Recently I took my car for its scheduled inspection back in South Jersey. Waiting in line as my gas tank sputtered on the verge running out of gas, visions of how the car industry came about ran through my head.

The model-t always comes to mind when thinking about the dawn of the automobile in the United States, but what happened before the engine? Back across the Delaware Memorial Bridge was a clue; at the Marvel Museum in Georgetown, Delaware a bit of that history remains intact.

Each building in this mini-town, including an active church community, is chock full of interesting artifacts, but the most interesting buildings are the ones that hold the carriages.

Huge wooden wheels with elaborately detailed spokes, sit dormant under antique headlights that were once merely candles glowing behind glass globes. These carriages needed not to wait in line for emission tests, or worry about changing a blown-out bulb. Simply, replace a wheel, or change a candle. No rejected sticker would sit in the window making it feel lonely and unwanted (as my poor car now feels).

The two garages dedicated to the old-time vehicles boast carriages ranging from a postal car with a built in toilet to a hearse that a carried Nutter D. Marvel to his final resting place. Even a carriage once owned by Walt Disney. They all sit proudly of their accomplishments and past; they've done great things and have great stories to tell if someone is listening.

The other buildings, vast and comprehensive, complement the stories that Mr. Marvel's collections was much trying to share with the world. An abode for the history of the telephone, and a hall for the history of the town, the Marvel Museum is a dedication to all things funky and cool about history.

With cobwebs stretched overhead in the rafters and incandescent lights blinking on and off, the experience of the Marvel Carriage Museum in Georgetown, Delaware is one that perpetuates the antiquity it is preserving so well; days where the inconvenience of the DMV was not so painful...or maybe didn't exist.