THE LONG ISLAND MUSEUM

Conserving a National Treasure
CALLING ALL CARRIAGE AND HISTORY FANS: WE NEED YOUR HELP!

The Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages owns one of the nation’s finest collections of horse-drawn vehicles. The jewel in our crown is the Tally-Ho Road Coach, 1875, made by Holland & Holland, in London and brought to New York by Colonel Delancey Kane (1845-1915).

The Tally-Ho’s travels and exploits were widely covered by national news media of the 1870s and 80s. As the Rider and Driver Journal put it in 1893,

“This coach was the first public coach ever run in America on the English plain…the word ‘Tallyho’ has become a part of the American language, and is the commonly used word in America for an English coach and a coaching trip is invariably referred to in the newspapers and novels of the day as a ‘tallyho party.’”

BRINGING THE TALLY-HO BACK TO ITS FORMER GLORY:  

Still a relatively recent donation to the LIM’s collection, the Tally-Ho came to us in difficult condition and is in major need of conservation. Master conservator Brian Howard, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, will be employed to do the work and has given us a proposal for large areas of actively flaking paint, deteriorated leather metalwork corrosion, and cracks in the wheel hubs.

TO HELP: Please consider making a donation at any level to this unique project.  Your funds will be joined with others, as the LIM will also seek additional funding from government agencies, corporations, private foundations and individual donors during the project.