At present, it is difficult to envision our nation without the automobile, for the "Horseless Carriage," as it was once dubbed by President McKinley, and the truck have become absolute necessities in modern culture. Not so when our ancestors traveled the dusty trails of yesteryear.

Back then, with the exception of trolleys and railroad train systems, the buggy, cart, coach, carriage and wagon were the accepted vehicles of riding and hauling. And the power to do so was the memorable horse, domesticated thousands of years ago for mounts, pulling vehicles or carrying loads. When a younger America was still vast regions of self-sufficient or sustainable farmland under cultivation, the horse was absolutely indispensable -- an integral part of farming operations. But Ol' Dobbin was relegated to eventual pasture after the first cumbersome tractor was invented and placed in operation, and the carriage maker, harness maker, wheelwright and blacksmith accompanied the horse in an honored place in transportation history.

We now are a national conglomerate of all kinds of cars, trucks, and SUV's, driving along clogged highways, by-ways and interstates. But, prior to the first quarter of the 20th century, the common man drove a simple, functionally-designed buggy and the more affluent drove expensive models and types.

Artist Bill Aeberli recalls this earlier time of ancestral transportation with a series of acrylic paintings currently on display at the Hamlin Town Hall. Drop in during the Wheel Fest or during the subsequent summer months and take a stroll through another phase of Hamlin's past.