Following on from my earlier post about my Silver Cross Oberon doll’s pram, I thought you might like to see pictures of models that were available in the 1960’s. Most models were available as Standard or Super Models, the difference being that usually the Super model had chromium plated wheels instead of the painted ones on the Standard models and of course there was a difference in price.

The first one is the Delia model, which has a design similar to the full size Fleur de Lys pram.

The next one is the Eve, with a chrome lover’s knot on the side. Again, a similar pram was available in a full size model.

Following on from my previous posts about Silver Cross doll’s prams, here are two more models of 1960’s dolly prams.

This is the Super Marie model, look at the sweeping design on the side panel.

This is the Flora model, again a similar design to a baby pram,  the full size Pastorale.

Maybe you have a doll’s pram, have a look carefully at your own and compare it to the photos here and maybe you will have the same model.

This month’s Pram of the Month is a little different. It is a wicker pushchair which I found in France a couple of years ago.

I bought it from a lady who has a vast collection of prams and she is going to live in a smaller house so decided to sell this and two others.  She has been collecting prams for many years and most are from the Victorian era. Friends of mine live nearby and, by quite a coincidence, they found out about the prams; they are renovating their property and went to the house to buy furniture and saw them there.

The owner said she was selling some of her prams and said I could go see them on my next trip to France, so off I went. In the basement of the house were two rooms, full of antique prams, but only three were for sale at the time. I couldn’t decide which one to buy so ended up with all three!  Then when I got back home I realised not only had I no space to store them, but I am not really a lover of antique prams so I sold them to another pram collector.

The French lady also had a beautiful Victorian twin pram and was going to part with that at some point, as well as the others in her collection. I haven’t dared go back to visit her again in case I am tempted!

But how many of us have not been able to resist buying a pram then later thinking, as I did, “why did I buy this”! 

With the WW2 and vintage themed events looming on the calendar, I am regretting selling my droptoe pram. These prams are commonly referred to as ‘droptoe’ but their correct name is ‘drop end’. They were very popular until the 1950s as could be used from birth until toddler age, in war years prams were scarce so one as versatile as a droptoe model was very sought after.

Although my favourite prams are Silver Cross, a few years ago I bought a Marmet with a drop end. The lady who sold it said it was from 1947, but I tend to think it wasnt as old as that because of the chrome. During the war chrome wasn’t used on prams, mudguards and wheels were painted instead. It wasn’t until a few years after the end of ww2 that chrome was used for decorative purposes again.

The pran was owned by a young mum, she bought the pram for her baby son and used it from birth until at 3 years old, like most toddlers his age, he preferred to walk everywhere!

My pram had a wooden body and was what was known as  “low slung”, the wheels covered in a sweeping mudguard, and again the condition amazing for something so old, no pitting in the chrome either on the wheels or the mudguards.

Droptoe prams are especially versatile as they have a section at the end of the bed which drops down, so when a baby is older it can have its legs bent instead of having to have them straight out. A bracket on each side  enables the bed to be lowered and on my Marmet there were two lower positions. I didn’t know this until I put my 3 year old granddaughter in the pram! I lowered the dropend and as she sat down and stretched her legs out, the pram end dropped even lower! I was horrified and thought it had broken, then realised there was a lower notch on the bracket.

When my older sister rang me I told her about my new droptoe pram and she informed me that my mum had one of this type for me. Knowing my mum’s favourite prams were Marmet I wonder if mine was the same model! I have a vague memory of a cream pram standing in the hall when I was very young and my sister confirmed my pram was indeed cream. I then remembered we had an old cine film of me when I was a year old, later transferred to dvd, and in the back of my mind was a vague recollection of a pram on there. I had a look at the film and sure enough there is my cream droptoe pram, with me by the side of it pulling myself up into a standing position!!! How amazing is that to have the same type pram I was wheeled out in as a baby, and to find one so old in such good conditon is a bonus!

The pram I bought was all black, but as the paint on the bodywork needed touching up I was tempted to have it changed to cream, I felt sure this would look good with the black hood and apron.

This type of pram is a fairly rare find, especially with the coachbuilt body, more of the fabric covered ones have survived better. The drop-end is the weakest part of the structure and with an active toddler will more than likely taken a lot of energetic activity, so it is no wonder not many have survived. I remember seeing local mums when I was a child, with these type of prams, often with one baby in the bed and another sitting in the drop-end. The fixed bed coachbuilt prams were sturdier at the handle end to take a pram seat for a toddler, but the droptoe design was not suitable for a pramseat.

One other benefit of some models of droptoe prams, the body is detachable from the body and can be used facing towards the handle or the opposite way. With this type of pram there was no need for a pushchair as the pram could be used from birth until the child grew out of it and was old enough to walk everywhere. And it was small enough to take on a bus or tram, or train.

