People waiting in parking lot to load mammy wagons headed for Oro, Iddo Island, Lagos, Nigeria

Original title reads, "Mammy wagon terminal and parking lot in Lagos. The lot is on the island of Iddo, which is connected with Lagos Island by Carter bridge. Crowd waiting to get aboard one or another vehicles, or to see friends or relatives off. The vehicles are universally known as Mammy wagons, which is not a derogatory term. The names derives from the fact that many of the wagons are owned by Yoruba women traders, who are widely respected for their commercial acumen. These women start business in some cases with a single market stand selling one or two items. By sharp trading and careful economy they expand operations, and some end up owning large pieces of real estate, or whole fleet of mammy wagons. The wagons bear picturesque or devout legends in many cases, and make more or less regular runs between given cities. Many of the wagons are ordinary trucks fitted with wooden seats; others look more like what we think of as buses." [Elisofon field notes, August 1959-December 1959]

This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.