Monthly Archive for October, 2009

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Why Prams Have Locking Brakes

Published on October 16, 2009 in Pram Rants. 0 Comments

What is it with Australia?  Some kind of fungus? Within the last year, there have been several well-publicized incidents where babies died when their jogging  strollers rolled into harm’s way.  The government responded with a set of pram “safety” standards (I ranted about them here) which had very little to do with the actual tragic accidents.

CNN International has a report of another, nearly identical accident, this time, incredibly, with a  much different end.  The baby lived.  He and mom are reported to have been released from the hospital after being checked-over.  It was very windy on the platform, and mom was filmed having trouble controlling the jogger.  She pushed it away  from the track, but apparently did not hold onto it or set the brakes.

Here’s a screenshot of the pram rolling onto the track as the train approaches the Aashburn railway station in Melbourne:

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The article notes helpfully that “the incident came just a day after the launch of a public awareness campaign warning of the dangers of strollers on platforms”.  Right.

Screenshot from Channel  7 via  quietube.com

(A tip of the hat to Eph.)

Performance Art

Published on October 16, 2009 in Stupid Pram Tricks. 0 Comments

This is a totally awful thing to do with any pram, much less a beautiful vintage transporter:

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You’ll need to watch the film to get the full effect.

I’m going to assume here that no pristine prams were injured during the making of this film, and that, somehow, this lovely vehicle had previously sustained a terrible injury to the bed.  Otherwise, I’d want to smack these guys.

Spotted In The Wild – Stokke Xplory

Published on October 15, 2009 in Spotted In The Wild. 2 Comments

New York City, Upper East Side:  If you’re looking for the greatest number of Xplorys per square mile, the Upper East Side is your kind of geography. It’s one of few places where you can count on seeing a least a couple of Xplorys on any given day.  This one’s quieter than most, a tasteful black instead of something-vibrant-else:

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It’s difficult to see in this photo, but that grey insert is mesh.  There’s air flow inside the hood on this warm summer day.

Last year I was treated to the amazing sight of matching beige Xplorys, seats right up high facing the papas who were pushing them, strolling side-by-side in Soho.  I didn’t get a good shot – those guys were men on a mission, moving with lightening lightning speed through the crowded sidewalks.  (Successfully, too, I might add – who’s going to argue with tandem fast moving Xplorys?)  It was a truly impressive sight.

Pod-Pram

Published on October 14, 2009 in Pram Art. 0 Comments

Stella Yang, a Canada-educated designer based in Shanghai, China, has designed a clever “concept” stroller that manages to be both sleek and whimsical at the same time:

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With hoods:

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And, for  you  uber-sophisticates out there, here’s the edgy version:

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The video makes it look oh, so feasible –  but don’t get your hopes up.  Though the artist is described as an industrial designer, this resume looks really heavy on computer skills, and kind of light on production experience.  I’m thinking this lovely pod stroller exists only in Yang’s imagination.    It would be pretty cool to see it go from concept to prototype, though.  That lean, efficient tripod fold is to drool over (so to speak).

Spotted In The Wild – Britax Vigour

Published on October 13, 2009 in Spotted In The Wild. 0 Comments

Traverse City, Michigan: Another Bugaboo knock-off.

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I found the Vigour heavy and awkward, but the basic design is hard to knock. Bugaboo really got it right with those large front swivel wheels and the lift-off elliptical frame.

Inexplicably, the Britax USA site doesn’t offer the Vigour.  The only “full size stroller” on the website is an absolutely hideous “Chaperone”, which appears to be totally Gracoized, complete with huge amounts of plastic trim, and lousy upholstery.  (Although it does have a huge basket.  That will be a great comfort when all the plastic bits start breaking.)

War is Hell

Published on October 12, 2009 in Pram Tech. 0 Comments

. . . and inventive people make do:

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From the Life Magazine archives (1943):

Mother pushing baby in carriage made with wooden wheels, springs, brakes and handle due to metal shortages during the war.

The “springs” on this buggy aren’t what we usually think of as springs, of course. The entire suspension is made of wood; you can see it best just above the wheel at the right front, where the side cross bars connect with the lower chassis. The curved rod that is sticking out toward the ground is the brake, also made of wood.

Source: Life magazine archives

Spotted In The Wild – Mutsy 4rider

Published on October 9, 2009 in Spotted In The Wild. 0 Comments

Traverse City, Michigan. The 4rider’s frame has a little wavy action going on.  Mutsy had a modified Z-shaped frame really early in the game; the Dutch went wild with innovation, pram-wise, in the late 1990s, and Mutsy was right there with Bugaboo, changing the world, one chassis at a time.  This is the most recent incarnation:

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Note the nicely designed, sturdy footrest.  And the tray (more about that in a minute). And particularly, the coolest feature of all — the one-spoke wheel:

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Takes a minute to parse, doesn’t it?  Ah, Mutsy, you’re playin’ with my brain.

