`She took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river’s brink . . .”
It has been said that the little basket-turned-boat for 3-month-old Moses, as told in the Bible’s Book of Exodus, may have been one of the first forms of transportation for infants.
Other experts add that in early cultures, infants often were literally bound to adults, presumably until they were mature enough to walk. Then they were on their own. No one mentions strollers or carriages.
Or draws them, said William Peck, curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
“We do see, in some Egyptian reliefs peasants carrying children on their backs,” said the ancient cultures specialist. “Children–and items relating to them–were not represented in art.”
Fast-forward hundreds of years to the middle of the 19th Century, when baby buggies or carriages and strollers emerged as children’s “furniture,” or transportation, in this country. Once walkways were made smooth and streets were paved and once there were pleasant places to stroll, such as urban parks, baby transportation took off, so to speak.
“The development of (New York’s) Central Park and other city parks stimulated the development and popularity of the first baby carriages,” said Patricia Tice, chief curator at the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum in Rochester, N.Y., which has an extensive collection of carriages, prams and strollers in the U.S. “By the 1870s they were growing rather elaborate as the wicker industry came into its own.”
These mini adult carriages typically were pushed, with the infant facing forward. They so closely resembled full-size versions that they carried the same names–buggy or carriage– and were made by the same manufacturers. Early fabric-and-leather carriages were scale models of the phaetons, surreys, victorias and buggies prized by adults.
“Earlier paintings show children walking or being held,” said Tracey Beck, associate curator of education at the Winterthur Museum, which specializes in American art and artifacts from 1640 to 1840, in Winterthur, Del. “We have one (early) wagon but it looks more like one that a child would pull.” (A new Winterthur exhibit, “200 Years of Childhood,” opens next month.)
As more roads and walks were paved after the Civil War, baby transportation evolved into an industry. Buggies were resplendent with curved wicker exteriors, protective parasols, carpeting, damask upholstery, harnesses to keep infants in place and whatever coverlets the owners might choose to enhance the ensemble.
“By the end of the century nearly every American town and city had a park in the Olmsted manner,” said Karin Calvert, a historian with the National Faculty in New Orleans. (Frederick Law Olmsted was the most famous landscape architect of his day. Among his many famous works are Central Park and Chicago’s Jackson and Washington Parks.) “At the same time, the extension of streetcar lines from city centers out into the surrounding countryside encouraged the development of new suburbs, where each house sat well back on its own lawn and paved sidewalks lined the streets. Americans quickly rediscovered an old European tradition, the promenade.”
Summer evenings and Sunday afternoons were a time for strolling and showing off baby, said Calvert. “The carriage became a showcase for the family’s youngest member.”
Tice and Calvert note that baby carriages immediately after the Civil War were offered by one Vermont maker for $8.50 (a lot at that time) up to $52 for a buggy with four-wheel suspension, collapsible leather hood, silver-plated trim and oil burning side lamps.
By the 1880s prams were developing styles better suited to the needs of their users. Calvert said wicker-work parlor carriages joined the lineup, providing a means of moving infants from room to room in the house as well for outdoor purposes.
“Wicker was lightweight and easy to keep clean,” said Tice.
Changing ideas on child rearing around the turn of the century resulted in carriage designs with the infant facing the parent. This promoted more interaction between mother and child. There also was more interest in child comfort, said Tice. Infants could recline or sit in the carriage.
An emphasis on fresh air for children and adults early in this century, prompted by the spread of tuberculosis, helped the buggy and stroller industry as parents or servants took children outside.
Tice said buggy designs, along with household furnishings, became simpler in the new century. Between the two world wars they came in art deco colors and patterns, and metal bodies for carriages and strollers were thought to be safer, Tice said. Besides sheet metal was accessible and cheaper than leather, wood and wicker. And it was easier to keep clean and more durable.
Carriages have followed the lead of automobiles, which also made greater use of those materials. Technology, availability, practicality and fashion were the keys.
“We have a representation of a 1943 carriage from the Storkline Co. of Chicago,” said Tice. “Because of metal rationing during the war, it was made almost completely of wood.”
Tice said imported prams were big immediately after World War II. “There was a certain status in having a pram,” she said.
