(Photo courtesy of Andyart http://theurbanglowlive.blogspot.com)

Two years ago I wrote this post but as the British summer appears to be over I have been asked by several people how to store their prams for the winter so I am repeating this post for those new to the site and as a refresher for the rest of vintage pram fans.

Before storing the pram, give it a good clean and get rid of any dirt on the tyres, polish the bodywork and chrome and brush the hood and apron. Always make sure you keep the hood up, fully stretched with the hood arms locked in place, and keep the apron on with the storm flap fastened to the hood. This will keep them in good condition and maintain a good fit, with no creases or fold marks.

The best place to store a pram is in a moderately temperature room, damp and cold conditions will soon cause rust spots to appear on the chrome.

If you don’t have enough space in the house to keep your pram, you may have no option but to keep them in the garage or a shed, or maybe a summerhouse. You can of course pay for them to go into a storage unit but this could work out expensive over time. If you have no option but to put the pram in an outhouse or garage, then coat the chrome work with vaseline, this will protect it and is easily cleaned off later.

Cover the hood and apron to prevent them fading if they are not going to be used for a while, but use a sheet.  Don’t do as a friend of mine did and cover it with a blanket! The navy hood and apron on her pram were covered in tiny fibres from a cream blanket she used to cover the pram.

Polythene will make the pram “sweat” and may encourage mould so a sheet is the best idea. Alternatively you could have a cover that is made especially as a cover for coachbuilt prams, but these are quite expensive.

At regular intervals check on the pram and move it slightly so the tyres don’t flatten with being kept in one position and leave the brake off, otherwise this will also flatten the rubber on the tyres.

If you follow this advice your pram should remain in good condition until you need to use it again, then all you need to do is freshen it up. Give it a polish again, even when it has been covered up it is surprising the amount of dust that can gather. Wipe down the interior with a solution of warm water and bicarbonate of soda and leave the pram outside in the fresh air for a few hours, then it is ready to use again.

One last thing to remember about storing your pram is the security aspect, it has been known for prams to be stolen from garages. If you have to keep your pram in a garage or shed keep them out of sight if possible, then do make sure there is an alarm system in place. You could also use a wheel lock, as used for cycles, to anchor the pram to a workbench or similar.

If you can add any more tips please

visit the website

www.vintagepramfan.com

and leave a comment,

it is good to share ideas this way.

Over the weekend of 21st/22nd September lots of us attended a Vintage Fair at Port Sunlight, The Wirral, http://www.portsunlightvillage.com/page.asp?pageid=NEWS

Port Sunlight is a village which was built by  Lever Brothers, makers of Sunlight soap and other well known products and the weekend was a combined celebration to commemorate their 125th anniversary.

Several groups of pram enthusiasts joined together to form what must have been one of the largest displays of vintage prams for a long time. The crowds loved our prams and it was so worthwhile to see the enjoyment of  many elderly visitors who recalled memories of their younger days, taking out their babies in similar styled coachbuilt prams. We were happy to take our prams but making so many others happy too was a big plus for us.

The event was on for two days and some of us travelled from far and wide to get there, but it was worth all the effort and expense involved, the organisation was efficient and we were made very welcome by the organisers at Port Sunlight who had set aside an area for us to display our prams.

It was a wonderful weekend, even the weather was superb! Out came the pram canopies, which attracted lots of admiring comments.

Throughout the two days we were surrounded by admiring crowds of people, wanting to take photographs, others wanting to push a pram or reminisce with us. I heard some lovely stories and will be sharing these with you in future posts.

I took my newly restored Wilson Wedgwood pram, mentioned in previous posts, and another pram owner, a fellow member of the International Vintage Pram and Doll Club, very kindly loaned me a matching quilt set with the Wedgwood plaque embroidered on the quilt, this certainly added the finishing touch to my pram. What a lovely gesture, but that is what these pram groups is about, everyone helping each other and enjoying our shared hobby together and making new friends too. A great crowd of people from the various pram groups.

Not only were the prams dressed for the occasion, some of us dressed in attire relevant to the era of our prams.

