[Carl Russell]

@Mark Cowdrey 31881 wrote:

For me the critical breakthrough moment would be when someone realised that with a “D-ring” (actual shape not withstanding) harness it is possible to move the pole weight from the neck to the back. I am inclined to substantially define a D-ring harness one that has 5 straps to the “connector”. Previous to that, e.g. the Betsy Ross photo, the “connector” seems more of convenience of some sort than anything substantive. From jut the photos on this post we can see that there were many, many harness variations manufactured and doubtless many other combinations and amalgamations in actual use. It is not beyond the pale for me to believe that some such incidental combination of parts allowed the above mentioned adjustment to occur accidentally. I can conceive that it was some sort of “ah-ha” moment in barn dooryard or livery rather than a drawing board solution to a perceived problem. If so, it would spread a neighbor saw the benefit. If this was the method, it could easily have occurred simultaneously at several different geographic points. This line of thinking spreads the invention out to several people, though certainly when the benefit became widely recognised some enterprising harness maker would start making them new.

One set of harness I have has a forged ring that the straps are sewn onto, the D has 2 “stems”, one for the trace and one for the britchen. The other set, however, has a larger ring in the style of a clevis, that is, it has a bolt that forms the D’s stem. This makes the D look much more like a D. My guess, while we are doing all this guessing, is that the clevis type is simpler (to put the harness together) and likely a precursor to the forged type.
Mark

Mark you are exactly correct. If you read the patent for the square D, it is basically a trace connector, to improve flexibility, strength and to simplify repair. The breeching loop was incidental to the design, and there basically is no purposeful mention of connection to back saddle. However, it seems to be a convention among those who used saddles, to attach saddle straps to such a device.

As far as the ah-ha moment about pole weight, I’m almost willing to bet that it never was instrumental to the development of the D-ring modification. You can see from the photos that it seems to be entirely optional depending on the preference of the user. I’m almost more willing to assert that the biggest reason for developing the D-ring was to improve on the hold-back system represented by the Side-backer. And of course there was room available for attaching the back saddle, but as you can see the saddle was a convention for many harnesses that never could bear saddle-weight anyway.

According to Les, most people that he has met had no idea that the D-ring harness they were using could be adjusted to bear pole weight, even men older than he who had used the harness their whole lives. I wonder if that was just a regional innovation in itself, merely taking advantage of any mechanism, square D or rounded D, to accomplish that, and may not have had anything to do with the actual design and subsequent manufacture and marketing of the D-ring harness.

I was always under the impression that the forged D-rings were an older style than the bolt-through clevis style. Can’t say why, just that the forged ones I have seen were obviously older than the clevis styles I have seen. Might be coincidence.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Furthermore, the back saddle seems to be incidental to the original design, at least to the square D, which may be why so many folks seem to be willing to use D-ring harnesses without a saddle. There was accommodation made for the saddle strap, but there doesn’t seem to be any acknowledgment that using this attachment will take pole weight off from the neck. It does seem like the guy in Mitch’s pic has figured that out though.

Who is that guy???:confused:

Carl

[Carl Russell]

I also think that this is the same style that is represented in Mitch’s photo of the potato day, as well as the photo in the quarry in NH, although the rendition in the quarry doesn’t include the loop for the side strap.

I think the D-ring that we use today was designed to be large enough to accept the front side strap and the front trace, and as such would constitute another specific design change to combine trace and hold-back systems. If you look at the Hame Chain method of holding back, it was a step between the side-backer/belly backer method and the front side strap method, using the link between hame-trace-breeching to hold back at the pole.

I can see in Mitch’s photo that there is distinctly a front side strap, but I really can’t see a rounded D-ring there. It looks too stream-lined from front trace to rear trace, and it seems to me the user may have just made the modification himself, putting a front side strap into the opening in the square D.

I am willing to bet that the rounded D was a New England modification of the square D, as a way to combine the repair and attachment features of the square D with the Side-backer and breeching style harness. Neck yokes were set up for the Side-backer, and in the hilly terrain the system was much more effective for braking and backing, so I bet it was a quick modification that could be made by like guys in Mitch’s pic.

It would only be a matter of time before a blacksmith would be asked to make an larger rounded ring to improve wear and to make more room for the front side strap…..

