Rare Sleigh Collection Continues To Grow
Dan Bussey’s horse-drawn sleigh and wagon collection is up to 120 pieces and growing. The wagons are work vehicles and delivery trucks of their day, but the sleighs that comprise the bulk of his collection are all kinds. They include work vehicles, luxury sleighs, singles and a sidewalk snowplow. After more than 35 years, he continues to find new and different sleighs.
“People who know me will tell me about a neat sleigh to check out,” says Bussey. “I recently picked up a closed body sleigh called a Rockway from Rockway, N.Y. It was the family station wagon of its time, with a roof over the top to give the driver some protection.”
Another recent acquisition was a Portland-style sleigh in the shape of a swan with a curved neck in front and a back cut out like wings. His first sleigh belonged to his grandparents.
“They sold the family farm in 1961, but left the old sleigh in the rafters of a machine shed,” he recalls. “The understanding was the family could have it when we wanted. It wasn’t until 1978 that we decided to pick it up. We got it just in the nick of time as the shed collapsed 2 days later.”
Not yet out of high school, Bussey was hooked on the workmanship. He started going to farm auctions, picking up a few here and there, as well as old catalogs and other materials.
“I enjoy the marvelous designs and appreciate the workmanship,” he says. “They were as fancy as any car ever made. There were different styles for different parts of the country. I love the locally made ones. We had marvelous builders all around the area.”
Bussey, who now lives in Iowa, grew up in Wisconsin, where he did much of his collecting. Around 3,000 makers of horse-drawn vehicles were in Wisconsin alone. They operated from 1865 to 1919 when the last one closed.
That hasn’t stopped him from finding sleighs elsewhere. One is a taxi sleigh from Newfoundland. It looks like a couch set sideways on runners with a seat for the driver at one end. A unique style popular on Long Island was called a Booby Hut. It was a plush velvet coach body mounted on sleigh runners.
“I have a 2-seater and a 4-seater, both with a seat outside for the driver,” says Bussey. “My fanciest sleigh is the child’s hearse. It has 4 posts holding up the roof and carved like angels. It was hand carved in Rochester, N.Y. and sold to a funeral home in Brooklyn.”
While Bussey still finds an occasional sleigh at a farm auction, the best opportunities are specialty auctions. Twice a year he heads to Pennsylvania for Martin Auctioneers’ horse-drawn vehicle sales (ph 717 354-6671).
“It’s the best known of its kind,” he says. “Going there is like going to a museum to look and appreciate how wonderfully made the sleighs are, from plain to fancy.”
Bussey says average sleighs can still be had for as little as $50 to several hundred dollars. The most expensive ones may go for as much as $20,000.
“You can get a pretty nice sleigh for $3,000 to $5,000,” says Bussey. “The most expensive one I have was about $12,000.”
Most of Bussey’s sleighs need restoration. “I was going to wait until I retired and do a few each year,” he says. “I realized I would never live that long, so I’ve started now.”
In addition to collecting, Bussey is on the board of directors of the Carriage Museum of America, Lexington, Ky. He suggests visiting there to get an appreciation of sleighs and other horse-drawn vehicles.
“People think about buggies and wagons, but sleighs have been under appreciated,” he says. “If any readers have questions about sleighs, I’ll be glad to help if I can.”
Bussey admits he might even be in the market for the right sleigh.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dan Bussey, P.O. Box 52, Ridgeway, Iowa 52165 (ph 563 382-5990, ext. 181; ciderdan@gmail.com).
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Rare Sleigh Collection Continues To Grow AG WORLD Dan Bussey’s horse-drawn sleigh and wagon collection is up to 120 pieces and growing The wagons are work vehicles and delivery trucks of their day but the sleighs that comprise the bulk of his collection are all kinds They include work vehicles luxury sleighs singles and a sidewalk snowplow After more than 35 years he continues to find new and different sleighs “People who know me will tell me about a neat sleigh to check out ” says Bussey “I recently picked up a closed body sleigh called a Rockway from Rockway N Y It was the family station wagon of its time with a roof over the top to give the driver some protection ” Another recent acquisition was a Portland-style sleigh in the shape of a swan with a curved neck in front and a back cut out like wings His first sleigh belonged to his grandparents “They sold the family farm in 1961 but left the old sleigh in the rafters of a machine shed ” he recalls “The understanding was the family could have it when we wanted It wasn’t until 1978 that we decided to pick it up We got it just in the nick of time as the shed collapsed 2 days later ” Not yet out of high school Bussey was hooked on the workmanship He started going to farm auctions picking up a few here and there as well as old catalogs and other materials “I enjoy the marvelous designs and appreciate the workmanship ” he says “They were as fancy as any car ever made There were different styles for different parts of the country I love the locally made ones We had marvelous builders all around the area ” Bussey who now lives in Iowa grew up in Wisconsin where he did much of his collecting Around 3 000 makers of horse-drawn vehicles were in Wisconsin alone They operated from 1865 to 1919 when the last one closed That hasn’t stopped him from finding sleighs elsewhere One is a taxi sleigh from Newfoundland It looks like a couch set sideways on runners with a seat for the driver at one end A unique style popular on Long Island was called a Booby Hut It was a plush velvet coach body mounted on sleigh runners “I have a 2-seater and a 4-seater both with a seat outside for the driver ” says Bussey “My fanciest sleigh is the child’s hearse It has 4 posts holding up the roof and carved like angels It was hand carved in Rochester N Y and sold to a funeral home in Brooklyn ” While Bussey still finds an occasional sleigh at a farm auction the best opportunities are specialty auctions Twice a year he heads to Pennsylvania for Martin Auctioneers’ horse-drawn vehicle sales ph 717 354-6671 “It’s the best known of its kind ” he says “Going there is like going to a museum to look and appreciate how wonderfully made the sleighs are from plain to fancy ” Bussey says average sleighs can still be had for as little as $50 to several hundred dollars The most expensive ones may go for as much as $20 000 “You can get a pretty nice sleigh for $3 000 to $5 000 ” says Bussey “The most expensive one I have was about $12 000 ” Most of Bussey’s sleighs need restoration “I was going to wait until I retired and do a few each year ” he says “I realized I would never live that long so I’ve started now ” In addition to collecting Bussey is on the board of directors of the Carriage Museum of America Lexington Ky He suggests visiting there to get an appreciation of sleighs and other horse-drawn vehicles “People think about buggies and wagons but sleighs have been under appreciated ” he says “If any readers have questions about sleighs I’ll be glad to help if I can ” Bussey admits he might even be in the market for the right sleigh Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dan Bussey P O Box 52 Ridgeway Iowa 52165 ph 563 382-5990 ext 181; ciderdan@gmail com
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