Cart
180735
221695142
2008-06-25T17:43:28Z
66.10.94.35
added link to pictures of cart type
{{Unreferenced|date=January 2008}}
{{otheruses2|CART}}
:''"CARTS" redirects here. For the transportation system, see [[Capital Area Rural Transportation System]]'', or ''[[Chautauqua CARTS]].''
[[Image:Dockworkers in Cap-Haitien.jpg|thumb|A Haitian hand cart.]]
A '''cart''' is a [[vehicle]] or device, using two [[wheel]]s and normally one [[horse]], designed for [[transport]]. A '''handcart''' is pulled or pushed by a person. It is different from a dray or [[wagon]], which is a heavy transport vehicle with four wheels and normally at least two horses, which in turn is different from a [[carriage]], which is used exclusively for transporting humans.
Animals such as [[Cattle#Ox|oxen]], [[zebu]] cattle or [[donkey]]s are sometimes used instead of horses.
==History==
[[Image:National Museum KL 2008 157 pano.jpg|thumb|Carts from different Malay regions, exhibited at the [[Muzium Negara]].]]
Carts have been mentioned in literature as far back as the second millennium B.C. The Indian sacred book [[Rigveda]] states that men and women are as equal as two wheels of a cart. Hand-carts pushed by humans have been used around the world. In the 19th century, for instance, some [[Mormon handcart pioneers|Mormon]]s travelling across the plains of the [[United States]] between 1856 and 1860 used handcarts.
Carts were often used for judicial punishments, both to transport the condemned – a [[public humiliation]] in itself (in [[Ancient Rome]] defeated leaders were often carried in the victorious general's [[Roman triumph|triumph]]) – and even, in England until its substitution by the [[pillory|whipping post]] under [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]], to tie the condemned to the '''cart-tail''' and administer him or her a public whipping.
==Types of carts==
Larger carts may be drawn by [[animal]]s, such as [[horse]]s, [[mule]]s, or [[Cattle#Ox|ox]]en. They have been in continuous use since the invention of the wheel, in the 5th millennium BC. Carts may be named for the animal that pulls them, such as '''horsecarts''' or '''oxcarts'''. In modern times, horsecarts are used in competition while [[draft horse showing]]. A '''[[dogcart]]''', however, is usually a cart designed to ''carry'' [[hunting dog]]s: an open cart with two cross-seats back to back; the dogs could be penned between the rear-facing seat and the back end.
[[Image:sculpturecart.JPG|thumb|A sculpture of a [[Hinduism|Hindu]] horsecart in [[Delhi]], [[India]].]]
The term "cart" (synonymous in this sense with ''chair'') is also used for various kinds of lightweight, two-wheeled [[carriages]], some of them ''[[sprung cart]]s'' (or ''spring carts''), especially those used as open pleasure or sporting vehicles. They could be drawn by a horse, pony or dog. Examples include:
*''cocking cart'': short-bodied, high, two-wheeled, seat for a groom behind the box; for [[tandem]] driving<ref>[http://www.caaonline.com/caa_content.asp?PageType=Dept&Key=15&MCat=16 CAAOnline: Carriage Tour.] The Carriage Association of America, Inc.</ref>
*''[[dogcart]]'': light, usually one horse, commonly two-wheeled and high, two transverse seats set back to back
*''donkey cart'': underslung axle, two lengthwise seats; also called ''pony cart, tub-cart''
*''governess cart'': light, two-wheeled, entered from the rear, body partly or wholly of [[wickerwork]], seat for two persons along each side; also called ''governess car, tub-cart''
*''ralli cart'': light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn, for four persons, body brought somewhat low by shafts fastened within rather than below it
*''stolkjaerre'': two-wheeled, front seat for two, rear seat for the driver; used in Norway
*''tax cart'': spring cart, formerly subject to a small tax in England; also called ''taxed cart''
*''Whitechapel cart'': spring cart, light, two-wheeled, especially for family or light delivery service
An animal-drawn cart can bear the [[archaism|archaic]] name of ''[[wain]]'' (from the [[Old English language|Old English]] and [[German language|German]] root-word for [[wagon]]), for example a [[haywain]], and the builders of such vehicles became known as "cartwrights" or "wainwrights". These terms survive as surnames of families descended from those practising these trades; also note the surname "Carter".
[[Image:Charrettes zébus Madagascar.jpg|thumb|Ox carts in [[Madagascar]]]]
Carts have many different shapes but the basic idea of transporting material (or maintaining a collection of materials in a portable fashion) remains. Carts usually have two or four wheels. Those with four wheels (drays or [[wagon]]s) will often have a pivoting front axle that has a pole connected to the [[collar (animal)|collar]]s or [[yoke]] of the two guiding draught animals. The [[trace (tack)|traces]] from the draught animals are connected to the pivoting axle and then, by chain, to the rear axle. Two-wheeled carts normally have shafts, one along each side of the draught animal that supports the forward-balanced load in the cart. The shafts are supported by a saddle on the horse. The draught traces attach to the axle of the vehicle. In all cases the traces are attached to a collar (on horses), to a yoke (on other heavy draught animals) or to a harness on dogs or other light animals. One-horse carts are common, on the other hand [[dray]]s are pulled by many animals, as many as 8 or 10 depending on what is being hauled.
