Is This a Rare Photograph of the Famed Pelham Coach?

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On the coach for Pelham, Hear the long horn blowing;

Dashing on for Pelham, Bless me! How we’re going,

Sound the horn “yo ho!” again, Snap the whip now, Colonel Kane!

Give the “four-in-hand” full rein, Be on time at Pelham

-- From the Song “Coaching To Pelham” Published in 1876

eBay continues as an interesting forum to find items related to the history of the Town of Pelham.  Currently a cabinet photo is being auctioned that is described as "Ca 1890 Cabinet Photo The Pelham Coach passing Park Plaza New York City NY".  The reverse of the image has "The Pelham Coach" handwritten in ink.  Does this cabinet photo depict the Pelham Coach?  

Click on Images to Enlarge.  

In 1876 a horse-drawn road coach known as “The Pelham Coach” (also known, informally, as the "Tally Ho!") began running between New York City’s Hotel Brunswick and the “Pelham Manor” of yore. This road coach was not a simple hired coach that ferried passengers from New York City in the days before Henry Ford mass produced his Model T. Rather, this road coach was driven by Colonel Delancey Kane, one of the so-called “millionaire coachmen,” who engaged in a sport known as “public coaching” or “road coaching” as it sometimes was called. The purpose of the sport was to rush the carriage between designated points on a specified schedule, with quick changes of horses at strategic points along the way, and to maintain that schedule rigorously. 

Colonel Delancey Kane became quite famous for his handling of The Pelham Coach, a bright canary yellow coach that was cheered along its route from the Hotel Brunswick in New York City to Pelham Bridge in the Town of Pelham and, later, along Shore Road into New Rochelle. The iconic image of the Tally Ho! immediately below appeared on song sheets, in etchings and engravings distributed throughout the United States. It shows The Pelham Coach. 

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Colonel Kane changed the terminus of the Tally Ho! a number of times. In various years the coach traveled to the Lorillard cottage (Arcularius Hotel) at Pelham Bridge, the Pelham Bridge Hotel, the Huguenot House in New Rochelle, and a number of other locations in the region. The coach route always, however, either terminated at Pelham Bridge or continued through Pelham along Shore Road past the settlement of Bartow and Bolton Priory on its way to New Rochelle.

The cabinet photo depicting "The Pelham Coach" does not depict Colonel Delancey Kane's famed Tally Ho!  Colonel Kane no longer ran his Pelham Coach in the late 1880s or early 1890s.  Color images of his coach (and descriptions) indicate that portions were canary yellow.  Additionally, some engravings show lettering on at least one door at one point ("New York and Pelham Manor").  There are no indications that the cabinet photo depicts the actual Tally Ho!

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Yet, that does NOT mean that the photograph does not depict The Pelham Coach.  Over the years, a number of sporting coachmen ran coaches to -- and through -- Pelham Manor.  Given the fame of the original Pelham Coach, it should come as no surprise that such coaches often were referenced as "The Pelham Coach."

The cabinet photo likely depicts The Tempest, a sporting coach that began running to Pelham in 1894 in an effort to resurrect the bygone days of coaching to Pelham.  It occasionally was referred to as "The Pelham Coach" and, significantly, stopped at the Plaza Hotel in New York City which this cabinet photo purports to depict.  I have written before about The Tempest and its efforts to resurrect the glory days of coaching to Pelham.  See:  Wed., Jul. 30, 2014:  Yet Another Attempt in 1894 to Resurrect the Glory Days of Coaching to Pelham.  

Despite the fact that The Tempest was referenced, occasionally, as The Pelham Coach, I have not yet located evidence that The Tempest traveled all the way to Pelham.  Rather, it ran to "The Country Club" which, by the late 1880s, had moved from Shore Road in Pelham to a location on nearby Throggs Neck.

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Below is a list of articles and blog postings that I previously have posted regarding the subject of "Coaching to Pelham."

Tue., Aug. 15, 2017:  1877 Advertisement for Colonel Delancey Kane's Pelham Coach Known as the "Tally Ho".

Bell, Blake A., Col. Delancey Kane and "The Pelham Coach" (Sep. 2003).

Thu., Jul. 28, 2016:  The Chicago Tribune Lampooned Coaching to Pelham in 1884.

Wed., Jul. 30, 2014:  Yet Another Attempt in 1894 to Resurrect the Glory Days of Coaching to Pelham.  

Tue., Jul. 29, 2014:  Wonderful Description of Coaching to Pelham on the Tally-Ho's First Trip of the Season on May 1, 1882.

Wed., Apr. 14, 2010:  Col. Delancey Kane Changes the Timing and Route of The Pelham Coach in 1876.

Tue., Sep. 08, 2009:  1877 Advertisement with Timetable for the Tally Ho Coach to Pelham.

Mon., Mar. 23, 2009:  The Greyhound and the Tantivy-- The Four-in-Hand Coaches that Succeeded Col. Delancey Kane's "Tally-Ho" to Pelham.

Fri., Jan. 16, 2009: The Final Trip of the First Season of Col. Delancey Kane's "New-Rochelle and Pelham Four-in-Hand Coach Line" in 1876.

Thu., Jan. 15, 2009:  The First Trip of Col. Delancey Kane's "New-Rochelle and Pelham Four-in-Hand Coach Line" on May 1, 1876.

Thu., Mar. 06, 2008:  Auctioning the Tantivy's Horses at the Close of the 1886 Coaching Season.

Wed., Mar. 05, 2008:  Coaching to Pelham: The Tantivy Has an Accident on its Way to Pelham in 1886.  

Thu., Jan. 24, 2008:  An Account of the First Trip of Colonel Delancey Kane's Tally-Ho to Open the 1880 Coaching Season.

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008: Brief "History of Coaching" Published in 1891 Shows Ties of Sport to Pelham, New York

Thursday, August 3, 2006: Images of Colonel Delancey Kane and His "Pelham Coach" Published in 1878.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005: Taunting the Tantivy Coach on its Way to Pelham: 1886.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005: 1882 Engraving Shows Opening of Coaching Season From Hotel Brunswick to Pelham Bridge.

Thu., Jun. 09, 2005:  Coaching to Pelham: Colonel Delancey Astor Kane Did Not Operate the Only Coach to Pelham.

Fri., Feb. 11, 2005:  Col. Delancey Kane's "Pelham Coach", Also Known as The Tally-Ho, Is Located.

Bell, Blake A., Col. Delancey Kane and "The Pelham Coach", The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XII, No. 38, Sept. 26, 2003, p. 1, col. 1.

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