Here are more pictures taken over the weekend, showing more prams, it was a wonderful weekend for everyone I am sure, and many thanks to the organisers of Port Sunlight for inviting us along. 

If you were at the event at Port Sunlight and would like to add any comments or photos,

please visit the website

www.vintagepramfan.com

October’s Pram of the Month features two prams made by Silver Cross, both called The Barouche and as you can see from the pictures they are very different models!

The first picture is of a droptoe pram, from the 1940′s, the second picture is of a larger coachbuilt model, from the early sixties, this one is a Wilson model, made by Silver Cross but to a higher specification than the Silver Cross models. 

I don’t have any information at all about the forties Barouche, but on a price list from the early sixties the Wilson Barouche cost £27.6.0. and it was the most expensive of all the prams made at that time, costing four pounds more than the cheaper Pastorale!

Amazingly two ladies in our pram group have recently purchased a Barouche, one has the droptoe version and the other has the Wilson model. What a coincidence that they should both find a pram of the same name at the same time, albeit a difference in the design.

Silver Cross often re-used model names for later models of prams, so this is not unusual that twenty or so years after the first Barouche appeared they did a newer version.

The sixties version has a design on the side of a coach and horses. The designs were handpainted by a local artist who did all the artwork for the company, a very talented man who painstakingly painted the design on each pram individually and as a result there was inevitably a waiting list for prams as he was the sole artist and it took quite some time for him to do each picture.

Check out my website

www.vintagepramfan.com

for more information on vintage prams.

You can also sign up on the website for the latest news and comments.

On a recent day out I noticed this little pushchair outside a junk shop, I couldn’t believe my luck as this is the first time I have seen a pram for sale other than on E Bay or Preloved. Our local charity shops won’t sell prams for health and safety reasons, and there are never any for sale in antique or junk shops near me so I was thrilled. I was actually waiting at traffic lights when I spotted the pram and quickly had to change lanes to go investigate! Thankfully other motorists were considerate, although whether they would have been so had they known the reason is another matter.

I was so excited, as I am sure some of you will understand, and couldn’t wait to get the pram home. My two  sons were with me, a look of “oh dear, mum and her prams!” was exchanged between them but I think they are used to the house being filled with my prams by now. And I was glad of their brute strength because the pram was stiff with age and neither myself nor the shop assistant could fold it to fit in the car but my son managed to do that. A quick squirt of WD40 when we got home soon sorted out the mechanism on the pushchair and it now folds easily.

On close inspection of the Wilsonette I noticed a hood arm was missing, my heart sank, where would I be able to find a replacement? But the shop owner told me the hood arm had been taken off and put away safely so that was okay.

Once I got the pushchair home I set about inspecting it for damage, it is more than likely from the early 1950′s/late 1940′s, the hood and apron are made from rexine and there is no chromework, which enables me to date it from the ww2/post war era.  Rexine was commonly used as a waterproof covering for hoods and aprons in those days and as metal was needed for the war effort prams were painted rather than chromed. The pushchair is in fabulous condition for that age, not a tear anywhere on the material, the tyres still have lots of tread and there is only one minor rust spot! Even the rubber handle covering has survived well, it has perished slightly but not too badly and all the hub caps are present with Silver Cross inscribed on them and also on the tyres.

Inside the pram there was  a little pillow made from vintage nursery rhyme fabric, it was filthy but I couldn’t bear to throw it away. When I unpicked the seam I pulled out loads of horsehair stuffing, the cover is now washed and ironed ready to be refilled with more hygienic material. The strap to hold the baby is still intact too and works fine.

When I set about cleaning the interior I found lots of what looked like coal dust between the seams! Maybe the pram had at some time been used for collecting coal, I know this often happened years ago.

First of all I washed all the pushchair, upholstery and metal frame, with a solution of warm soapy water with Stardrops added. This removed most of the surface dirt and was gentle with no harsh chemicals. I then set about cleaning the wheels, and the only thing I used was a “magic” sponge and warm water. I was amazed at the result! No hard scrubbing, just this block of white melamine sponge dipped in water and rubbed over the tyre. Just look at the difference!

