A cart is a two-wheeled vehicle designed for transport. It can be pulled by humans or such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or smaller animals such as goats and large dogs.
The word cart is often used incorrectly to indicate four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicles. Over time, the word "cart" has expanded to mean nearly any small conveyance without regard to number of wheels, load carried, or means of propulsion. The word car has often been modified to cart through Colloquialism. For example, several small sport and hobby cars carry "cart" in their name such as (manually pedaled), (gravity run), and (gas engine). Similarly, golf cars are more commonly known as .
A cartwright is a builder of carts, and a is the person operating a horse and cart for haulage.
History
The history of the cart is closely tied to the invention of the wheel. Pre-dating the wheel there were dragged devices like
and
travois. The earliest known wheels date back to around 3400 to 3000 BC. The combination of the wheel and axle enabled the development of early wheeled vehicles which transformed human mobility and trade. The earliest wheeled vehicles had four-wheels (
), however two-wheeled vehicles (carts) required about 40% less pulling force than a four-wheeled vehicle of the same weight and were more maneuverable.
With the domestication of animals such as oxen and , carts became central to ancient economies. Animal‑drawn carts and wagons were widely used across civilizations for farming, trade, and migration. Their evolution—from solid wooden wheels to lighter spoked designs—marked a major technological advance, improving efficiency and enabling long‑distance transport.
Human-powered carts
Large carts
-
Pulled rickshaw: Used to transport passengers
-
Pushcart: a street vendor's or costermonger's cart which carries goods for sale and is manually pushed into position near streets or marketplaces.
-
Food cart: a mobile kitchen set up on the street to prepare and sell food to passers-by
-
Mormon handcarts: A large cart used in the mid-1800s by westward-emigrating Mormons to carry their belongings
File:Rickshaw by fabichan in Arashiyama, Kyoto.jpg|Pulled rickshaw
File:Street vendor's mobile stall in India.jpg|Street vendor pushcart
File:Batagor vendor 4.jpg|Modern
File:PlattCrossing.jpg|Mormon handcart
Small carts
Small human pushed or pulled conveyances commonly called carts can have any number of wheels (not limited to two). The term
handcart can mean any of numerous small conveyances.
-
Hand truck: A two-wheeled upright handcart for moving boxes, sacks, large appliances and other loads
-
Baggage cart: for travelers to carry luggage in places like airports and train stations
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Shopping cart: a wheeled basket supplied by a store for use by customers inside the premises as they move around selecting items prior to paying for those goods
-
Serving cart: for transporting prepared food for serving to customers such as in a restaurant or airplanes; may be named for what it carries, such as tea cart for tea service, or pastry cart for offering desserts at a restaurant
File:Pepsi Cola soda beverage.jpg|
File:Chariot à bagages Orly.jpg|Airport baggage cart
File:Carrinhosupermercado.JPG|Shopping cart
Animal-powered carts
Carts may be drawn by animals, such as
,
, and
oxen. They have been in continuous use since the invention of the wheel. Carts may be named for the animal that pulls them, such as
horsecart,
donkey cart,
Bullock cart or
dog cart (not to be confused with
dogcart which is a horse-drawn vehicle that carried dogs).
Carts have many different shapes, based on what is being transported and the shape of the draught animal. When being pulled by a single animal, carts have a pair of that support and balance the cart, and the weight of the shafts on the animal is carried by a padded harness saddle. When a cart is being pulled by a pair of animals, it has a single between the pair. Draught traces attach to the vehicle on one end, and to a collar, yoke, or other parts of the harness. Traces are made from leather, chain, rope, or other materials.
File:Bullock Cart (গোরুর গাড়ি), Rural Bengal.jpg|Oxcart
File:Camel cart.JPG|Camel cart
File:Bokkenwagen.jpg|Goat cart
File:Maastricht, Heerderweg, 1956.jpg|Dog cart
Horse-drawn carts
The term "cart" is a category of horse-drawn vehicles which have
two wheels. However as
slang it has been used to mean
any horse-drawn vehicle including those with four wheels—though mainly used to indicate
and commercial wagons which have corresponding two-wheeled equivalents or forerunners. The horsecart category includes carts whether pulled by horses, ponies, donkeys, or mules, because the methods of
Horse harness is the same for all
equids. Carts can be divided into freight-carrying carts and passenger carts, with the nicer passenger carts also named
cars.
For examples, see lists at:
File:Mejuffrouw Tachard en Ernst van Loon in een rijtuig voor huis Hydepark, RP-F-2007-361-27.jpg|Pony and cart (Netherlands, 1888)
File:Driving Competion (3716744148).jpg|Modern cart (England, 2009)
File:Beverley Gas Works, Old Hull Road 1910 (archive ref DDX1544-1-11) (28284430335).jpg|Heavy hauling cart (England, circa 1910)
File:From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith- (6516045387).jpg|Donkey cart
See also
-
Misraħ Għar il-Kbir — Collection of prehistoric cart ruts in Malta
- Images
John Vince (1989). 085263885X, Shire Publications Ltd. 085263885X
