Borden's Hitch in Parade, Competition, Milk, and Law

Borden Condensed Milk Co. Hitch (1908)

Winner of the Work Horse Parade Obstacle Test

Bain Archive, Library of Congress

In 1907, the first Work Horse Parade took place at Washington Square, Fifth Avenue and Worth Square at 23rd in New York City. This was a feature of the Decoration Day Celebration organized by the Woman's Auxiliary and sponsored by the ASPCA.

Washington Square, New York City (1907)

Bain Archive, Library of Congress

According to a New York Times article dated May 19, 1907, the expected participation was 1,200 horses and their delivery companies.  Those companies whose doors were open and delivered included confectionary houses, coal, fire departments, police departments, wholesale grocers, breweries, butchers, milk companies, laundries, and others.

In Front of the Grandstands at the Working Horse Parade (1909)

Bain Archive, Library of Congress

The object of this parade was to introduce the owners and drivers of the working horses in the city, and to garner public interest in the horses' welfare. 

Grandstand Onlookers (1908)

Bain Archive, Library of Congress

Competitions were also a part of this working horse extravaganza, where the horses were judged on many points, including the ability to negotiate obstacles efficiently.

Borden Condensed Milk Co. Competing in Obstacle (1908)

Bain Archive, Library of Congress

Bird's Eye View of the Obstacle Course (1908)

Bain Archive, Library of Congress

Budweiser Competing in Obstacle (1908)

Bain Archive, Library of Congress

The working horse served New York City well for nearly three centuries.  It appears that the Work Horse Parade ended after 1914. At that time the automobile was on everyone's minds and taking over the means of transportation.   

In 1857, Gail Borden established the New York Condensed Milk Co., which later became the Borden Company.  Borden's Condensed Milk played a key role in sustaining the Union Army during the Civil War.  In 1875, Borden's sons pioneered the selling of sanitary milk bottles in New York City.  In 1919, the Borden Company owned 21 milk plants, 8 milk farms, 156 country bottling plants, and 3,400 horses and wagons.

Borden's Condensed Milk Co. Plant (1900-1910)

Plowline: Images of Rural New York, Project of The Farmer's Museum

Borden's Advertisement (1898)

Guidebook for Travelers in the Klondike Gold Rush

As a footnote:  In the appellate case of Brand v. Borden's Condensed Milk Co., 89 A.D. 188, 85 N.Y.S. 755 (1903), it became well settled that failure to properly hitch or guard a horse in a populated city justifies a finding of negligence on the wagon owner.

Moral of the Story:  Always head your horse.