Having achieved such a good result on the tyres I used the same sponges to clean the interior and it came up almost as good as new. I now have to make a vintage style pram cover so I can take my new pushchair to wartime events, the next one being at Pickering on 11th-13th October. I remember the cover from my own pushchair as a baby, I do wish my mum had kept it as it will be nigh on impossible to find one now.

I wonder who originally owned this pushchair, the shop assistant didn’t know much about it except to say it was from a house clearance. I like to think it belonged to an old lady who had lovingly stored it after her children outgrew it and then when she passed away her family found it among her possessions. I suppose I will never know but the Wilsonette will be as well  looked after by me  as it was by its original owner and I am thankful it wasn’t taken to the tip.

I admit to being a hoarder but without people like me there would be no vintage prams, or anything else, surviving over the years so that is a good enough excuse for me!

For more posts about vintage prams please visit my website

www.vintagepramfan.com

where you can sign up to receive e mail updates on posts and comments.

In 1968 when my older sister announced she was expecting her first baby I was thrilled at the prospect of becoming an aunt and, as we did in those days, we started knitting matinee sets with tiny bootees and jackets but in white as there were no scans then to tell the sex of the baby, that was a surprise when it was born.

When my sister was born my mum had a Marmet pram in dark grey, she sold it in the war because prams were scarce and a few months later found she was expecting my brother, again she sold his pram and had to buy a secondhand one when I was born after the war as prams were still not widely available. Mum would have liked  my sister to have a Marmet but as we lived in Yorkshire the majority of shops sold Silver Cross prams.

Every Saturday my sister and I went shopping into a nearby town and on one such day as we passed a pram shop there on display in the window was the latest model from Silver Cross, a Wilson Silver Shadow with Rolls Grey paintwork and a navy hood and apron. The price was 38 guineas, just over 40 pounds! No mobile phones in those days so my sister had to wait until she got home to check if her husband approved of the pram, like most men around that time I don’t think he was the slightest bit interested, unlike men today who seem to influence pram design by wanting one “all singing all dancing” without a care for the comfort of the baby or ease of folding for the poor mum who has to struggle to put it into the car. 

(Pictures courtesy of Silver Cross)

I know some of you will already know there are several books available about prams but for new ones to the site below are details of the books I have in my own pram library. These books make very interesting reading and are useful reference guides as well. If you can’t find a copy to buy from Amazon or maybe E Bay, then ask your local library if they can obtain the book for you to borrow. Even if it isn’t in stock at your local library they should be able to locate a copy for you elsewhere.

Prams, Mailcarts and Bassinets by Jack |Hampshire  ISBN 978-1-906600-41-9 is often referred to as the “pram bible” as it is packed full of useful information on most makes of prams, it is widely illustrated too. Original copies of this book are very expensive but this was recently reprinted so you may find one of the newer ones for sale.

Dublin’s Working Prams by Susan Weir ISBN 978-0-9574924  is a lovely book all about the prams that have been used by market traders in Dublin. There are lots of lovely pictures in here showing prams laden with fruit and vegetables etc as the stallholders sold their wares.

I have to say that on a recent visit to Dublin I did go in search of the markets where these prams used to be seen, but to my dismay there were none around, whether this could have been because they are only there on certain days or because they are no longer used I don’t know.

Silver Cross, The Story of a Great British Brand by Colin Ward  ISBN 978-0-9565274-0-0  This book is as its title suggests, the story of Silver Cross prams from its beginnings to the present day, again there are lots of pictures and it gives an insight into the work of this well known pram manufacturer.

Perambulators by Jan and Geoff Swift, Published by Shire Publications This is a handy little book about prams throughout the centuries, again it has lots of interesting information and photographs.

How to restore Coachbuilt Prams by Lucy Grace

This book is currently only available as a Kindle download from Amazon, I wrote the first edition as a beginners, guide for anyone wanting to restore a vintage pram, it is a useful reference with lots of hints and tips.

With Christmas approaching this is a good time to add some of these books to your present list!

And if anyone knows of other pram books please get in touch so I can share with the rest of you,

visit the website

www.vintagepramfan.com

to leave a comment.

