A rumble seat (American English), dicky (dickie/dickey) seat (British English), also called a mother-in-law seat, is an upholstered exterior seat which folded into the rear of a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping ...

, or early motorcar. Depending on its configuration, it provided exposed seating for one or two passengers.

History

Additional occasional seating appeared in the latter centuries of evolution of the

and

. The 1865 edition of Webster's ''An American Dictionary of the English Language'' defines a dickie seat or rumble as "A bootBoot, ''n.'' ...3. A box or receptacle covered with leather at either end of a coach. The term "boot" is still used in British English, but elsewhere, including North America, this is called the "

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Computing * Trunk (software), in rev ...

". with a seat above it for servants, behind a carriage." Similar to the dickie seat on European phaetons was the ''spider'', a small single seat or bench on spindly supports for seating a

groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse (if female) is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man ...

footman A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...

. Before World War I, dickie or rumble seats did not always fold into the bodywork. Following it, such optional passenger arrangements typically were integrated into the rear deck. When unoccupied, the remaining space, if any, under the seat's lid could be used for storing luggage. Monochrome llustration of Rumble Seat circa 1913

Monochrome llustration of Rumble Seat circa 1913

Roadster,

coupe A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

and cabriolet car body styles were offered with either a luggage compartment or a rumble seat in the deck. Models equipped with a rumble seat were often referred to as a sport coupe or sport roadster. Rumble seat passengers were exposed to the elements, and received little or no protection from the regular passenger compartment top. Folding tops and side curtains for rumble seats were available for some cars (including the two-door version of the Ford Model A) but never achieved much popularity. Among the last American-built cars with a rumble seat were the 1938 Chevrolet, the 1939 Ford and 1939 Dodge and Plymouth. The last British built car with a dickey seat was the Triumph 2000 Roadster made until 1949.

History

See also

Notes

References

Further reading