Before all car seats were crash-tested in the USA, European families (and lots of American families, too) typically tucked infants into small baby beds to transport them in cars. For the most safety conscious, there were harness systems, at least in Britain, that were anchored to the car, with straps that went around the cot to hold it in place on the car seat.
I doubt many people tried to used the body of a full-sized pram in this way, but for those nostalgic for the classic British pram, little transporters of this kind cropped up. They combined a pram-like body with a small, foldable frame. Though not exactly “safe” in the way safety is understood in 2009 terms, a small pram like this gave baby a comfortable place to sleep in the car, and parents the convenience of wheels at their destination.
This particular model is made by Perego and was purchased for its former owner’s child in the summer of 1979. That charming checked lining was typical of some Perego models during the 1970s, and the lace trim is on every Perego carriage I’ve seen from the late 1960s through the early 1980s.
The backrest is folded up in this picture, and that’s the storm apron folded to the left. The lace may need some careful bleaching, but that’s easy to so, since it snaps off the canopy for cleaning. Though the bed is smaller than in the usual Perego prams, it still has a full hood, an apron, and an adjustable back so that an alert baby can watch the world go by.
The design of the frame owes a lot to Owen Maclaren’s buggy, and is shared by Perego’s own Bye-Bye and other strollers that folded umbrella-style. The cot can face either forward or back, although with babies as young as those who would ride in it, it would be most usual to have the infant facing whoever was pushing.
The bar above lends a little extra stability to the frame; pulling up on the black knob either folds or unfolds the frame, and locks the frame in place when it’s open. One missing feature is a lock to hold the frame closed once it’s folded; that’s a bit of a pain if you’re taking the pram on a train or bus, for example, instead of just tucking it into a car trunk. That wide black strap you see under the upper set of wheels in the picture below is a hook-and-loop strap I always carry with me when picking up a pram. Without it, standing the folded frame on end would be a little perilous.
As you can see, though, this little cart breaks down very nicely for the train (though I admit I was careful to travel during non-peak hours). Fabric handles on the sides make it easy to move the cot, but, it should also be noted, also made it possible to dump the baby out of the cot if you weren’t careful.
Note that the tires are black; white tires (and larger ones) were more typical of luxury models. Sleekness is the theme for this little pram, rather than elegance, though we like to think it offers a bit of each quality. The spokes are the real, thing, too, and a feature that was rapidly disappearing from smaller prams and strollers.
The brakes aren’t the old friction-fit type; instead the brake lever makes a positive lock into ribs attached to the hub of the wheel; that style is much easier on tires, and a bit more reliable than the friction-fit style. None of the wheels swivel, which means that turns require lifting one set of wheels slightly, and that the turning radius was a little larger than it would have been otherwise. Though the frame design is rather spare, this transporter has excellent springs on two wheels, which smooth out the ride quite a bit.
Acquiring this pram was a great adventure, and it was an extra bonus to learn some of its history. It’s always wonderful when the previous owner knows a lot about his or her pram; though his daughter is well into adulthood now, the gentleman we met put it through its paces perfectly, having clearly not forgotten a single feature!
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