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Electrobats in Manhattan, 1898

Two open-fronted electric taxicabs parked next to each other in a street scene. Each carries a passenger and a uniformed operator in a top-hat.

Wikimedia Commons

Though slow, heavy, and very expensive, New York’s Morris & Salom Electrobat cabs were all the rage during the first years of the automobile industry in North America. The cabs featured front doors that could be closed over the passengers, the better to protect them from city streets covered in mud and horse manure.