Mitch, Who is that guy??? :rolleyes:

Carl

[Carl Russell]

So after more consideration I think this one is the patent (1891) for the square style D. It is called a Hame Tug, but is a square with bolts to connect the hame trace to the heel trace, also saddle strap and belly strap, and a loop to attach rear side-strap. Still no accommodation for front side straps. I think this is the device in the picture in front of the Betsy Ross House (Circa 1900).

http://patimg1.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=00463938&SectionNum=1&IDKey=491A528C57C0&HomeUrl=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2%26Sect2=HITOFF%26p=1%26u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm%26r=1%26f=G%26l=50%26d=PALL%26S1=00463938%26OS=PN/00463938%26RS=PN/00463938

Carl

An interesting aside. This team is parked in front of the Hame Chain Maker. If you notice this harness has side straps, but no belly backer. Instead there are “Hame Chains” attached directly to the front of the pole. I think there is a neck yoke holding the pole up, but the Hame Chains are employed for stopping and backing.

[Carl Russell]

Here is another style, which I actually did see in an advertisement in the National Harness Review. This one was filed in 1905, allowing a full trace to run through a ring-like device that could be used to attach at least four auxiliary straps.

http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=00780258&SectionNum=1&IDKey=2F86391B42B2&HomeUrl=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2%2526Sect2=HITOFF%2526p=1%2526u=%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r=1%2526f=G%2526l=50%2526d=PALL%2526S1=00780258%2526OS=PN/00780258%2526RS=PN/00780258

This one is from 1891, and is a piece of sheet metal formed to accept straps from many different angles……http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=00457891&SectionNum=2&IDKey=53AEFA3606CD&HomeUrl=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2%2526Sect2=HITOFF%2526p=1%2526u=%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r=1%2526f=G%2526l=50%2526d=PALL%2526S1=00457891%2526OS=PN/00457891%2526RS=PN/00457891

This is as close as I could find to the actual D-ring that we more commonly see, but as far as I can tell the inventor is more concerned with the construction of the hardware, and is not specifically concerned about where it is employed. It is from 1889, but doesn’t resemble any of the other D-rings that we see in the photos. http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=00408661&SectionNum=1&IDKey=8002A02B7AD7&HomeUrl=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2%2526Sect2=HITOFF%2526p=1%2526u=%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r=1%2526f=G%2526l=50%2526d=PALL%2526S1=00408661%2526OS=PN/00408661%2526RS=PN/00408661

I am going to stop there. I will go back over the others I bookmarked and share any pertinent ones.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Andy, I understand what you are getting at, but the reason I am looking for the so-called true “D-ring” is because I think there are too many near missed for us to ever give adequate recognition to the actual source. For example here is a link to a patent submitted by a one Jefferson O. Adams of New Iberia, Louisiana. http://patimg1.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=00971426&SectionNum=1&IDKey=270EEA7C8336&HomeUrl=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2%2526Sect2=HITOFF%2526p=1%2526u=%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r=1%2526f=G%2526l=50%2526d=PALL%2526S1=00971426%2526OS=PN/00971426%2526RS=PN/00971426

This device is described as follows “My present invention pertains to Harness: and it contemplates the provision in a harness of convenient, durable and otherwise advantageous couplings of effecting connection between the depending straps of a harness saddle, on the one hand, and the traces, breeching-straps, and belly strap, on the other, as well as effecting connection between the said harness elements and shafts of thills with a view of enabling a draft animal to back a vehicle when occasion demands.”

The device is basically a ring that is spliced into an unbroken trace. If you follow the above link you should arrive at the USPTO Patent Full-text and Image Database. There will be several red bordered text boxes, click on the one that says “Images”. Then on the next window on the left side menu, click on “Drawings” for a picture, then on “Front Page” for the filing description.

The reason I want to find the first large scale manufacturer is to try to draw attention to the period of time when the harness in its current form became widely available, and possibly to get some biographic information on the individual (s) who took the initiative.

I think we can pay homage to many bright and serious minds that have taken initiative to improve the application of animals to work. I just feel like New England has some particular role in the development and distribution of this style of harness, and at the present time it seems to be missing.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

I agree…. I think it is a simple fact that we can look to many other cultures, regions, and historical renditions of animal harness to find origins of some of the basic principles in the D-ring harness.

In fact, and I won’t at this time share all of the links, when I searched the US patents I found many examples from all over USA from 1890ish to 1930ish where innovators were finding ways to create compartmentalized harnesses, with central strap attachment rings, plates, doo-hickies, and the like. There are several renditions of a “Front Trace” that goes just from the hames a short distance back to some other mechanism of horse-to-equipment attachment and detachment. There are several alternative chain traces, cable traces, and the like.

It is really had to believe that the D-ring wasn’t among these innovations, especially since I did find a patent for the D-style heel chain/hook attachment for the trace end.

So I think it is too great a leap to just say that the common design came from just one example, especially seeing the examples of the wheat and circus harnesses from the interior west, and the square ring style from the Philadelphia region.

However, I for one am mostly interested in finding that one manufacturer/designer/harnessmaker/blacksmith/foundry who decided that the D-ring hardware, the tear-drop one like in the Bellows Falls picture, was important enough to replicate in such a manner that either their own business, or those of other regional harness makers could install them into complete retail harnesses.