In the decades after WW II, there were changes in the materials used to make carriages and strollers, said Adam Biehl, of Century Products, of Macedonia, Ohio, which makes strollers, child car seats and other children’s products. Improvements in tubular steels and plastics led to carriages that were stronger and lighter. They were more collapsible and easier to put into cars for transportation. The first post-war models were heavier with chrome and steel. They used wire-rimmed wheels with rubber; various plastics are used today.
Taking another lead from the auto industry, buggy-makers focus on safety issues in designing carriages and strollers, said Calvert.
Safety standards relating to items from strollers to playpens, walkers and gates have been established by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association. They are met on a voluntarily, but the major manufacturers suggest consumers look for certification on children’s furnishings.
Julie Colby of Chicago had safety and convenience in mind when she shopped for a stroller. At 4 months, Maggie Colby now rides in an Evenflo stroller with a bucket-style safety seat that doubles as her car seat, a design common since the mid-90s.
“The support that holds the baby carrier in this stroller is a solid piece,” said Colby. “It seemed the most sturdy and versatile, and there’s no chance the snap-in fixture will not work properly.”
The frame folds for easy storage in a car. But assembled, the convertible stroller features storage bins under Maggie’s seat large enough for a couple of sacks of groceries and containers of milk.
“I can attach the dry cleaning to the handle,” said Colby. “I also like that the wheels are designed to turn on a dime.”
This spring Century Products raises the carriage/stroller design bar by bringing to market its 4-in-1 Travel Solutions line.
“Parents tell us they are looking for convenience and for products with extended-use designs,” said Adam Biehl, product manager with Century in Macedonia, Ohio. “We have integrated an infant carrier, infant car seat, infant stroller and toddler stroller in our new 4-in-1 Travel Solutions.”
Shoppers also asking for features such as easy-to-use harnesses, wheel locks, canopies with windows and bars or trays to give the child a sense of security.
“Parents are willing to pay for the features they want,” said Biehl. For some, he said, price is not object. “You could spend over $500 for a European-style pram or as little as $14.99 for an umbrella-type stroller,” which, he said, first appeared in the 1960s.
A collision of price points hurt sales of the more traditional strollers, said Jay Herr, senior product manager with Graco Children’s Products, in Elverson, Pa.
“Travel systems–combination strollers/car seats–were priced about the same as some of the traditional carriage strollers, and as they (travel systems) became more popular, some retailers trimmed their inventory and stopped carrying the carriages,” Herr said.
Biehl said the full-size stroller, one of Century’s four classifications, can be the most expensive because that waning popularity means fewer are built. (Century’s categories are: umbrella stroller, compact and portable; convenience stroller, which folds in half; carriage stroller, a fully reclining but less portable bassinet on wheels for infants up to 18 months; and a full-size stroller, which can accommodate infants and toddlers, reclines fully with closed ends and won’t fold as flat.)
But there still are consumers who like the full-size strollers with old-fashioned looks and features such as a fully reclining bed with lots of infant support.
For this market, Graco in April introduced CoachRider, a lightweight buggy that combines conveniences such as a locking forward or rear-facing reversible seat and adjustable footrest with classic carriage styling.
“Later this year, we will offer a model that includes a removable car seat,” said Herr.
The company, which, with Century Products, is part of Newell-Rubbermaid Corp., also markets a DuoGlider for growing families.
“When we were looking for a solution to the problem of carrying a couple of children, we discovered there were two types of buyers: those who liked the side-by-side configuration, and those who preferred a tandem design,” said Herr. Side-by-side advocates said a tandem was too heavy, and the tandem gang claimed side-by-side was too wide.
Graco chose a tandem design, made it as lightweight as practical and elevated the rear seat.
“The `stadium seating’ wasn’t so much to give the rear child a view as it was to make it easier to get the child in and out,” Herr added. “It also provides more legroom for the rear seat.”
Herr said most modern strollers are based on tubular steel frames. Some are aluminum, but it tends to be more expensive, he said.
Customers do like an attractive unit. Dark blue continues to be a popular color. Herr suggested it is traditional and also easy to keep looking clean. “Fashion plays a role,” he said. “The stroller is an external statement.”
Observers not only see it in use, practiced eyes likely know how much the owners paid for it. Snobbery is not unknown in this market, he said.
AND FOR THE OFF-ROADER IN EVERY PARENT
It took close to 150 years, but we’ve come semi-circle.
Historians say baby carriages came into their own when roads and walkways were made smooth enough for them.
