The Garbage Cart
William P. Chappel American
Not on view
For the first two centuries of New York’s history, anyone who wanted to transport anything—goods, building materials, even garbage—had to rely on one of the city’s licensed cartmen. New York could not function without the ubiquitous white-smocked cartmen who were awarded freeman status and a monopoly on intra-city transportation. The numerous regulations placed on the carting business included rates, cart size, and speed limits. According to its inscription, this scene, at the intersection of Pump (now Canal) and Elizabeth Streets, likely features the carter Thomas Palmer around 1807, bell in hand, executing his mandatory biweekly garbage collection.
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