Item HT 23222 Baby Carrier - 'Cuddleseat', 1944-1960

Summary

Alternative Name(s): Baby Sling, Baby Seat

Baby carrier with brand name 'Cuddleseat', consisting of padded plywood seat with wide straps to support the baby's back and wrap over the carrier's shoulder. Designed to allow an adult to carry a baby close to the chest, with hands free. The carrier belonged to the donor's family.

The carrier is accompanied by a leaflet that states the carrier is 'technically designed to carry a child from 4 weeks to 2 years-old without unnecessary handling, leaving the mother's hands free to carry parcels, relieving her of undue strain.' It describes how the carrier can hold the baby upright or allow it to lie back if sleepy. The leaflet was printed in Cessnock, about 170km from the NSW home of the cuddleseat's inventor.

The cuddleseat was invented by William Arthur Hancock of Maroubra, NSW. He worked at Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney, as a 'flight checking officer', and during World War II became a test pilot then a 'second pilot on an airliner'. He developed the cuddle seat over a six-month period 'to help his wife in carrying their small son. When women began stopping his wife in the street and making envious inquiries about the cuddleseat, he decided to put it into production.' In April 1945 Australian newspapers including the Toodyay Herald announced (as an advertorial) that 'Australia's baby-carrier, called the cuddleseat, is becoming a favourite with American Service personnel as a present for the folks at home. Leading Sydney stores say dozens have already been sent abroad. Production of the cuddleseat began a year ago, and they are now being turned out at the rate of 2,000 a week. Its inventor, Mr. W. Hancock, of Maroubra, gets a fan mail from women who want to thank him for solving the problem of carrying babies and small children on shopping tours and in crowded trams.' (Toodyay Herald, 20 April 1945). In 1947 the cuddleseat was reported as 'widely sold in the United States and Europe, as well as Australia.' Sadly, William Hancock died that year from illness. (Sydney Morning Herald, 17 June 1947.)

Physical Description

Asymmetrical piece of plywood, topped with pad filled with wood shavings (or similar), inserted in a pocket of peach-coloured cotton fabric, secured with four silver press-studs. Straps of the same fabric support the infant's back; another wide strap passes diagonally over the adult's shoulder. A metal buckle for adjustment sits at the centre of the carrier's chest. A printed label is sewn in the vicinity of the buckle.

Significance

The post-war baby boom in Australia saw a rapid increase in products to support child-rearing. This baby carrier, intended for a young infant, freed the hands of the carrier for activities such as shopping and boarding public transport. It reflects an age when many mothers did not drive or own cars. Classified ads in The Canberra Times 1947-1954 show that many households had the carriers, which were relatively inexpensive; one was advertised for sale second hand ('new') in 1947 at 1 pound 2 shillings 6 pence; another in 1953 was 10 shillings.

The popularity of the Cuddleseat was extolled in what was probably an 'advertorial' in the Canberra Times on 11 August 1953, which claimed to be from a mother in California writing to 'The Largest Department Store in Canberra, Australia' in her desperation to obtain this handy device - 'As far as I can ascertain, nothing like it is manufactured in this country [ie. the United States] . I know that it is made in your country, as one of your Australian girls who came here as a war bride had one.' She adds that 'The seat would certainly simplify the problem of going shopping, as it would permit the mother to have both hands free most of the time.'

Constance Tout-Smith, who had her first baby in Sydney in 1950, remembers using a Cuddleseat (or a very similar product) when she took the train to go shopping from her home in Cronulla. After her second baby she 'wasn't able to go on the train at all' because it was too difficult to have one baby in the Cuddleseat, manage a toddler and carry the shopping.