And now here we are in the 1990s with all-terrain four-wheel strollers with oversized wheels, lock-in-position front wheels and shock absorbers on all wheels.
These strollers, with their heavy-duty frames, are designed for parents who count mountain bikes, bottled water and hiking boots among their favorite possessions. Century Products offers a Euro Adventure all-terrain stroller for $110 to $120.
Then there are the jogging strollers. Proportioned something like the odd creatures of past eras one sees at the Museum of Natural History, they feature three good-size wheels: a smaller 12-inch one upfront and two as large as 16 inches in the rear. Some offer a handle-mounted control to operate wheels brakes and a tether strap to assure that the stroller won’t get away from you. Inflated tires may be part of a package. Prices ran $120 to about $150 for the joggers at www.babysupermall.co.
Families who need to transport more than two children will find help on the Internet. Sites, such as www.tripletconnection.org, answer questions about equipment for triplets. J. Mason, Englesina and Peg Perego make specialty strollers for this market. The least expensive multichild carrier appears to be about $200.
And in the what-goes-around-comes-around category, we have front- and back-mounted knapsacks for a hands-free way to transport our young-uns. If the Egyptians and Syrians, Chinese and Native Americans could carry their infants strapped to themselves, it seems quite logical we should follow suit.
Front- and backpacks began to gain popularity in the 1960s. Before then, “they would have been seen as too primitive,” said New Orleans-based historian and educator Karin Calvert.
Calvert said public transit in some European countries takes parenting into account by having room on buses for strollers. Bike paths also are wide enough to accommodate carriages and strollers and apartment buildings have elevator buttons low enough for younger children to reach.
“Children have been raised in many ways. They have always adapted,” Calvert said.
CHOOSING A STROLLER
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association represents more than 300 companies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico that make and/or import infant products, including carriages and strollers. When choosing and using a stroller, the association makes the following recommendations:
– Choose a stroller or carriage that has a base wide enough to prevent tipping even when the baby leans over the side.
– If the seat adjusts to the reclining position, make sure the stroller doesn’t tip backward when the child lies down.
– Always secure a baby with the stroller seat belt.
– Don’t hang purses or shopping bags over the handles. If the stroller has a shopping basket for carrying packages, it should be low on the back of the stroller or directly over the rear wheels.
– Use the locking device to prevent accidental folding and apply the brakes to limit rotation of the wheels when the stroller is stationary.
– When you fold or unfold the stroller, keep the baby’s hands away from the areas that can pinch his or her fingers.
NAME GAME
Patricia Tice, chief curator of the Strong Museum in Rochester, N.Y., translates the baby-buggy lingo:
– Carriage: It typically has a large body and the child can fully recline. It’s OK for children up to 18 to 24 months. Because of the size of the body, the carriage is less transportable.
The larger carriage was useful when people lived within walking distance of their errands. “Putting baby in the carriage was a way of life,” Tice said.
– Stroller: In this “walking chair,” the child sits up, usually facing out. The stroller is foldable and can be carried in a car.
As suburbs came into being, lifestyles would depend more on cars. Hence, foldable strollers grew in popularity. They could be taken to the shopping areas in the car and unfolded for on-site child transportation.
– Perambulator: From the Latin word meaning to walk, “pram” is how the British refer to a baby carriage.
TESTING SAFETY PERFORMANCES
Based on injury reports from the Consumer Products Safety Commission, the American Society for Testing and Materials has established safety requirements to minimize hazards to children from carriages and strollers. Here, in brief, are the requirements:
– Exposed wood parts shall be smooth and free of splinters.
– Units should have a latching device to prevent them from unintentionally folding.
– Strollers with a hinged link must require two separate actions to fold them.
– Openings of between .210 and .375 of an inch are allowed as long as they are no deeper than wide.
– When the stroller or carriage is in the recommended use position, accessible parts must keep from scissoring, shearing or pinching the baby’s fingers or toes.
– Any exposed coil or spring shall be covered to prevent entrapment.
– Decorative and warning labels shall be permanent.
– A braking device is required that cannot be disengaged by a child in the stroller.
– Carriages must be able to support a static load of up to 50 pounds and strollers up to 100 pounds.
– The stroller must be balanced so as not tip over easily.
– Carriages and strollers, except those designed for infants, must have a fixed child-restraint system.