This 4rider has the Mutsy  “dinner tray”; which this family bought in Europe. (It may be available in the USA now.) Trays on US strollers seem designed for parental neglect:  They have holes to dump food into (got to get a head start on those bad eating habits) and wells for bottles and sippies, so that baby can help herself early on without interfering with parental texting or mobile blathering or whatever else the parent is doing that’s more important than the outing with the kid.

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On the other hand, the Mutsy tray invites interaction, just like the surface of a nice table. Dumping stuff on the dinner tray doesn’t work; sharing is required. It’s cleanable, too, with just a swift wipe, which can’t be said of the ubiquitous American snack tray.  This is an accessory an adult could love — and enjoy seeing every day.

Prams Mail Carts & Bassinets

Published on October 8, 2009 in Books. 4 Comments

Jack Hampshire’s classic work Prams Mail Carts & Bassinets was re-published earlier this year by the Jack Hampshire Pram Museum Trust. This is an absolutely wonderful book; a hodge-podge of photos of the 300-odd prams Hampshire himself collected, images of old advertisements, tidbits about pram history written and collected by the author.  The original edition was a thoughtful gift to me back when the book was new, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves prams.

pm-mc-bs-frnt-300The first edition has become a collector’s item, selling for horrendous amounts of money – up to $400 USD, though, of course, people sometimes find it for less.  The re-issue itself  is a shocking 135 British pounds on Amazon UK, and offered for the nearly-as-shocking price of 125 British pounds from eBay UK.  The Amazon listing is surprisingly desultory, not even offering a proper description of the book, and accompanied by a very bad photograph apparently uploaded by a customer.

The Trust tells me that there are only 17 copies remaining of the re-print, and that there are no plans to do another printing, as “it’s been too expensive to do”.  I’ve suggested they look into print-on-demand, as well as a quality paperback printing, as this kind of title (and this particular book) is not likely to be a best-seller in the short term, but should have steady sales value over time. No word as to whether my suggestions have reached receptive ears.

I believe Jack Hampshire died in late 1995; many people worked madly to save as much of his collection as possible, but, inevitably, it was broken up.  Here’s an image of the back of my own copy, showing Hampshire himself, surrounded by some of his incredible collection:

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Hundreds of carriages, his own and many others,  fill the pages of Prams.   Inexplicably, there’s no mention of the book, or of its availability for purchase, on the Trust’s page on the Internet. Something’s a bit wonky with the marketing scheme here, and that’s a great pity.

Spotted In The Wild – Quinny Buzz

Published on October 7, 2009 in Spotted In The Wild. 0 Comments

Traverse City, Michigan. An urban stroller with all the moxie it needs to travel miles on midwestern-ish sidewalks.

tc-qbz-300Quinnys come in a palette of sherbet colors, none of them shy.  The interior of this particular model is orange (speaking of sherbet).  If you look closely, you’ll see that the side vent on the hood is orange, too. Not for the faint of heart, this one.

Just as an editorial note, that bag’s a bit on the conservative side.  We’ve got two different, not to mention diametrically opposed,  aesthetics going on here.

Notice the aspect ratio of this picture?  This is a Buzz 3, meaning that it’s a tripod design.  Technically, it has four wheels, but the two front wheels are mounted on a center stem that forms the tripod leg.

That uncommon  ratio hints at the Buzz’s secret:  Tripods are notoriously tippy, but the Buzz isn’t, due to the broad, stable placement of the rear wheels.  This does mean that you  do have to pay a fair amount of attention when going through narrow doorways.  Which is completely irrelevant when it’s gorgeous outside in Traverse City.  (Or ought to be!)

Pram and Phalli, 1964

Published on October 6, 2009 in Pram Art. 0 Comments

Previously unbeknownst to us, Oberlin (an institution beloved to the Pram Museum family),  numbers a notable piece of pram art among its collections.  May we present Baby Carriage, by Yayoi Kusama?

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Unfortunately, this small image almost certainly dims the impact of the work itself.   Those — what? curlicues? dreadlocks? — well, let us say,  protuberances, represent dozens of  phalli.  The referential significance is clear.

Said phalli are constructed of fabric, and were originally made from “red fabric with white spots as well as black and white striped fabric”.  After its original exhibition in 1964, the artist altered that colorful landscape though the judicious use of silver paint, which, I’m guessing, must have had the rather surprising  effect of subduing the work.

Kusama also  added several stuffed kangaroos to the sculpture.  “Their inclusion further emphasizes the disturbing juxtaposition of the sexualized phallic forms and the childhood associations evoked by the baby carriage”,  according to Oberlin’s Allen Memorial Art Museum’s web page.

Academia.  Ya gotta love it.

Source:  Allen Memorial Art Museum, Art Since 1945