The body of my droptoe pram was made of wood, which made it quite heavy for me to lift in and out of the car myself, so I sold it on to another pram fan.

But as lots of us know, we get rid of a pram then regret it so I was soon on the lookout for another! Fortunately an elderly lady near me was selling hers, it was a Marmet Victor, bought new in 1957 and used for her two daughters. The pram had been stored in a spare bedroom but the owner was moving into sheltered housing so the pram had to go.

I used this pram at a few WW2 events, but unless someone was available to help me I found it impossible to lift in and out of the car, as had happened with the first one. Sadly I decided to sell it and bought a Wilsonette pushchair instead, so I can still go to WW2 events with an authentic style pram and the best thing is I can manage it on my own.

But I would still love a droptoe pram, but a smaller, lighter one! In the fifties my aunt had one, a Marmet in grey fabric. I remember it was very small and when my mum saw it she was sure it was a doll’s pram. It was smaller than the Marmet Sol model and I have never seen one like it since then.

I know lots of us admire not only vintage coachbuilt prams, but also vintage pushchairs, or strollers as they are called in some countries.

It wasn’t until the early sixties that pushchairs started to overtake coachbuilt prams in popularity, and in the spring of 1960 more pushchairs were manufactured than ever before, with almost 75,000 being made in the UK alone!

More than likely this explosion in demand for pushchairs was because more and more families were becoming car owners and needed an alternative to their “big pram” when going out in the car.

But pushchairs were not a new invention, as one of my earlier posts illustrated, they were used for many years prior to the sixties. Indeed, I still remember being wheeled in my own pushchair, it was a Nufold, with a canvas seat in a kind of khaki colour and a metal footrest that adjusted but the backrest was very straight, not very comfortable for naps! I was fastened in with a single leather strap.  I loved to chew the end of that strap and when discussing this with my older brother recently he told me he had done the same, so it must have been in a dreadful state by the time it was eventually disposed of!! Wonder what the Health and Safety would have to say about that, none of the “several point” harnesses they insist on these days!

The wheels were solid with rubber tyres and they folded underneath the pushchair. I can distinctly remember my mother leaving me outside the local greengrocer’s one day, while she was inside I was amusing myself touching the artificial grass that held the boxes of fruit and veg on an outside display. Regrettably because I was wriggling around one set of the wheels folded beneath me as I must have dislodged them; I screamed so loud that I think all the village must have heard me! My mother came rushing out of the shop but by that time a kindly passer by had already stopped to comfort me.

Another memory I have is of being taken out by a family friend, she wheeled me down a country road, where there were  nanny goats with their kids in a field. I clearly remember looking at them and I even remember I had a blue and cream pram rug covering my legs.Yet another baby item I wish we still had, but my mother passed on most of our baby clothes to friends and relatives, but she did keep the pushchair for a long time.

That pushchair gave good service, being used for two of us, and then I used it for my dolls and teddies. In summer one of our neighbours used to borrow it for a week or two when they had family visiting; I remember they gave me half a crown for allowing them to use it, probably because they knew I used it as a dolls pram and wouldn’t be able to play with it whilst they were using it. Half a crown was a lot of money so I didn’t mind!

I don’t have a clear photo of my own pushchair but I know there is one in the National Trust’s possession, in fact I believe  this could be mine because it has the leather harness strap that my father affixed. I would love to buy it back, or find one the same.

However I do now have a doll’s version of this Nufold pushchair, but I would gladly swap it for a baby version.

Do you have any memories of times in your own pram or pushchair, if so please share them with us by leaving a comment on here. Even better, if you have a pushchair like the one in this photo and want to sell it then please get in touch!

Now we have a new baby prince, Prince Louis of Cambridge, already I have seen several reports that the Queen used Silver Cross prams for her children. I do wish these writers would check their facts carefully and realise that not every coachbuilt style pram is made by Silver Cross. When Princess Charlotte was wheeled to her christening the articles mistakenly said she was in a Silver Cross pram. Will this happen again with the new baby?

In my opinion there is no better pram than a Silver Cross, but maybe I am biased because they are made in Yorkshire not far from where I live.

It would be lovely to see the new baby prince using a traditional pram, I wonder if the one used by Princess Anne in the seventies is still in storage? Princess Anne was presented with two Silver Cross prams for her first baby, as I wrote a while ago:

Silver Cross prams have been very popular with the rich and famous over the years, as well as being the choice of the “ordinary” parents.

Despite media articles the Queen did not have a Silver Cross pram, but she did have one of a different make fully restored by Silver Cross, hence the confusion.