For Pram of the Month for November I am featuring my own Wilson Wedgwood pram, I know this has been shown before but I wanted to share this picture of the quilt set which matches the pram. The set was made by a talented seamstress and belonged to a lady who very kindly allowed me to borrow it on our recent pram event at Port Sunlight. I loved the quilt so much that the lady has now allowed me to buy it from her, so this is my Christmas present to myself! I think you will agree it looks stunning on my pram, the blue is almost a perfect colour match for the fabric and the embroidered plaque design is a replica of the ones on the sides of my pram.

For a better view of the quilt

look at this post on my website

www.vintagepramfan.com

where you can see the design more clearly.

As Christmas is fast approaching perhaps a little girl in your family will be lucky enough to wake up on Christmas morning and find Santa has delivered her very own  dolly pram.

And don’t forget to have the camera ready to capture the look on her face as she unwraps her special present!

If you want to share 

your story with us please go to the website,

www.vintagepramfan.com

and leave a comment, we love to hear from you.

If you are looking for a coachbuilt Silver Cross pram there are always lots of dolly prams for sale on E Bay around this time of year, but do check the condition very carefully before buying as photographs can be deceptive and what looks like a pristine pram in the picture may not be as good as it looks. Of course if you have time and skill to restore a pram that is fine, but don’t leave it until the last minute. If the pram needs a new hood and apron you may even be too late to have one recovered in time for Christmas.

All is not lost though even if you buy a pram and it needs the paint touching up or the fabric restoring. With a good clean and polish most prams will look appealing if you add a new quilt, sheets and pillow. Several years ago I made a quilt in Disney Princess fabric and my granddaughter was delighted, I have since made another in Hello Kitty fabric so if you choose one of the child’s favourite characters she will be thrilled.

Silver Cross have made several limited editions of dolls prams and these often come up for sale on E Bay, but expect to pay more for one of these than for a more usual model such as the Oberon. They made a pram to celebrate the Millennium, one for their Centenary, a Peter Rabbit pram and a Winnie the Pooh pram, to name a few.

I bought a Silver Cross Oberon in 1993, a twin one, which I still have. This cost me £165 which was a lot more than I paid for the pram used for my baby! But I had always wanted a Silver Cross twin dolls pram so I treated myself and the pram has pride of place in a bedroom.

Nowadays you can expect to pay anything between £100 and £350 for a dolls pram. If you bought one in the sixties you would have paid a lot less! A Super Delia model cost just under £15 at that time, and a Standard Twin was fifteen guineas!

The Wilsonette toy pushchairs cost just under four pounds but with a hood and apron they cost almost seven pounds.

The standard coachbuilt prams were only available in white, but there was a choice of colours for the fabric in blues, greens and pinks. But the Delia (pictured below) offered a choice of Spring Green, Peony Red and Cornflower Blue marimo fabrics.

Years ago most towns and cities had at least one shop which specialised in selling baby prams, and many major department stores, such as Lewis’s, had a baby department where a selection of coachbuilt prams was on display. The picture above is of an advert from the late 1930′s for a pram shop in the south of England, showing a Pedigree pram being wheeled out by a nanny, the baby happily sitting up watching the world go by.

After doing some research into the pram shops of the past I came across an article written by the owner of a large pram shop in Manchester, this man was on committees which looked at safety standards of prams and safety straps. One of the comments he made was that he was appalled at prams he had seen “on the continent”. remarking that many had no brakes and no safety straps. He was a believer in a well fitting pram harness that had adjustable straps to prevent the child standing up or toppling over.

It used to be recommended that a safety harness was not used until a baby was sitting up but nowadays babies are strapped in from an earlier age. Modern prams have safety harnesses built in but to be honest I find these are often very awkward to fasten and unfasten. But on the other hand if an adult finds them difficult to clip and unclip then they must be very safe for the child.

For those of you who would still prefer a traditional harness for your coachbuilt pram the leather ones often come up on E Bay, either new or secondhand. Boots and Toys R Us also sell the more modern ones made from webbing.

The leather ones are usually felt backed to make them more comfortable for baby and they often have a design on the front, such as Winnie the pooh or other nursery characters.

