Brigitte thurn immediately recognizes the old photographs that she made available to the german basket museum in michelau. They show the baby carriages in which the members of their family have lain for four generations. On one of the reproduced black-and-white pictures she herself is depicted. A little girl of just under one year old, holding on to the handles of the basket trolley. Another picture shows her a few years later with her doll carriage. It is remarkable that the baby carriages and doll's baby carriages differ only in the coarseness. Both are still owned by the family today.
Children's and doll's carriages are a topic that arouses emotions. That's why the german basket museum in michelau has presented you with a picture of a basket under the motto "i've had one of those, too"…." a special exhibition dedicated to. It turned out to be an amiable coincidence that the exhibition on international museum day coincided with mother's day. As the second chairman of the association german basket museum, district curator gunter dippold, representing mayor helmut fischer, was able to bury numerous visitors in the rooms of the museum.
The baby carriages on display are a topic that moves visitors the most. Many people recognize the model in which they themselves lay as a baby, or in which they took their children for a walk.
To make your own memories available
for the special exhibition, the museum staff took a number of exhibits out of the magazine. In addition, the public was invited to contribute their own memories and photographs.
Contemporary documents that were the subject of much discussion at the opening on sunday. A short lecture by district curator of local history gunter dippold informed about the history of the baby carriage and its economic importance for the region. In the beginning, adults used simple wooden carriages with woven sides to pull children along, but this changed in the 1860s and 70s. At that time the change from pulling to pushing car took place. The offspring was thus exactly in the line of sight of the pushing.
However, it was the baby girl and her mother who went for a walk with it. "The father as a baby carriage pusher would have been an unding in 1870/1890. That was not compatible with the role model of the time, explained dippold. However, the early strollers were more reminiscent of carriages, in which the offspring were housed far enough from the dust and dirt of the street.
More and more cars instead of carriages
in the 1950s, the baby carriage looked more and more like the car. The cars were lowered, given jerks, bumpers, often double bumpers like a sedan. Dippold speaks of pushed limousines. But this trend was also transient. In the 60's and 70's, the baby carriage moved away from the basket, which had been the preferred material until then.
"A collector depends on the object", explains dippold. A museum is not only about preservation and conservation, but also about the human history that an object can tell. "Museums are an archive of things, but also a place whose objects inspire people to tell stories."
The exhibition "the baby carriage as a souvenir" can be seen during the opening hours of the museum. Tuesday to sunday from 10 to 16.30 o'clock. But even after the opening, the exhibition will continue to grow, so we are still looking for photos with baby carriages or doll's prams and their stories.