Spotlight on Collections: Carriage Jacks

Carriage Jack patented by David True, Amesbury, 1885. (Click to enlarge.)

You may not know jack about Jacks except that you have one in the trunk of your car. Come to the Amesbury Carriage Museum’s Industrial History Center where an exhibit of seven antique Carriage Jacks is on display. You may not learn how to fix a flat tire, but you will learn lots of interesting information about Carriage Jacks.

Did you know, for example, that David True of Amesbury patented a Carriage Jack in 1885? “The inventive spirit so strong in Amesbury was well exemplified by the invention of a carriage jack by David A. True, who conducted a woodworking plant on Rocky Hill Road,” wrote John J. Allen in History of Carriage Manufacturing, Automobile Body Building and Accessories in Salisbury, Amesbury, West Amesbury and South Amesbury from 1800 to 1955. “This jack was considered the best article of its kind ever invented.”

Ninteenth century vehicles had iron tires that never went flat, but Carriage Jacks were used to lift a wheel a few inches for removal and replacement. When you think of the jack in the trunk of your car, you probably think of being stranded by the side of the road on a wet night. Hardly glamorous, but these 19th century Carriage Jacks are really quite interesting to look at. “They’re very cool,” ACM Program Manager Bonnie Brady said, “very sculptural looking.”

The Carriage Jack exhibit is on display in the S.R. Bailey Conference Room of the Industrial History Center located in Mill 2, Upper Millyard. The IHC is open Thursdays through Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. and by appointment. Come by and have a look!

A variety of 19th center lever style jacks, not made in Amesbury, but likely used here. (Photo by Frank Gurczak.)