In 1977 when Princess Anne was expecting her first baby Peter Phillips, the Centenary Committee of Silver Cross agreed to present two prams to the Princess. The former Company Chairman told me how he arranged for a large London store to take several Silver Cross models to the Palace and the Princess and her Nanny then selected the ones they wanted.

A dark green Super Burley and a soft body, navy blue Balmoral were chosen and these were used by the Princess for both her children. The prams were stored away and in 1988 Princess Beatrice, daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, was pictured in the Silver Cross Balmoral soft body pram.

(Photo kindly provided by Mr J Wilson of Silver Cross)

Note the name Balmoral was used for a soft bodied pram in the seventies, whereas later the Balmoral was a coachbuilt model, yet again Silver Cross used the same names over the years for different prams.

Princess Caroline of Monaco also chose a Silver Cross pram for her son, this was a Silverstream. No doubt the Princess followed her mother’s advice, Princess Grace used Silver Cross prams for her own children.

If any of you are fans of Coronation Street you may be interested to know that Johnny Briggs, or Mike Baldwin as his character was called, also chose Silver Cross for his daughter Jennifer Louise in the seventies. This was a “Princess” model and was bought from Pooles store in Northampton. At the time the couple were reported as saying “what superb craftmanship, we love the pram.”

Throughout the 1980’s the media often snapped pictures of famous people with their Silver Cross prams, Dustin Hoffman and Christina Onassis were both pictured using Silver Cross pushchairs.

So if you chose a Silver Cross pram for your babies, you can be proud that the rich and famous shared your choice.

PRAM RESTORATION

 Over the next few posts I will be using advice from the little booklet I wrote a few years ago about pram restoration. If you don’t have a copy more will be offered for sale shortly as downloadable files.

This first post is to help you if you have just bought a secondhand pram, or maybe you have taken one out of storage where it has been for some years. If so, you need to inspect it carefully to see what work needs to be done to bring it back to being baby ready or to sell. Unrestored prams do sell but you will get more money if you carry out a few jobs first.

Before deciding if any major work is required, first of all give the bodywork, chrome, hood and apron and upholstery a thorough clean. Often underneath layers of dirt and grime, accumulated through years of storage, you will find a pram that requires very little work to make it useable. If you do not want to clean it yourself, then take it to a car valeter who may undertake to do this for you.

Restoring a coachbuilt pram is very similar to restoring a classic car, so if you are unsure of anything ask anyone who has restored a car for advice.

When  surface grime has been removed check if there is any major work required. Is the hood and apron intact or are there tears and rips, or major fading of the fabric? Is the bodywork dented or badly scratched? Look at the chrome for signs of rust, pitting or flaking. If there are minor rust spots the chrome may clean up, flaking and deep pitting cannot be remedied except by rechroming.

Hammerite sell a rust remover, this can be applied with a brass brush and then sponged off with warm, soapy water to remove minor rust.

Check the wheels are not buckled, all spokes should be present and not loose. Look at the tyres, if they are discoloured you may be able to clean them up. If badly worn, the rubber can be replaced, as can buckled wheels.

The hood should put up and down easily without straining, otherwise you risk damaging the fabric. The apron should be a snug fit. If the fabric has become stiffened with age, wash gently in warm soapy water, with fabric conditioner added. This often eases the fabric and makes it more supple.

In future posts I will be giving more information on the renovation jobs such as how to clean chrome, hoods and aprons etc.

BODYWORK

Before deciding what work needs to be done, check the bodywork for dents and scratches. If the bodywork is in good condition, first of all wash it carefully using a mild detergent and warm water to remove surface dust and grime.

Let it dry thoroughly then bring up the colour with T Cut colour reviver, finally give a final polish with wax polish you would use on a car.

Black scuff marks can be removed by polishing out with a product called “Silky” which is sold in caravan accessory shops.

Minor marks will often rub out with T Cut, but if you need to touch them up, use a small brush (a nail varnish brush is ideal). Firstly use primer to paint over the scratch, repeating several times if the scratch is deep, and build up the surface gradually. Allow to dry between each coat. After the final top coat has dried, blend into the surrounding paintwork with T Cut.

To paint small scratches use a touch up pen available from Halfords, or try www.babybirds.co.uk for a small pot of touch up paint in current Silver Cross colours. Another source for paint is a decorators’ merchants, where they may stock RAL paint.

If you are unsure of the colour of the bodywork, take it to Halfords and ask them to show you their colour charts for car paint. Be warned there are literally hundreds of these so it will take some time to obtain an exact, or close, match. Each colour sample on the charts has a hole in the middle, you place this over the bodywork and should be able to see if it is the colour of your pram. Halfords will then make up an aerosol spray of the paint for you. Check the colour in daylight to achieve the closest match. Alternatively a bodyshop which resprays cars may offer a paint matching service.