To use one of these harnesses the pram needs to have “D” rings in the bottom of the pram, or a bar on the side. A short strap attaches to these fixtures and the harness is then clipped onto that.

Do ensure the straps are not too tight that the baby cannot move around at all, but neither should they be too loose to enable to baby to stand up, as the pram shop owner mentioned above. A wriggling baby can soon hurt itself on a badly fitted harness.

What a lovely sight it is to see a baby sitting up strapped into a coachbuilt pram, happily looking about at the world around them. Modern prams cannot compete in my opinion!

It has been in the news recently that the Chairman of Silver Cross has announced that Prince William and Kate have chosen a Silver Cross pram for baby Prince George. However other than that it seems it hasn’t been confirmed which model they have opted for. I know most of us who love coachbuilt prams are hoping they will have chosen a traditional one,as some reports suggest,  but they seem very modern parents so perhaps they have chosen one of the latest modern designs, such as the Aston Martin by Silver Cross.

There is a lot of controversy that it is claimed the Queen was pushed around as a baby in a Silver Cross pram, apparently it was not so. But to be honest I am not bothered what make of pram is used by the Royals as long as it is coachbuilt! They are a very traditional British institution so let’s hope reports are true that they have carried on with this in the choice of pram, after all the future King deserves nothing but the best.

When Princess Anne had her first baby in 1977 Silver Cross presented her with a new pram, to mark their own Centenary year, it was a dark green Super Burley, perhaps this is still being used for other royal babies. I was given this information by the then Chairman of the company who was there when the Princess and her nanny chose the pram. With the huge grounds surrounding the Royal residences it must be a delight to wheel a baby around  in a traditional pram, most of us have to make do with a walk in the local park.

And it isn’t only the British Royals who used Silver Cross prams, the picture below shows Princess Caroline of Monaco out with her baby some years ago.

December’s Pram of the Month is an unusual model, the Tudor Rose by Wilson.

This pram had a design of Tudor Roses decorating the sides. I have chosen this image because it shows a young mother warmly dressed for winter taking her baby out for a walk in the 1960′s. In those days babies were taken out every day, whether it be sunny, rainy, frosty or windy, but never in the fog. The pram hood and apron protected against the elements and with a warm fleecy pram rug baby was snug and warm tucked up inside.

Maybe you remember taking your baby out in its pram?

We love to hear your stories,

please visit the website

www.vintagepramfan.com

and leave us a comment there. 

When young parents buy a pram nowadays for their new baby they no doubt collect it themselves from the nursery equipment shop, but when I had my first baby in the seventies my pram was ordered a few months before the birth and delivered the day before I came home from hospital with my new son. My husband, under instructions from my mother, had carefully laid sheets and blankets inside the pram and positioned it in the living room of our house.

My first grandchild was born in 2007 and when I decided to buy a Silver Cross Kensington pram I fetched this myself, transporting it in the back of my very small hatchback car, the body of the pram went on the back seats and the chassis in the boot.

Coachbuilt prams delivered to pram shops used to be taken in one of the company’s large vans. Silver Cross had their own vans and the prams were stacked carefully inside, nowadays a reputable pram courier will do the same, making sure the pram is securely covered to prevent any damage.

When the Silver Cross company first started in 1877 they transported their prams on a horse and cart. Sales were limited to the areas which could be easily reached by the horse and cart, which was only as far as the horse would go until the bags of food ran out!

In 1926 the firm realised motor transport would make deliveries much easier and enable them to extend their sales area, so the company’s joiners were asked to build the first Wilson van, this was designed by one of William Wilson’s sons, Irwin Noble Wilson.

By the 1960′s the company were delivering prams further afield, the first one being to Belfast in 1963, followed by deliveries to Europe in 1967 and by the 1990′s prams were being delivered all over the world, as they are today, Silver Cross prams are very desirable in many countries, as messages to my website show as pram fans from far flung places contact me to tell me about a pram they have or would like to have.

Maybe you are not in the UK,

if so do get in touch via the website

www.vintagepramfan.com

and tell us about your own pram.

Thankfully coachbuilt prams are now being rescued by collectors and restored and they are becoming increasingly popular again by modern parents who realise “vintage” is very fashionable as well as being practical.

