Historic Hood River
Riding in Style
Notes
Introducing… “Madeleine’s Mondays.” Inside the Annex (offsite storage) of the History Museum of Hood River County resides a wonderfully diverse collection of objects and artifacts, each comprising a tangible piece of Hood River’s story. As a new weekly addition to Historic Hood River, a few of these objects will be carefully unpacked, brought into the light, and photographed to bring their history to you.
Pictured here is a wicker baby buggy dated circa 1900. It showcases large metal wheels, a striped fabric lining, and wicker fashioned in a unique floral pattern on the sides. Additionally, it has a sticker that states it was “fumigated” and purchased at Franz Hardware – a local business that thrived for 95 years before its doors were finally shut in 2004.
We saw another baby buggy from the period in this image.
Roger H Sheldrake
This one has hard rubber tires and appears to have a wheel brake on the left rear. The one pictured in the link might be a bit earlier with all steel wheels and no brake.
L.E.
What has really changed is probably how the mother pushing the stroller is dressed. Back in the 1900 era it would have been long dress, a big hat and sedately walking down the street. Now it is spandex, tank top, cap and jogging while pushing.
Cecelia Goodnight
What are the dimensions of this buggy? And would it equate with a stroller today rather than a baby buggy? It seems like a child would have to be older to sit up in it (but obviously couldn’t see much other than straight ahead!).
Cecelia Goodnight
And I want to say that the Archives/Research committee adds a welcome to Madeleine. Madeleine recently graduated from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and is helping discover museum treasures and search museum files for information before she pursues other adventures in the spring. I encourage others to do what Madeleine has done. If you have a specific interest in a given topic or would like to work on a special project please check with the museum’s director to help preserve the history of this beautiful area.