If the pram is an older model with a wooden body, check there is no woodworm or rotting wood. This can be treated but if the pram is to be used for a baby you MUST ensure any treatment is safe to use.

Dents in metal bodywork can sometimes be pulled out by using suction pads, a local garage can advise on this. A sink/toilet plunger with a rubber suction cup may work for small dents.

To respray the body, first of all remove the interior bed or cover this with thick layers of newspaper. Remove any manufacturer’s logos from the bodywork – a flat screwdriver or pocket knife will remove these. Slide the blade under the logo, taking care not to snap off the two pins that are holding them on at the back.

Plaques on the side of a pram should also be removed, for example the Wedgewood plaque or the Rose plaque on Silver Cross models. These are inset into the pram body, once the inner bed has been removed the plaques will be accessible from the interior. If you don’t want to remove them, cover with masking tape.

Prepare for repainting by rubbing down the bodywork with fine wet and dry sandpaper, until a smooth surface is achieved. Fill in any dents with car filler, repeat this process to level them, then rub down until smooth. You need to “key” the surface allowing the paint to adhere better.

Wash the bodywork down with warm soapy water to remove any dust, then leave to dry thoroughly before starting to paint.

A better finish will be achieved if at least two coats of primer, in grey or white, followed by at least two coats of paint, are applied. All this takes time and patience. Each coat must be left to dry for at least 24 hours, the more coats that are applied, the more professional the finish.

KEEP YOUR PRAM FRESH

If prams have not been used for some time, or stored in cold, damp conditions, they often pick up a musty odour. There are several remedies you could try to alleviate this.

However, I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure there is no mould in the pram bed or underneath the bed unit, if the pram is to be used for a baby. Prams that have been stored in garages, lofts etc may have mould growth which is not visible and this can be dangerous for babies.

There are other posts on the website about mould, but this one is primarily concerned with freshening up a pram that has perhaps not been used for a short while.

Personally I always wipe down the interior vinyl of the bed section, as well as hood and apron linings, with one of the following solutions, this gets rid of surface dirt as well as helping neutralise odours:

• A drop of Ammonia  added to a Stardrops solution.
• Soda crystals dissolved in hot water
• A solution of white vinegar and water
• Warm water and bicarbonate of soda

Once this has dried you can then use one of the following remedies to freshen it up even more:

• Sprinkle the interior of the pram with bicarbonate of soda.

• Spray with fabric freshener.
• Split a vanilla pod down the middle, wrap it in kitchen towel and place it in the pram.
• Dab a wad of cotton wool with Vanilla essence
• Place a cut lemon in the pram
• Place a bar of baby soap in the pram (this was a tip passed on by a Vintage Pram Fan).

Other remedies include using Neutodrol spray or powder, or sprinkling baby talc into the bed area, brush this in well and then vacuum out using accessory tools.

If you have any other tips you would like to share with us please leave a comment on the website www.VintagePramFan.com

Pram of the month for June is my own Wilson Wedgwood pram. The photo was taken on a warm sunny day when I was looking after my neighbour’s baby.

I put the baby in the pram with the canopy for shade and wheeled it into the garden. As I pottered around the baby slept soundly in the fresh air and I could keep an eye on him.

How many do this nowadays with a baby, sleeping outside for a morning nap? Most young parents I know put their baby in the cot in a darkened bedroom for naps, in fact my neighbour was surprised that her baby had actually slept in my pram as he was used to being put in his cot. However, she did agree that on a warm summer day it was better for him to be outside.

Hopefully now summer has arrived we can use those pretty canopies on our prams, which brings me to ask which do you think is the correct way to fix the canopy – with the long edge shading the baby as in my photo or do you prefer the short edge over the pram body? 

Any metal which has been allowed to rust badly will in time disintegrate,  to avoid your pram ending up like this then make sure you look after it properly! (photo copyright S Sevenfold)

Prams that have been stored for a long time in damp conditions may have chromework that has rusted. If the chrome hasn’t deteriorated too much, it can probably be cleaned up to a reasonable shiny state.

Pitting” means there are tiny spots of rust beginning to appear on the chrome, this is usually easy to remedy.

“Flaking” is when parts of the chrome have rusted so badly that parts of it have actually flaked off, exposing the metal underneath. If the chrome is flaking in lots of places then the best thing is to have the chrome redone. Do ask around for quotes before you decide who to use as costs can vary. Look in the local phone directories or google search for companies which deal with chromium plating. Alternatively a repair workshop which deals with motorbike repairs is a good place to contact as motorbikes often have a lot of chrome on them and they will be used to rechroming queries. Failing that, ask at a car repair company, or someone who does cycle repairs.

