Childcare
The Museum’s childcare collection ranges in date from the 1600s to present day and shows the variety of equipment that has been designed and made specifically for children and their carers. The foundation of this group of items is the collection of children's furniture, some of which has been in the Museum for over a hundred years, and which ranges from a 1641 cradle to an IKEA chair of 2001. Prams, feeding equipment, rattles and potties have been added, together with other aids for hygiene, eating and mobility.
Baby’s Bath and Stand
This bath tub and stand was made in England in about 1935. It is made from zinc and is covered with blue and white enamel.
Baby Walker
This is one of the most controversial pieces of childcare equipment. Baby walkers and other similar items have been around for at least five hundred years, and there have been constant arguments about them.
Ceramic Feeding Bottle
This is a ceramic feeding bottle made by Davenport & Co in 1840. Until the 1850s, industrially produced feeding vessels for babies in the UK were mostly earthenware like this one, or metal.
Chafing Dish
This is a chafing dish made by the English manufacturer John Aynsley & Sons Ltd between 1912 and 1918. It is made from glazed porcelain set in a tin-plated copper base. When filled with hot water the metal base kept the child's food warm.
Chamber Pot
This ceramic chamber pot, with a moulded base so that it stands securely, was used by itself rather than part of a commode.
Cherrywood Cradle
This cherrywood rocking cradle of 1780-99 is an example of 'Pennsylvanian Dutch' work, made by Protestant north European communities who migrated to the American State of Pennsylvania.
Christening Set
This magnificent christening set is made of silver with a coating of gold. It consists of a matching knife, fork, spoon, cup, plate and bowl, in the original presentation case. The adult size pieces do not seem very appropriate for children, but the set was intended as a future heirloom rather than for a young child's use.
Deportment Chair
This deportment chair is also known as the Astley Cooper Chair. It was the invention of Sir Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841), a surgeon and anatomist. He developed it to correct faulty posture in children: the design of the chair forces children to sit on it correctly.
Folding Cot
This baby's portable folding cot, on castors, was made in about 1916. It was used by a family who were posted in Dagshai, India. Sadly, Patricia, the baby who the cot belonged to, died five days after birth due to spina bifida.
Glass Feeding Bottle
The introduction of clear glass feeding bottles in the 1840s began to make feeding a more hygienic process. It was at least possible to see when traces of food had become stuck inside the bottle, which had not been the case with the earlier ceramic ones.
High chair
This baby's high chair, of turned wood, is mounted on four metal wheels. Manufacturers added feeding trays to the basic design of the high chair in the 19th century. Before this, an adult would push the high chair as close as possible to the edge of the table where the child's food was placed.
Layette Pincushion
Layette pincushions like these were once customary presents for a new mother, and were most popular between about 1770 and 1890. They were usually given after the baby had arrived, as there was a superstitious belief that they could increase the pain felt by the mother during birth.
Pram
This pram was known as a 'mail cart'. It was based on the handcarts used by Post Office staff for delivering letters and small parcels.
Rocking Chair
This is a child's rocking chair made in 1865 by the Austrian furniture-making company, Thonet. They are strong but lightweight, and have slender curved lines - this was a great contrast to the heavy furniture which many people had in their homes.
Thermos Flask
Flasks like this are based on an invention of the scientist Sir James Dewar in 1892. Because it is insulated it can keep your cold drinks chilled, but it was the revolutionary new idea of keeping things hot which really appealed to the public back then.
Tripp Trapp Highchair
The modern beech wood 'Tripp Trapp' high chair is adjustable so that it can be used throughout life. As the child grows, the high back and baby rail can be removed, and the depth, height of the seat and footrest changed.
Wardrobe
At first glance this object looks just like a doll's house. But it's much more unusual - it is in fact a wardrobe with pegs for cloaks, jackets and skirts; and drawers and shelves at the sides for other garments.
Weighing and Exercise Chair
Not just a highchair, but a piece of furniture which would also weigh and exercise a child. A child sitting in it could grasp a handle on each side and get lots of healthy exercise by bouncing up and down. There was also originally a mechanism which made the seat work like bathroom scales.
