Why is it called a Dolly? You might call it a hand truck, hand cart, dolly, or a “thingymabobber with wheels to carry stuff”. Regardless of its name, it’s one of the oldest pieces of material handling equipment in existence.
When Did Dollies Originate?
The original forms of dollies are unknown. Dating back to when men started using tools, the original forms of dollies were likely conceived. Stone age men would use large tree branches to help prop up and drag large objects. The wheel wasn’t invented until much later, hampering technological advances to the dolly for thousands of years.
Where Did the Name ‘Dolly’ Come From?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Nobody seems to have a great answer. In fact, many theories exist for the etymology of dolly. Here are some of the most common answers we found in our research:
- Derived from the word ‘trolley’ meaning the same thing, only smaller. Source
- Stemmed from the name Dorothy in the 16th century. How does this translate? We don’t know either. Source
- Young girls played with dolls and apparently resembled hand trucks enough to adopt the name dolly. Source
- ‘Dolly’, a derogatory name for women in the 19th century is a potential candidate for this handy piece of material handling equipment.
We’re not extremely pleased with any of these explanations, so if you know the truth behind the term dolly, we’d love to hear it. Leave us a comment below, or give us a shout on Twitter.