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| Baby's Perambulator 1905 The Victoria & Albert Museum |
This extremely Edwardian-looking perambulator is of the type known in Britain as a mailcart. It features a navy blue hand-painted metal chassis with ivory-colored linear decoration very indicative of the period. The body is upholstered in navy blue “leather-cloth,” while the exterior is decorated in un-pigmented reed-work.
The pram is adjustable so that it can hold a recumbent baby and, then, later, an older child—sitting up. The wheels have metal rims and spokes and rubber tires. The navy blue hood is edged with a “Greek key” patterned braid, and is supported on a folding frame of metal hoops with a hinged metal strut at each side.
This sort of “mailcart” carriage first became available in about 1870, and derived, as one might expect, from the handcarts used by Post Office staff for delivering letters and small parcels. The They were notoriously difficult to steer and probably would fail every modern safety test imaginable. But, they’re pretty.
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