In 1939, in Bloomington at least, ponies and carts were still enjoying popularity. The article in the Pantagraph indicates that there was only one company in the U S still producing these carts, made of wicker with leather upholstery. Two families on Grove Street had these carts and were featured in the article on July 6 1939.
The four MIller boys, Jerry, Jackie, Frederic and David, were going to have two more brothers in the future. They all grew up in the house at 1330 E Grove Street, which seems like a tight fit! When their father died in 1959 at the age of 77, three of the brothers were still living at home. Perhaps they still ran the family hatchery at that time, which was started by their grandmother, Emma, in Heyworth.
I wonder if Bill and John Brandt boys and Miller boys ever had any races on Grove street. The Brandt cart looks more like a racing cart than the Miller's. Their older sister, Donna Brandt, would have been 15 at the time of this photo and perhaps felt too old to ride in the pony cart? Arthur Brandt operated Brandtville, the service station at Veterans and 150. That station offered mechanical services for tractors, trucks and automobiles.
The carts look like a great deal of fun and tooling down the leafy street would have been so enjoyable. The yard at 1330 E Grove doesn't have room for a stable for the pony, so I wonder where the ponies lived when they were not pulling a cart??