Traces are made from a range of materials depending on the load and frequency of use. Heavy draught traces are made from [[iron]] or [[steel]] chain. Lighter traces are often leather and sometimes hemp [[rope]], but plaited horse-hair and other similar decorative materials can be used.
The dray is often associated with the transport of [[barrel (storage)|barrels]], particularly of [[beer]].
Of the cart types not animal-drawn, perhaps the most common example today is the [[shopping cart]] ([[British English]]: shopping [[wiktionary:Trolley|trolley]]), which has also come to have a [[metaphor]]ical meaning in relation to online purchases (here, British English uses the metaphor of the shopping [[basket]]). Shopping carts first made their appearance in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma|Oklahoma City]] in 1937.
The [[golf cart]], designed to carry golfers and their clubs around a golf course faster and with less effort than walking, is another well known modern type of cart – in this case, self-propelled.
A ''[[Porter (carrier)|Porter's trolley]] is a type of small, hand-propelled wheeled platform. This can also be called a [[baggage cart]].
since the 13th century.
A [[soap-box cart]] (also known as a Billy Cart, Go-Cart, Trolley etc.) is a popular children's construction project on wheels, usually pedaled, but also intended for a test race.
The term "[[Go-Kart]]", which exists since 1959, also shortened as "[[Kart]]", an alternative spelling of "cart", refers to a tiny [[race car]] with frame and [[two-stroke engine]]; the old term ''go-cart'' originally meant a [[sedan chair]] or an [[infant walker]]
"Autocarts" are a type of small, hand-propelled wheeled utility carts having a pivoting base for storage in vehicles. They eliminate the need for plastic or paper shopping bags and are used by [[tradesperson]]s to carry tools, equipment or supplies.[http://autocarts.net/photogalleryb.aspx (Photos)]
==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
Image:Cart.jpg|A ''charrette'', a wooden French cart (Cévennes).
Image:DirkvdM cuba horsecart.jpg|A horsecart in [[Santiago de Cuba]].
Image:Windmill and Cart.JPG|Cart and windmill at the [[National Ranching Heritage Center]] in [[Lubbock, Texas]], [[USA]].
Image:Rusty Cart Wheel 2000px.jpg|An iron-lined wooden-spoked cart wheel
Image:Australian cart.jpg|A simple wooden cart in Australia.
Image:Cernuschi Museum 20060812 147.jpg|A Chinese [[Sui Dynasty]] (581–618 AD) cart figurine pulled by a bull.
Image:Horsecart with watermelons.jpg|A cart transporting watermelons in [[Harbin]], [[China]]. One man sits by the shafts to ensure the horse pulls against a downward load.
</gallery>
</center>
==See also==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
* [[araba (carriage)|Araba]]
* [[Baby transport]]
* [[Baggage cart]]
* [[Barouche]]
* [[Bicycle trailer]]
* [[Brougham]]
* [[Bullock cart]]
* [[Cabriolet]]
* [[Carriage]]
* [[Chariot]]
* [[Engine cart]]
* [[Float (horse-drawn)|Float]]
* [[Golf cart]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Governess cart]]
* [[Hand-truck]]
* [[Hansom cab]]
* [[Hay wain]]
* [[Hobcart]]
* [[Horse-drawn vehicles]]
* [[Jaunting car]]
* [[Landau (car)|Landau]]
* [[Lorry (horse-drawn)]]
* [[Ralli car]]
* [[Red River ox cart]]
* [[Rickshaw]]
* [[Rully]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Shopping cart]]
* [[Sicilian cart]]
* [[Sprung cart]]
* [[Sulky]]
* [[Taxicab#History and etymology|Taxicab]]
* [[Trolley (horse-drawn)]]
* [[Tumbril]]
* [[Un-sprung cart]]
* [[Wagon]]
* [[Wain]]
* [[Wheel]]
* [[Wheelbarrow]]
* [[Wheel chair]]
{{col-break}}
{{col-end}}
==External links==
{{Sisterlinks}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Carts]]
[[Category:Horse driving]]
[[Category:Animal-powered vehicles]]
[[gn:Karréta]]
[[bg:Каруца]]
[[de:Handwagen]]
[[es:Carro]]
[[eu:Gurdi]]
[[fr:Charrette]]
[[gl:Carro]]
[[id:Gerobak]]
[[it:Carro (trasporto)]]
[[hu:Szekér]]
[[nl:Kar]]
[[oc:Carri]]
[[pt:Carroça]]
[[ro:Car]]
[[ru:Арба]]
[[sv:Kärra]]
[[bat-smg:Ratā]]