The Ideas and Inspiration of Strollers

The idea of a baby stroller first came into being with a man named William Kent. He was a garden architect in England who had become very well known for his work. In 1733, the Duke of Devonshire asked Kent to build a means of transportation that would amuse his children. Kent obliged by constructing a shell shaped basket on wheels that the children could sit in. This was richly decorated and meant to be pulled by a goat or small pony. Kent’s idea caught on and soon other royal family owned similar contraptions.

In 1840, the baby carriage became extremely popular. Queen Victoria bought three carriages from Hitchings Baby Store. If you wanted to be part of high society, you had to own a baby carriage.

The carriages of those days were much different than today. They were built of wood or wicker and held together by expensive brass joints. These were sometimes fancy and became heavily ornamented works of art. Models were also named after royalty. Princess and Duchess were popular names, as well as Balmoral and Windsor

New Ideas

In June of 1889, a new carriage design came on to the public scene. William Richardson patented his idea of the first reversible stroller. The bassinet was designed so it could face out or in towards the parent. He also made structural changes to the carriage. Until then the axils did not allow each wheel to move separately. Richardson’s design allowed this which increased maneuverability of the carriages.

As the 1920s, began, World War I was coming to an end. Modern baby carriages were now an available to all families. They were also becoming safer as new features like larger wheels, brakes, deeper prams, and lower, sturdier frames began to appear. By 1950, these carriages were a must have for all families.

In 1965, Owen Maclaren, an aeronautical engineer, listened to his daughter complain about traveling from England to America with her heavy pram. Maclaren knew that she needed something with a light frame that could fold up compactly. Using his knowledge of aeroplanes, Maclaren designed a stroller with an aluminum frame and created the first true umbrella stroller. He then went on to found Maclaren which manufactured and sold his new design. The design took off and soon “strollers” were easier to transport and used everywhere.

from wiki