto.html

Lots of interesting pictures of well known London sites and a few cinemas, also one of Victoria Station.

editor · Jul 12, 2009

Minnie_the_Minx said:
It is a phaeton?

So that could have been a chauffeur

It could have been, except every picture shows Rothschild driving himself.

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

editor said:
It could have been, except every picture shows Rothschild driving himself.

Maybe he didn't like South London drivers?

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

Looks like grass

This doesn't look like a busy, main road

Maybe he was too scared to drive on big London roads himself

editor · Jul 12, 2009

Hocus Eye. said:
Remember when you cross the road to make sure there isn't a zebra crossing in front of you pulling a carriage.

EDITED TO ADD: The image in the OP also turns up on the site linked to below. Its heading is London in 1900. It is the second image as you scroll down.l

They were invented by then, but I would have thought that motor cars would be a rare sight on the streets in 1900.

In fact that date must be wrong because electrified trams didn't arrive in Brixton until 1904.

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

editor said:
They were invented by then, but I would have thought that motor cars would be a rare sight on the streets in 1900.

In fact that date must be wrong because electrified trams didn't arrive in Brixton until 1904.

and from your photos, here's the rebuilding of the lines in 1907

and in 1910

and the sign shows on both bridges

editor · Jul 12, 2009

Minnie_the_Minx said:
and the sign shows on both bridges

The Quin and Axtens sign was on the railway bridge for decades - sometimes changing year by year - so it's not much help in dating the photo.

Nothing there in 1905 though and it looks like the bridge may have been replaced then.

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

Men wearing bowler hats doesn't help either as they were being worn from the 1850s :mad:

quimcunx · Jul 12, 2009

editor said:
It's not a taxi cab either - I got that bit wrong. It's more of a trap, or maybe it's a gig, a fly or one of the zillions of vehicle classifications available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cart

Ooh! I was going to say it looks more like a trap.

*awards self 1 point*

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

I'm wondering if it it could be after in the second decade of the 1900s. The women seem to be wearing almost ankle-length skirts, but they do look like slightly older women

In this picture, the hemline seems to have gone up a bit

This picture's 1912

http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=landmark&id=1043

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

i think i've found the answer

Minnie_the_Minx · Jul 12, 2009

A zebra harnessed to a pony-chaise, seen driven alongside Clapham Common. The zebra belonged to the music-hall artist, Mr Gustav Graise. Having survived a fire it was stabled at Brixton and is seen here on its daily exercise route in South London.

http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=landmark&id=2128

This picture is also 1912

Zebra taxi cab in Brixton Road!

hiraethified

Registered User

hiraethified

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Well-Known Member

Pleasant and unpatronising

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Snap, crop, scrap crap

hiraethified

Pleasant and unpatronising

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someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox

hiraethified

someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox

someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox

Snap, crop, scrap crap

hiraethified

someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox

someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox

hiraethified

someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox

hiraethified

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imprimeo, lamino, distribuo

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