Tag: handbarrow

Wikipedia says: The handbarrow, also spelled hand-barrow and hand barrow, is a type of human-powered transport. It was originally a flat, rectangular frame used to carry loads such as salt cod, cheese and guano. It has handles on both ends, so two people are needed to use it.

Scholars such as Lynn Townsend White Jr., Albert Leighton and Andrea Matthies suggest it may have inspired the invention of the wheelbarrow. The addition of a wheel meant it only required one person. (Leonardo da Vinci is sometimes credited as the inventor, but a crude form of the wheelbarrow was in use in England in the early 14th century, predating da Vinci by a century.)

The Middle English word barwe means handbarrow, litter or stretcher, the last two being similar in construction to the handbarrow, only with the “cargo” being a person.