This carriage is equipped with shafts from the Deal Buggy Company, of Jonesville, Michigan. It was built in 1897, at the height of the horse-powered era. Just six years later, the first automobiles crossed the United States, and by 1915, the Deal Buggy Company, which specialized in spring and delivery wagons, had closed its doors. The following item ran in the February, 1916 edition of the "Hub," a carriage and buggy trade news publisher in New York:
Recently all the vehicle stock, finished and unfinished, of the Deal Buggy Co., Jonesville, Mich., was sold to a Chicago mail order concern. The Deal Buggy Co. will doubtless sell its real estate and liquidate at an early date. The company is in good financial condition and all accounts will be paid in full.