But this was not always the case. By the 1980′s when coachbuilt prams were not as popular it was often difficult to dispose of them when they were no longer needed. Some were donated to childrens’ Homes or day nurseries but sometimes they were just consigned to the scrap heap.

Thank goodness some people have kept hold of their prams, perhaps for sentimental reasons, and realise they are now saleable again. However what is very annoying is when a pram is advertised on the internet selling sites at an extortionate price, an old pram will show signs of wear unless it has been restored, and some sellers seem to think they can ask silly prices then wonder why the pram doesn’t sell. I have written about buying secondhand prams in previous posts so if you need advice look back through the website.

In the seventies the pram trade were becoming concerned about what happened to their prams when customers no longer needed them, they discovered British Rail held regular auctions and prams frequently appeared in their sales catalogues having been left on trains! Some of these were in good condition but others were deplorable.

They were found on trains all over the UK from Lands End to John o’Groats! One batch at auction included a Pedigree, originally supplied in Hastings, a Swan from Liskeard, Marmets from Luton and Blackpool and a TanSad from Rhyl. Apparently coastal towns were favourite places for people leaving prams! Why was this I wonder? Did the owners take the traditional pram on holiday then realise a pushchair was more practical to use on the beach? I really cannot think of a reason!

Here is a Christmas Greeting to all of you,

showing an elegant Silver Cross coachbuilt pram.

Thank you all for your welcome comments throughout the year

and I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!

I am sure you will all be very busy at this time with last minute shopping,  food preparation, visits from family and friends, not to mention decking out your prams with seasonal quilts and dressing your reborns in Christmas outfits! Enjoy the festivities and please keep checking into the website www.vintagepramfan.com throughout 2014 for lots more interesting posts about vintage prams.

Happy New Year

to all Vintage Pram Fans

and thank you for your lovely comments via the website

www.vintagepramfan.com

 please keep sending them as I love to hear from you all. 

Hopefully you will now have your new diary for 2014, there are plenty of prammie outings coming up throughout the year, from pram walks organised in different regions, including the pram day at Chatham, home of  ”Call the Midwife”.  And of course there will be lots of WW2/Vintage organised events where we are always welcome with our prams. Get those vintage outfits  sorted out  so you and your reborn (or real baby) are ready!

Last year was very busy with the Wedgwood Pram Day and lots of others, we had a beautiful summer but such a shame that on the weekend at Wedgwood it rained and our prams were hidden away in storage for a lot of the time.  As far as I am aware there will not be a Pram Event at the Wedgwood Museum this year due to refurbishment, but please do check on their website to be certain.

My own favourite event in 2013 was the Vintage Event at the Port Sunlight village on the Wirral, it was a beautiful sunny day too which made it all the more enjoyable. Our prams were very much admired by the crowds of people who were around the village and it was good to meet up with other prammies. I am sure this event will be taking place again in 2014 and it is well worth attending.

If you are planning an event in 2014 then do please send me details and I will add them to the website when I have more details of others.

Let’s make 2014 the year when we get ourselves out and about with our beautiful prams, making the public aware that collecting vintage prams is a worthwhile hobby and there is nothing strange about it! After all nobody bats an eyelid at people who are interested in trains, classic cars etc so why do some make scathing remarks about our hobby!

Also of course, show off the merits of a “proper” pram  and educate modern parents  that there is no better way for a baby to travel!

Before I add dates for your diaries for this year I thought I would look back at last year to see what was happening with vintage prams.

JANUARY  - I spent a lot of time this month searching through various archives researching information about prams. I discovered a whole store of files in storage which nobody seemed to have looked at for years, there were leaflets and brochures  thick with dust and some very interesting facts about prams in general.

FEBRUARY  - viewers of the tv series ‘Call the Midwife’ were annoyed that in a recent episode of the show a 1970s pram was shown in what was supposed to be a 1950s scene.

