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Precious Cargo

By Dan Harshman

Over the years I have written articles about a number of things in the Museum with wheels with the job of hauling something from point A to point B. 

There was the Studebaker Farm Wagon that occupies a prime spot on the first floor of the Museum. It saw use over the years hauling grain to, and feed from, right here at the Edinburg Mill. And then there was our Birdsell Wagon that is on the second floor. This particular wagon was previously owned by the Triplett & Irvin Company located in Edinburg. There is a good chance that it also made a few trips to the Mill, but it definitely hauled many an item from A to B in its day.

Also located on the Museum’s second floor is a great little One Horse Drawn Buggy. Until the early 1900s it was a very popular vehicle used for personal transportation; although it didn’t have much extra space for hauling other items.

I’m moving back down to the first floor of the Museum for this month’s article to talk about wheeled vehicles designed to carry the most precious of cargos; Baby Buggies and Strollers. 

Securely carrying an infant has been accomplished in many ways over the years. Images of children being carried in slings are shown in Egyptian artwork dating back to the time of the Pharaohs. Native Americans used a cradleboard that kept the baby secure and comfortable on its mother’s back; allowing mom the freedom to travel and do daily tasks. The Chinese used a type of sling, much like some of the modern ones used today, for centuries to carry their young.

The invention of the baby stroller came from an interesting source. In 1733 the Duke of Devonshire asked Royal Garden architect William Kent to come up with an easier way to transport his children. Kent came up with a shell shaped basket on wheels that the children could sit in. It was very decorative and meant to be pulled by a goat or small pony. 

The addition of a handle for pushing didn’t come until later and was actually created by an American inventor named Charles Burton. For some reason his idea was accepted in England, but not in the United States initially. So he took the idea to England.

The word Stroller is an American word; you might also hear Baby Buggy or Carriage. In England they would be called a Pushchair or a Pram; which is short for Perambulator.   

Benjamin Potter Crandall sold baby carriages in the United States in the 1830s which have been described as the “first baby carriages manufactured in the U.S. His son, Jesse Armour Crandall went on to receive a number of patents for improvements and additions to the standard models. These included a brake, a model that folded, designs for parasols and an umbrella hanger. By 1840, the baby carriage had become very popular. Over in England, Queen Victoria bought three baby carriages from Hitchings Baby Store who were manufacturing them there. 

The carriages of those days were built of wood or wicker and were held together by expensive brass fasteners. These sometimes became elaborate ornamental works of art; with models named Princess and Duchess, as well as Windsor and Balmoral.

William H. Richardson patented his idea for the first reversible stroller in 1889. The bassinet was designed so that it could face away from or toward the parent. He also invented an axle that allowed each wheel to turn separately which increased the maneuverability of the carriages. By the 1920s, carriages were available to most families and had become safer with larger wheels, brakes, deeper bassinets, and lower, sturdier frames.

Our Museum has a beautiful example on exhibit that was made by the Marmet Company of England. It is a full size carriage, or pram, with a mohair hood and full metal canoe style body. It and other styles were advertised in Marmet’s 1939 catalog. The start of the Second World War meant that catalog would have been the last opportunity for them to showcase their new models for a number of years. Pram companies were taken over to support the war effort. That combined with the shortage of raw materials meant that the supply of new carriages was very limited. Many of those made in the 1930s were still in use long after the end of WWII and were passed on to family and friends, or purchased second hand. While the war brought a temporary pause to the baby carriage industry the need for quality carriages still existed. The benefits of newly acquired technology and skills from the war effort offered a promising future for production in the 1950s. 

The Mill also has a nice example of a wicker baby buggy from the early 1900s as well as a number of strollers of various ages and designs. Some of our strollers are of a smaller size; that appear to have been intended for transporting someone’s doll rather than an infant. Even so, they were patterned after the real thing and represent a wide variety of styles available over the years. And each of them is far more pleasing to the eye than today’s nylon sheathed, aluminum folding framed, jogging strollers that are rolling down the streets every day.

The black metal stroller is large enough to have been used for an infant. The wicker baby carriage is definitely doll-size.

This is one of two carriages we have that were made by the Marmet Company.