(picture copyright C Guthier)

If you decide the rust is not too bad then have a go yourself at cleaning it up. There are various tried and tested ways to do this so read on.

Aluminium foil dipped in vinegar is fine if the rust spots are only small, or use a brillo pad, but both these are abrasive and will leave tiny scratches on the chromework, so use carefully.

A scrunchie made from acrylic knitting yarn is ideal for removing light marks as it is not too abrasive. To make a scrunchie  knit or crochet a small square, or use the wool scrunched into a ball, and it is easy to rub over the chromework.

If there is a lot of rust and it is not flaking too badly, the best thing to do is to clean up the chrome with white spirit and  very fine wire wool, or a brass brush dipped in white spirit. Or you can use WD40 instead of white spirit. These methods are very abrasive and will remove the rust, but be warned it is hard work!

Once you have cleaned up the chrome and removed the rust marks, polish it with a product called Autosol, this is available at Halfords and other car accessory shops. The chromework will shine beautifully and the Autosol actually gives some protection against further rusting. And it you are storing a pram then coat the chrome with vaseline, this will protect it.

There are sprays that are available if you don’t want to go to the expense of rechroming, but these do not give anything like a chrome finish. Even the ones that are said to be “chrome” just look silver when sprayed on. Some people have used Hammerite on their wheels and other chrome parts, but again this doesn’t look anything like chrome.

Another alternative to having the chrome replated is to either paint the chrome parts in a colour to match the pram bodywork or have it powder coated. Powder coating is a specialised process and gives a long lasting finish, this  is the process used on central heating radiators and heated towel rails and must be carried out by a reputable company.

If you prefer to paint the parts yourself then use a good car paint for this and all the rust will need to be removed first, then the metal primed and sanded at least twice before the paint is applied. During the war years,when all the metal was needed for building planes, none of the prams were chromed, they all had painted wheels and handles.  Painted wheels can look fine, but don’t paint the spokes, leave them as they are. These are known as “country wheels” because people living in the countryside had to take their prams along muddy tracks and roads and the chrome would have deteriorated very quickly, but if they were painted it was much simpler to repaint them when they began to look shabby.

Hope this has helped, if you have any tips you have used for your chrome then do share them with us by leaving a comment below, and keep checking the website for more posts on restoring your prams.

As summer approaches and many of us will be taking our prams out and about to events, I am repeating this post about making sure your prams are kept secure. It has been known for prams to be stolen from storage or while in transit, but also for items to be stolen from the prams. We all like to adorn our prams with pretty bedding and maybe pram rattles, perhaps having a baby bottle on show too. We dress our reborn dolls in nice clothes, maybe giving them a silver bangle, but even things like this have been stolen whilst the pram owner was distracted.

I even heard about a young mother who had her pram stolen from her own garden, she had taken her baby indoors to feed him and left the pram outside, when she returned a few minutes later it had gone. Unbelievable that anyone could stoop so low.

So please take note of the hints below, applying them to your reborn dolls as well as to your prams. Make sure the dolls are strapped in your pram, keep a watchful eye on pram rattles, baby bracelets etc and don’t leave valuable items in the pram bag or tucked under the cover. This may seem scary but it has happened that thieves have struck.

How many of us have taken simple precautions to prevent thieves stealing our own prams?

These thefts act as a reminder to everyone to make sure your prams are stored securely and, more importantly, make sure you have some form of identification marked on them. Write your postcode onto the chassis and the bodywork, in an inconspicuous place, using a security marker. Should your pram be stolen and later recovered, you can prove it is yours by an ultra violet light being shone over the marks.

You can buy an ultra violet security marker pen quite cheaply, so if you don’t already have one then put it on your shopping list today. It is even better if you can etch a security mark on the chassis and body, like they do on bicycles.

Also take lots of photographs of your prams, from every angle, inside and out, and make a note of any distinguishing marks. All these would help prove you own the pram should you ever become a victim of crime.

Vintage prams are not only valuable, they are irreplaceable, so taking a few security precautions is a sensible move. And if you have a very expensive pram then make sure it is included on your household insurance policy.

Even if you keep your prams locked away, you could also use a bicycle lock as additional security. These are all precautions we take with bicycles and if a bike is stolen the insurance compensation would buy a new one, this is not the case with a vintage pram as no amount of compensation can replace them.

If you have any advice on keeping your prams secure please share them with us by leaving a comment on the website www.VintagePramFan.com

I am so excited because after many years of searching I have finally got a Silver Shadow pram, coachwork in Rolls grey and hood and apron navy.

