Expert: Anderson's Restorations-Rob Anderson - 2/26/2010

Question
I have a F. A. Whitney wicker baby carriage (perambulator) that is painted black (basket) and light yellow (chasis). The carriage has wooden wheels and spokes - the rims are steel. Its age should be prior to 1900.  Can you tell me if the color combo is period correct, and suggest other color combos that are.  Also, the hard rubber wheel are in poor shape and I'd like to replace them. Can you direct me to someone who could do this for me?

Answer
As far as the color goes, carriages of this age were often ordered from a store or catalog,  you didn't just walk into Carriages Are Us and get one. Therefor, color choices were whatever the company offered. The only way to really tell if this is original would be to peek under the upholstery where it meets the wicker or look for some signs under the buggy. Stores that ordered carriages to have on hand to sell to walk-ins many times would also paint to the customers choices of color.
  The tires are another story. There is no supplier, to my knowledge, that sells this material. Your choices are to leave it alone, try to patch with a liquid rubber material or remove the old material and replace with a rubber hose, like fuel line from a auto parts store or something similar. Get something that will sit @ half way down into the rim, glue in place and join the ends with a short piece of copper tubing or something else that will bend.
 Thanks for your question,
  Rob
 http://www.andersonsrestorations.com