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The flying machine: A stagecoach journey in 1774
The experiences of a young boy traveling by stagecoach from Philadelphia to New York on the Old York Road reveal the joys and discomforts of this mode of transportation.
62 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
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February 11, 2018
This is a children’s book that describes what an overland journey in a stagecoach along the Old York Road through Pennsylvania and New Jersey in colonial times might have been like. It took less than an hour to read. I picked it up to better understand the process of stagecoach travel as I prepare my own narratives for the walking tours I will soon be leading through my colonial era town, Bordentown, NJ.
I learned from reading that the term stagecoach is derived from the fact that the trip was completed in stages, stopping at taverns every ten miles or so to replace the exhausted horses with fresh ones. I chuckled a few times out loud at the eclectic band of travelers’ complaints about the awful bumps of the road and the jostling of the ride. The coaches were called flying machines because they were “fast.” (The trip from PA to NY took 2 full days). But there were no promises made about comfort! Travelers would look forward to the next tavern where they could stretch, drink, and engage in lively conversations about where the country was headed in 1774.
This is a book for kids, but I got a kick out of it. In fact, I think any person who is interested in the history of road trips or the role that taverns played in the revolutionary war will find this to be an easy, enjoyable, and informative story. It would definitely be great for a fourth or fifth grader learning about early American life in the colonies.
I learned from reading that the term stagecoach is derived from the fact that the trip was completed in stages, stopping at taverns every ten miles or so to replace the exhausted horses with fresh ones. I chuckled a few times out loud at the eclectic band of travelers’ complaints about the awful bumps of the road and the jostling of the ride. The coaches were called flying machines because they were “fast.” (The trip from PA to NY took 2 full days). But there were no promises made about comfort! Travelers would look forward to the next tavern where they could stretch, drink, and engage in lively conversations about where the country was headed in 1774.
This is a book for kids, but I got a kick out of it. In fact, I think any person who is interested in the history of road trips or the role that taverns played in the revolutionary war will find this to be an easy, enjoyable, and informative story. It would definitely be great for a fourth or fifth grader learning about early American life in the colonies.
Displaying 1 of 1 review