This ingenious horse drawn street cleaner is washing the streets of New York City and scrubbing them at the same time. The driver is wearing a constable’s type hat, and looks like he is sitting on top of a some sort of war chariot but in fact it is a water cistern that is supplying the jets coming out the side. The movement of the wheels seems to be acting as a pump, while the scrubber is dragged behind the carriage.
I am not sure of the date of the photograph but I would guess it was taken some time between 1890-1910, based on the pedestrian’s clothing and the fact that there are no motor vehicles on the street. I honestly had no idea that street cleaners were invented that far back. However this must have been a pretty unusual sight in New York even back then because the city had a reputation for being absolutely filthy in the late 1800s.
