Timothy Birdnow

Very interesting! I'm surprised they haven't used those photos when Trump was in office to claim mistreatment of immigrant children...

The bizarre history of the baby cage, 1934-1948

Dangling "baby cages” came into vogue after they were invented in 1922, but their origins really began with the 1884 book The Care and Feeding of Children, by Dr. Luther Emmett Holt. In his book, Emmett carefully describes how babies need to be "aired”. "Fresh air is required to renew and purify the blood, and this is just as necessary for health and growth as proper food,” he wrote. "The appetite is improved, the digestion is better, the cheeks become red, and all signs of health are seen.”

Essentially, the thinking was that this was part of a process to toughen up the babies, and make them better able to withstand common colds. It was believed that exposing infants to cold temperatures—both outside and through cold-water bathing—would grant them a certain immunity to catching minor illnesses.

While physicians such as Dr. Luther Emmett Holt advised simply placing an infant’s basket near an open window, some parents took it a step further. Eleanor Roosevelt, who by her own admission "knew absolutely nothing about handling or feeding a baby,” bought a chicken-wire cage after the birth of her daughter Anna. She hung it out the window of her New York City apartment and placed Anna inside for her naps — until a concerned neighbor threatened to report her to the authorities.

The first commercial patent for a baby cage was filed in 1922 by Emma Read of Spokane, Washington. The cages became popular in London in the 1930s among apartment dwellers without access to backyards.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 07:39 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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