Zebra taxi cab in Brixton Road!

[editor]

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]

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

[editor]

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

[5t3IIa]

That boy to the right looks fascinated

[Pip]

Originally Posted by 5t3IIa

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

I think the nearest zoo then was in Camberwell.

[London_Calling]

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]

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

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Maybe it belonged to Lady Meux

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

[Minnie_the_Minx]

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

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2563090.ece

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Rothschild didn't always use four zebras though

[Hocus Eye.]

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/imagene...n-el-1900.html

[editor]

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

[London_Calling]

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

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Originally Posted by editor

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]

Originally Posted by London_Calling

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

Brixton was quite posh in them days you know

[editor]

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]

Originally Posted by London_Calling

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]

Originally Posted by editor

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

[Hocus Eye.]

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...a-32-foto.html

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

[editor]

Originally Posted by Minnie_the_Minx

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]

Originally Posted by editor

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

Maybe he didn't like South London drivers?

[Minnie_the_Minx]

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]

Originally Posted by Hocus Eye.

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]

Originally Posted by editor

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]

Originally Posted by Minnie_the_Minx

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.