This is the same model as bought for my sister in 1968 when she was expecting my parents’ first grandchild. It was used for my two nephews then offered to me for my first baby, but I wanted one with a detachable chassis so refused the offer.

In the early seventies the hcb (high coach built) prams were going out of fashion and it was difficult to sell them as people wanted smaller prams that would fit in a car. My sister advertised her pram but no buyers, in the end she gave it away to a lady in the village who had a few children who were being pushed around in a very old tatty pram and was very grateful to be given my sister’s.

As the years have gone by and my interest in prams increased I have been longing to find another Silver Shadow, my dream pram, but one that didn’t need a lot of restoration as I struggle with major jobs nowadays.

A couple of weeks ago I was told of someone selling a Silver Shadow and as it was quite local to me I was able to view. The pram had been kept by its owner for over forty years and apart from a bit of rust and discoloured tyres it was in really good condition considering its age.

As soon as I got it home I gave it a thorough clean, removed the hood and put it in the bath, the apron went on a gentle wash in the washing machine. The inner bed unit has been thoroughly cleaned too, surprising how much dirt had accumulated underneath.

Next I polished the bodywork and chassis, using a car polish. The chrome had some rust but with the help of a wire brush, WD40 and elbow grease most of it came off, it was then given a polish with Autosol.

The tyres were scrubbed and although they look much better than they did they are still discoloured somewhat. Maybe in time I will get new ones. Also the straps will need replacing if ever the pram is used for a baby.

And despite a good clean there is still a slight musty smell so every fine day the pram goes outside in the fresh air, it is gradually smelling a bit better.

When my nephew was born I bought him a white Broderie anglaise pram set, my sister gave it back to me for my own babies and I still have it. Along with a matching canopy my new pram will look the same as when I used to take my nephew out. Not sure whether I was more excited at becoming an auntie or pushing the baby in the pram, but every chance I got I took the baby for a walk, sometimes even wearing a navy and grey dress to match the pram!

My sister knew how I longed for this pram and every time I saw one for sale she was eager for me to be lucky and get it. But either I missed out or the pram needed a lot of work. Then this one came up! The strange thing is that three months ago my sister passed away, I like to think fate took a hand in finding me my dream pram.

Pram of the Month for May is the Super Rivoli model made by Marmet.

In previous posts I have written about memories of people who worked at the Marmet factory, if you type Marmet into the search box top right of the website you can read these.

My mum had a Marmet pram for my older sister in 1940 and she always thought these were the best make and wanted me to have one for my own children. But I couldn’t find a model I liked so opted for Silver Cross, which has always been my own favourite.

But maybe I should buy a Marmet, just to compare of course. Any excuse to justify buying another pram!

I am often asked where people can obtain spares for their prams or who can restore a pram, so here are some contacts:

OLD TIMER PRAMS – Old-timer prams are based in France but will ship overseas. I bought replacement tyres and brake pads from them so can recommend them, but they also have other spares and restore prams too. Nathalie, the owner, speaks English and will advise as required. They also restore prams.

this is their website

https://oldtimerpram.jimdo.com

COACHBUILT PRAM SPARES – Another highly recommended contact, for all for all kinds of spares for Silver Cross and some other makes of prams, is a gentleman called Steven Herbert. These are his contact details:

If you need advice both of these contacts mentioned above are very helpful and knowledgeable about vintage prams.

JACKI CANNING – For full restoration of prams or for new hoods and aprons you can search on here for Jacki Canning (search box top right). Jacki has restored a few of my own prams and there are photos of her work on here.

Jacki Canning – e mail jmknm@icloud.com

phone number 07821371461

CLASSY CANOPIES – Another contact for restorations and new hoods, aprons and stunning pram sets is Classy Canopies

http://www.classycanopies.net Or e mail  Classycanopies@hotmail.com (a lady called Pat)

LORNA -There is another lady called Lorna who also does restorations, I can send her contact details on request.

All of the above contacts are well respected in the pram community for top quality workmanship. If you are having a pram restored you need it doing properly, using top quality materials.

There may be cheaper alternatives but I have seen some very shoddy restorations. Before choosing a different company to these mentioned here do ask to see examples of the work, look carefully at hoods and aprons especially. They should fit snugly and not be at all loose fitting or creased. Fabric should be chosen carefully, I have seen prams lined in vinyl used for tablecovers and also hoods and aprons in the same type of material. This is not suitable as it stretches and soon loses its shape.

One final point, if you are wanting to change the colour, or smarten, the interior of a pram bed or hood that is to be used for a baby, do not use any kind of paint. This could give off dangerous fumes that a baby could inhale and in time the paint might also flake off, tempting an older baby to pull pieces off and put in their mouth.