MARCH – this month a lot of us were busy preparing our prams for upcoming events. I had a visit from one of my cherished prammie friends and we spent a lovely afternoon discussing prams. I parted with an Allwin fifties pushchair and when my friend went on the coach to go home (she had a two hour journey) the driver asked ‘have you any luggage?’, her reply amused me when she told him ‘no, but I have a pushchair’.  His face was a picture when he saw the old pushchair!

APRIL – this month saw one of the first pram events, at Lytham St Anne’s,  where a group of ladies met up. The same weekend some of us went to the east coast of Yorkshire and strolled around Bridlington with our prams, creating a lot of admiring comments as usual.

MAY – the highlight of this month was the Vintage Pram Collectors’ Weekend at the Wedgwood museum. Regrettably the weather was not too good and our prams spent a lot of time in storage out of the rain. Nevertheless it was good to meet so many other pram collectors and to browse in the sales area at the pram related items and reborn dolls on sale.

JUNE – Sledmere House held its annual vintage event and there were several prams to be seen here again this year.

JULY – a busy month. I gave Talks to a three groups about my interest in vintage prams, all were well attended and revived memories for the people there.

Also this month a group of us met at Port Sunlight on The Wirral and our prams were so admired that we were invited to their vintage event in September.

AUGUST – Pickering Steam Fair, pram walk at Buxton, Classic car event at Stanley Park, Blackpool were just a few of the events attended by vintage pram fans this month.

SEPTEMBER – the vintage vehicle event at Fairhaven, Lytham was well attended, this was the second year we had displayed our prams there.

Two weeks later it was the vintage event at Port Sunlight and the prams certainly created a lot of interest. The English summer was warm and sunny this year and the weekend at Port Sunlight was glorious, canopies on prams, sun hats on babies, beautiful quilt sets, all  brought back so many lovely memories for the visitors.

OCTOBER – the WW2 weekend was held at Pickering and although I didn’t go several of ladies from our pram group attended. A friend of mine, who wasn’t aware of my interest in prams, posted a picture on her Facebook page of a lady I know with her pram and I was able to send it to her.

NOVEMBER – another pram walk was held at Lytham and members of the pram group laid a wreath at the War Memorial there, such a touching gesture.

DECEMBER – Christmas again, did any of you receive or give a pram this year? If so do share pictures/ stories with us by commenting on the website www.VintagePramFan.com

I often receive comments arising from posts on the website and today I received a rather interesting one regarding a Silver Cross pram. The owner was asking for help in identifying a pram bought on E Bay, and below is the e mail received, I am sharing this as I think it may be of interest for you to see this somewhat unusual pram via the blog link:

“We just found an older Silver Cross pram and want to restore it (actually a little more than restore) but can’t seem to figure out what type it is.

It has a Balmoral-shaped body, but the suspension bows are tubular steel. It has dual mud-covers with matched-size wheels and the handle folds.

The body is low to the ground but the handle comes to about waist-height. It’s truly odd.

I have searched photos of Silver Cross prams until my eyes fogged over but can’t find anything similar and I’m hoping you can help.

I started a blog to cover the restoration process for this vintage buggy and there are a few photos there that may help. http://milagrosmarketing.com/pram/

Thanks in advance.”

When I received this e mail I looked through my folders on research I have done over many years and believe this pram is the Silver Cross Tudorcraft model from the mid fifties. This is a picture of the Tudorcraft and a description from the original brochure.

Pram of the Month for February is the Sedan model made by Silver Cross in the 1950′s.

The Sedan was described as a pram which was both prestigious and practical, a model designed to take up a small amount of space whilst still having a generous sized bed.

This model also had a concealed foot extension and an adjustable backrest making it ideal for babies of all ages from birth until toddler.

The hood and apron were in fadeless fabric with a non crackable interior.

The wheels were 12″ and the handle folded over the pram body.  

A compact pram indeed. I wonder if any have survived?

Do you have one or do you remember this model?

If so do get in touch by leaving a comment on the website www.vintagepramfan.com

A while ago I wrote about my latest find, a Wilsonette pushchair,
http://www.vintagepramfan.com/restoration-of-vintage-wilsonette-pushchair-silver-cross

I have just received this  interesting comment in response to the article and I want to share it with you as it is such a lovely story. And if anyone can help Sally find tyres for her Wilsonette please get in touch.