I have been trying to get images from Sears Roebuck, again some examples of heavy express harnesses, but only long traces with no rings, or breaks of any kind.

I have an e-mail into a friend of mine who runs a modern Harness Review of sorts, Shop Talk Magazine (Proleptic) for harness makers. I’ve asked him if he knows of a harness historian who may have some clues about some of these broader industrial questions that I seem to be having a difficult time searching out…

More later, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Nice Mitch.

Here is a link to the National Harness Review 1910. Lots of pages, some discussion about harnesses, advertisements, etc. Nothing of importance to our search, just another interesting period piece.

http://books.google.com/books?id=7XBaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA54-IA43&lpg=PA54-IA43&dq=new+england+harness+makers+1910&source=bl&ots=03Zlxo0MoE&sig=MAz6zIwYLg56ab1px_QsJCirbxo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wxIYT8GyNKnI2AXqpMDkCw&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=new%20england%20harness%20makers%201910&f=false

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Great site Andy….. I perused it a bit and found a few more good pics. I’m a little skeptical about the dates, but this is what they said anyway. I am not ready to claim that the D-ring harness spread from Maine, nor do I have any other clear facts, but if these dates are at all accurate, it seems to have been in pretty common use in VT at the turn of the century, slightly before and after, in the common rounded tear-drop shape.

Addison House Sleigh, Middlebury, VT 1860-1900 (this date range seems reasonable)

Somewhere in VT 1860-90 credit to Henry Sheldon Museum (I question this date….. looks more like 1910-1930ish)

Middlebury, VT 1915 (I’m good with this date)

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Here is Mitch’s photo blown up. I wanted to see if I could see the D-ring. It makes me think it is a square D, similar to the ones in the above pic from Concord NH, as it is barely observable.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

So here are a few more pics I gleened off a site dedicated to Shorpy Higginbotham. Here is the site http://www.shorpy.com/node/12161 These pics are from the Library of Congress collection from the Detroit Publishing Company.

This is in front of the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia, PA circa 1900, showing a square D with attachment for back side strap.

This one is from the town square in Bellows Falls, VT circa 1907, showing the round D with rear side strap attachement similar to what we are used to….. with no back saddle(?)

Here is a granite quarry in Concord, NH circa 1908 showing square D’s in both sets of harnesses, the leads have the back saddles, the wheelers have a Boston Side-backer set-up and no back saddles….. go figure.

This pic is from Hoboken, NJ circa 1910 showing the Boston Side-backer style harness with no back saddle…… I just included it because I think it is a great shot of vehicle wrap advertisement from 100 years ago.

When I see all the variations, and see how so many didn’t really understand the combined important features of the D-ring harness, it
makes me even more curious about the actual origins. It appears that people were coming at it from several different directions.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Here is the link to the USPO showing results for harness. I must have looked at a few hundred today, and found a few that had some hardware that resembled the D-ring, and some that showed other hitching set-ups that feature centralized attachment of side, saddle, belly straps and traces, but none that take it to the level that we know as the D-ring Harness.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/def/054.htm

I like the idea that Andy floats about the Scandinavian harness. The harness wouldn’t even need to make it here, just the harness maker.

The mystery is that somewhere a black smith, or foundry, started making D-rings in a distinctive design specifically for the harness makers, and I can hardly believe they didn’t patent it.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

@mitchmaine 31802 wrote:

hello all,
for the record, i have a photo of d-ring harness on teams of horses in ft. fairfield, me. in the winter of 1894. ….

Mitch, is this a “true” d-ring harness? Are you certain of the date?

I only ask because I have spent a few hours going through the US Patent records, and I have found a lot of variations of traces and attachments that come close, but none that are reasonably similar to what we have now that I could call them D-ring harnesses.

If the d-ring was common as early as 1894 then the trace style, and/or d-ring hardware doesn’t seem to have been patented.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Sorry, I completely missed this pic…… here is the next iteration (from the same book). It attributes the design to “Shows and Circuses”….. perhaps this style change had some extra scrutiny as it moved from one area to another, and somebody in New England saw a way to combine this with the Boston Backer, and started making it available to farmers and loggers in this region.????

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Here are a couple of photos from a book Geoff (Near Horse) gave me called The Horse Interlude.

These are described as “Wheat Harnesses”, with no date range specified. You can see the ring attached to the trace. In neither example are there back-pads present. There is however a type pf britchen for the “Wheeler” harness. It appears that some of the components are present, but the strap is still bearing pole-weight on the collar. It isn’t described why there is a ring on the trace. It seems to be just there as an attachment for the belly band. It might have lead someone to new ideas….

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