Portuguese Carts In Postcards

José Luis Mingote Calderón reminds us that postcards figure among the finest documents attesting to rural and urban traditions in Portugal, if their limitations – so often being posed for the photographer, among others – are taken into account.

Fig. 1. Portugal. North of Portugal, probably from Minho. Cart with moving axle and solid wheel, carrying sacks and in which a neck and board yoke (canga) can be seen. We must especially note the man wearing shoes and the woman without. Uncertainty about precise geographical location may be taken as quite normal in old postcards.
Fig. 2. Moura. Alentejo carts, fixed axle and spoked wheel, pulled by oxen and mules. They are unloading bundles of wheat onto the threshing floor. The postcard was sent in 1914, but the image seems older because of the static attitude seen in the people. The postcard was used as an advertising element by Aguas de Moura [Moura Waters].
Fig. 3. Porto. Cart with moving axle and solid wheel, pulled by oxen, transporting a large vat of wine in the vicinity of the São Bento station, in the center of the city. In the picture, it coincides with trams and horse-drawn carriages. The postcard was sent in 1906.
Fig. 4. Serra da Estrela (Beira). Cart with moving axle and solid wheel, pulled by oxen. According to the caption [bottom right], it is loaded with hay (feno), but it seems more likely to be branches.

José Luis has been kind enough to send us an extensive bibliography in Spanish on carts with a moving axle and solid wheel, which can be accessed on the AIMA website under the title Mingote Calderon BIBLIOGRAFIA RELATIVA AL CARRO CHILLON EN ESPAÑA at weblink https://www.agriculturalmuseums.org/news-2/aima-newsletters/