It cannot be emphasised enough that correct restoration of a baby’s pram is important for their health and safety.

My booklet on pram restoration has some useful advice for beginners and details are on the website. The book is due to be revised shortly as it was written a few years ago and some of the contacts are no longer in business, hence why I am adding updates above.

Sometimes when looking on auction sites or at flea markets I come across old photographs of families, the ones with prams in them are always worth a second glance but I think how sad that photos which have been treasured for years end up in this way.

As I am keen on family history my relatives often pass on to me old photographs so I can add them to the family archive material. Recently I was delighted to be given one of these of my aunt and cousins taken around 1940, because it shows a vintage Silver Cross pushchair!

My cousin, who gave me the picture, believes it was taken on a visit to the seaside, but certainly it was during wartime.  The child in the pram was born in 1939, my older cousin was two years older and no doubt felt very grown up being allowed to push her baby sister in the pram, but note my aunt had a guiding hand on the handle.

I have tried to zoom in closer to see what my aunt is carrying, could it be a gas mask perhaps? Unfortunately the photo has already been enlarged as it was only a tiny snapshot and this is about as detailed as we can get.

However, if you look closely at the pushchair you can see the logo that Silver Cross used pre war for their prams, this was later discontinued as it looked  similar to the swastika.  It is easy to date the pushchair as being from the 1930’s due to the logo, but also because it had been bought new for the first baby in the family then stored until her sister came along a few years later.

Look at the little girl’s bonnet, isn’t that lovely, bonnets such as these were fashionable into the fifties. And look at the other fashions on the passers by, what a lot of information in one tiny snapshot for anyone interested in nostalgia.

Not only is this photo of value to our family history, it is also valuable to me for my pram research and I thought I would share it with you. Perhaps you could look into your own family albums and see if you also have photos of vintage prams tucked away somewhere!

A few years ago one of the readers of this website sent me this lovely story about her memories of pushing a pram, long before she had babies of her own. I thought it would be nice to share it again with everyone, and if you have a similar story of your own please e mail it to me as I know we will all enjoy reading them.

“When I was about 13, my friend and I used to take my Mum’s cousin’s baby out every Saturday afternoon, from when she was a tiny baby until she was about 2 1/2years old. Then I got my first Saturday job (in a sweet shop – heaven!).

At first we took the baby in a lovely black Silver Cross Silver Dawne pram which had belonged to my Auntie.  When the baby was 2 years old her Mum bought a Wilsonette pushchair, with the hood and apron.

I remember thinking how low and dumpy it looked compared to the big pram but it was lovely to push and she was so cosy in the bad weather – we never missed a Saturday whatever the weather!

We used to go in a cafe for a drink as we would be out for about 3 hours. The cafe was upstairs and we used to take the baby up and leave the pram or pushchair downstairs on the pavement. We never worried about it being stolen – most Mums left prams outside shops etc in those days – How times have changed!

I got a doll’s Wilsonette for my birthday when I was 3 or 4 – I remember it well but not sure which birthday it was. My birthday is 2 weeks before Christmas and I remember walking with my Mum and my lovely new pushchair to visit my Gran. On the way a lady said There’s a spoilt little madam who couldn’t wait for Christmas!’ Mum was fuming and I was a bit upset too”.

Below is a picture of a Silver Dawne, (courtesy of Silver Cross).

AUGUST’S pram of the month is a Silver Cross Kensington model that was mine. This model is still made by Silver Cross, but the shackles are now much bulkier and personally I think they detract from the elegance of this pram. The Kensington has a detachable chassis and I could fit it in my small car. The curved shape of the body is echoed in the coachlines.

I bought this from a young woman who was expecting her first baby and had been given the pram by a relative. The pram has been used for one baby and then stored carefully, it even had its original box, albeit somewhat battered. However the expectant mum wanted a new style buggy for her baby and also said she didn’t want a pram like this ‘as they are only used by Travellers’. How wrong could she be! Lots of people use these prams, young mums as well as grandparents, who want to put their baby’s comfort above fashion or prejudice.

Jacki Canning made me the pram bag to match and I kept the pram for a few years, only using it a handful of times to display at pram events. I loved the grey colour as it looks good with any colour pram set.

When I decided to downsize my collection I reluctantly sold this pram, complete with canopy and bedding, truly baby ready. A lovely couple travelled almost 200 miles to buy it for their expected first baby. I had sent them lots of photos, including close ups, so they were sure it was in pristine condition before coming to collect it.

I often wonder where my prams are now, if only I had space to have kept all those I have owned! Do you do the same?

Whenever a new member subscribes to www.VintagePramFan.com we ask them one question – ‘if you were sitting next to me right now what would you ask about prams?’ Recently I received this wonderful reply from a lady in Australia. I loved reading it but not sure how to answer the question asked at the end, so what would YOU say is the answer?