‘Ah, the good old Wilsonette pushchair!

Ours was bought for me in the late 1950s, and was christened ‘Charabanc’ by my mum. Over 50 years it has been used on the farm for a succession of myself and my sister, 4 grandchildren, and other little visiters. It was always so comfortable and practical over farm tracks, even in muddy conditions. Mum used to put three big scatter cushions in it to ensure the passenger was really comfortable.

When dad was 80 he decided to retire and so the farm was sold. In the attic had been stored our 56 years old beautiful navy Marmet coachbuilt pram (also very good on farm tracks!) and Charabanc. Mum asked me to store the Marmet, but we left the Wilsonette behind, thinking that it only had sentimental value.

In December I became a granny, and as I began researching towards renovating the Marmet pram, I discovered the Prammie enthusiasts! On seeing the post about Lucy’s Wilsonette, I realised how careless we had been to leave behind our old pushchair seven years ago, and we sent dad back to the farm where Charabanc was still patiently waiting to be rescued.

The new owners of the farm explained that they had taken the pram to the tip but were told by staff there that they should keep it, as it was a rare vintage pram. Thank goodness for knowledgeable tip staff!

Happily dad was able to bring back the pram, which after a hard life on the farm, is in need of renovation, including new tyres. Sadly, Nathalie who supplied me with new tyres for the Marmet, doesn’t have tyres for the Wilsonette, so I’d really appreciate any suggestions. I recommend Nathalie of Oldtimer prams, who has been very helpful,  always responding very quickly to my emails and has given me lots of practical advice.

Sally’

Thank you so much for  telling us about your ‘charabanc’, Sally, how lovely that you have managed to get it back. I hope you enjoy pushing your grandchild around in it.

PHOTO COPYRIGHT VINTAGE PRAM FAN Unauthorised copying prohibited

Have you ever tried to wheel a modern buggy or pram in the winter?  With British winters over the last two years having been particularly bad, a lot of parents have found it hard to get around with their babies in snowy conditions. . Impossible to take the car out and risk skidding, many have had to resort to walking with a baby in its pram, but how have you managed? Was it difficult to push the pram through the snow? Was your baby warm enough? How did you protect the baby from the cold? Did the fabric get soaked through or did you have to cover it with a plastic raincover?

All these things would have been so much easier with a traditional pram, the wheels are bigger and the tyres are made of solid rubber so they get a better grip on the snow. If the pram does slip and slide the baby is safer than if it was in a flimsy modern pram as the sturdy bodywork would protect the child against any impact.

In wet weather modern prams have to be covered with a plastic cover, which means it has always to be on hand whenever you venture out in case the weather in the UK turns, which frequently happens.A traditional pram has a hood and apron made out of waterproof material, just put the hood up and pull up the stormflap on the apron and baby keeps snug and dry. Only this week I have seen mothers holding a blanket over the front of the hood on modern buggies to shield their babies from the blustery wind, the babies must have felt quite claustrophobic.

A modern pram would be of little use in the floods affecting the UK at the moment, the fabric would be drenched and these prams are so low I imagine it would be impossible to wheel them through flooded areas. At least with a metal bodied coach built pram the baby would be high up and have more protection. And what about people being evacuated from their homes? I have seen pictures from the war years where families piled their prams high with treasured possessions as they were moving to a safe refuge.

Traditional prams are warmer, of course you still need to cover the baby with pram covers but they will be much cosier. In the days when everyone had a traditional pram, babies were put outside every day in the fresh air, whatever the weather, and in extreme conditions a hot water bottle would be tucked at the bottom of the pram, safely out of the way of the baby of course.

People in cold countries still use coachbuilt prams as they realise the benefits. One young couple in the Baltic states told me they bought a modern pram for their new baby, they walked everywhere and within a matter of weeks the wheels had worn out! They decided to go for a more traditional pram and bought a new one from Heritage, they are delighted with it, they walk miles every day and the baby keeps snug, warm and dry in their cold climate.

How did you manage to wheel a pram in bad weather?

Do leave a comment on the website

www.vintagepramfan.com

if you would like to share your memory.