How people moved household belongings before modern moving trucks
Explore historical examples of moving household goods, from covered wagons and an 1862 photograph to a family's 1935 journey west.
Different journeys, different belongings
People have moved homes for many reasons, using whatever transport and help were available to them. No single vehicle or timeline tells the whole story. Museum objects, photographs and newspaper advertisements offer glimpses of particular moves in the United States.
Household goods on the trail
The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History describes the prairie schooner as a lighter wagon used on western trails to carry household goods and some family members; many people walked. It distinguishes that wagon from the larger Conestoga freight wagon, which carried commercial goods.
A different nineteenth-century move appears in an 1862 photograph held by the Library of Congress: a refugee family with a horse-drawn wagon loaded with furniture and belongings. The image shows a move shaped by the Civil War, not a simple story of voluntary travel.
Paid help existed before modern trucks
Moving help did not begin with motorized vehicles. An 1868 New York Herald advertisement, preserved by the Library of Congress, advertised rooms for furniture and other property and mentioned porters and truckmen. It is one example of paid services available to people who needed help handling belongings.
The advertisement does not establish what every household could afford or how common a particular service was. It does show why a neat dividing line between moving yourself and hiring help can be misleading.
A family's belongings in 1935
The Smithsonian preserves a trunk and household items carried by James and Flossie Haggard and their children when they moved from eastern Oklahoma to southern California in 1935. The museum's account places the journey after drought and a fire had damaged the family's livelihood.
Objects like this show both what a family chose to bring and the difficult circumstances behind a move.
Planning a move today
Modern moves can involve a personal vehicle, rented truck or professional crew. The basic planning questions remain familiar: what needs to go, how will it fit, and what help is needed at each end?
For a current move, make an inventory, check access at both addresses and ask what a moving quote includes before deciding which services you need.