This is the e mail:

“Thanks so much for adding me to your website , I just know I’m going to enjoy this!

I’m in Perth, Western Australia, having moved from my native Scotland.

This week I’ve bought my first ever coach built – a navy Silver Cross Burley that is in need of lots of TLC! It’s currently en-route from England UK to me in Oz, gosh I’m so excited. This will be my first restoration – where to start????!!!!!

I guess that could have been my question to you, if you’d been sitting next to me now.  But it’s not, and I do have a question for you, but let me give you some background first………

I’ve looked at soooooo many pictures of Vintage prams, and I never tire of it.  I love the old rusty ones that are in dire need of a wee bit of loving to bring them back to their former glory, and at the same time I’m at times left speechless by the beauty of prams that have been restored – the shiny chrome, the whiter than white wheels, oh they are a sight to behold.  But it doesn’t need to be a big coach built pram that makes me smile – I almost bought a Silver Cross Wilsonette last week, but as I had already ordered the Burley, as well as a Silver Cross Wayfarer from the 1980’s, I reckoned I’d best stop there ☹ 

I now have three prams – the one I “should have had”, the one I “used to have” and the one I “always wanted but could never afford.”

My first pram is a Silver Cross le Strade.  This is the pram I “should have” bought when my girls were babies.  I loved this pram, and this was in one of the first ever Silver Cross brochures that I picked up when we decided to have a baby.  Unfortunately it took quite a while to get pregnant, and after that emotional roller coaster known as IVF, we finally had our wee girls many years later.  But by then the le Strade was no longer on the market, rather it was replaced with the Originals/Country Classic range which I liked, and it was way up on the list of prams that I was thinking of buying.  Instead I bought an Emmaljunga – an absolutely beautiful pram with a big bouncy chassis that was an absolute dream to push, and my girls slept so soundly in the carrycot.  However, we lived out in the Lincolnshire countryside where there were many hawthorns from the hawthorn bushes.  My Emma had pump-up tyres, so too often our long walks were cut short when we invariably got a puncture ☹  And also, neither of my girls were happy in the seat unit – don’t ask me why, I’ve no clue.  So that was why I recently bought a le Strade – it’s the one I should have had for my wee girls, but never did. 

So that leads me to the pram I “used to have” that I’ve only just bought again in the past week.

So as you know my girls didn’t like sitting in the seat unit/pushchair of my Emma pram.  what they did love though was the old second-hand Silver Cross Wayfarer from the 1980’s with it’s bucket seat that my sister-in-law gave me, and which ended up being used more than I ever would have realised due to those pesky punctures and uncomfortable wee girls!  I loved this wee pram – I was so sturdy but light too and more importantly, my girls loved being in it and, by some miracle, my oldest wee girl even fell asleep in it- miracles!   So last week I purchased a very old Silver Cross Wayfarer from the UK, almost identical to the one I had for my wee girls, and I’m so glad that I did. 

And so that brings me to my final pram, the one I “always wanted but could never afford.”  I always wanted a coach built pram, and now just any old coach built, it had to be the one of the Silver Cross’s with the big wheels and the bouncy chassis and the leather straps.  You know the ones Lucy – the Silver Stream, the Marlborough, but I couldn’t afford to buy one.  My sister in law kindly gave me her soft-bodied coach built, a Regency Royale, which I scrubbed and scrubbed until it shined and gleamed.  Unfortunately, this pram didn’t push well at all; once time when my sister-in-law had been using it, her dog had pulled it over.  The chassis and the wheels were buckled and bent.  I could have replaced the wheels but I didn’t know what to do about the chassis, and at the time I wasn’t really interested in restoring a pram – with the hassles of my Emma pram, I just wanted one that worked.  So sadly me and my Royale pram just didn’t hit it off, I just wasn’t feeling the love ☹

So last week I made a purchase – a very old Silver Cross Burley in navy with cream lining, which is now heading my way from the UK.  She needs a lot of loving but I am so looking forward to the whole process of bringing my old girl back to where she should be, I couldn’t be happier.

So my question is this  .………. “why do some prams speak to us, so that they tug at our heart strings so much, that we just fall in love with them and dearly want to have it?”  All three of my prams have had that effect on me – but obviously there’s emotions wrapped up in there because of my wee girls.  However, the little Silver Cross Wilsonette is one that talks to me – I’ve never had one and have no real reason to buy one, other than they make me smile.  So one day, further down the line, I can see a rather rusty old Wilsonette heading my way for a wee bit of lovin’ – if you can tell me why that’s the case, then you’ll have answered my one question.”