Are there any buggy whip factories still in business?

Buggy whips are an often-used cliche in discussion about obsolescence. However, considering that there’s still a player piano roll factory operating in the United States, there has to be some remaining factory that is producing buggy whips – intended for horses, not humans in bondage play – by the hundreds or thousands. Where is it?

Wiki says yes: “Buggy whips are not entirely gone. A resurgence of interest in the international sport of combined driving and historical carriage driving, sports enjoyed by people of all ages, has allowed some buggy whip manufacturers to stay in business, serving this specialty niche market. Foremost among these is a company in Westfield, Massachusetts.”

You could write/call

The Buggy Whip Factory
208 NorFolk Road
Located in Southfield
Great Barrington, MA 01259

413-229-3576

ETA: though on further looking, it seems like this is just a fancy-shmancy mall that occasionally has museum exhibits.

Slight highjack, are floppy disks still being manufactured?

There’s these guys:

http://www.myglobalprofile.com/jedediahs-buggy-whip

It looks like that’s a specialty shop which makes period harnesses and tack, as well as repairing them.

In fact, it appears that technological innovation has hit the business. One can obtain whips made with newfangled carbon fiber:

http://www.smuckersharness.com/pg65.html

The first place I’d look is in Amish country…

So, can you still get 8-inch and 5.25-inch floppy disks? :slight_smile:

When I worked open pit mining from 75 to 79, my pickup was equiped with a “buggy whip” so the much bigger rockwagons could see me. I have no reason to believe that that safety measure has been discontinued.