When I started my pram feature I was just a babe myself. Well, not really…I just didn’t know how long it was going to take to compile.
It’s been a blast of a project; not least because I have become a pram addict who;
- pores over photographs of vintage vehicles
- signs up for every pram group going
- cheers when someone completes a ‘spare parts to glorious pram’ restoration
- is eager to take part in a ‘pram parade’.
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My other pram is a Silver Cross
Hope you enjoy the stories as much as I enjoyed speaking to the enthusiasts.
I present the history of prams through ten owners…
Pram one; A 1980s SX Silverstream
Owner; Angie Wilson of the Essex Vintage Pram Group
“I’m 51 but I fell in love with coach built prams as a child going to the baby clinic with my mum for my younger sister ..there was a pram area outside that was always full of wonderful prams.
I promised that one day I would own one. It was 1885, I was 17 and expecting my first child when the dream became real. My mum took me to a baby shop so I could choose my pram from a well-known shop called Salters. I paid off weekly for it. Thirty-three years later – and after a very long search – I have the exact same pram.
Getting the pram was a joint effort by the kind members of the Essex Vintage Pram Group. One lady remembered how desperate I was to have one again and sent me a link to one on eBay. It cost £250 which was much less the the £800 I paid all those years before.
It does need some work. So far I’ve wet and dry sanded the body as it was slightly rough with age – it came up lovely and smooth. I’m going to respray the chassis, keeping it the original white. Another kind member of my group gifted me new burgundy leather straps for it – I wanted to recreate the pram and accessories I had in 1985. Thanks to the help of the group, I have sourced the same pram hood rattle and checked blanket, a matching canopy and pram bag. Now all I’m hoping to find is the original pram set but there very hard to get. I’ve come this far so I may be lucky again.
I couldn’t resist putting my grand-daughter in the pram to copy the original picture. I had the most lovely feelings and happy memories placing my hands on the handle of my replacement pram.”
Pram Two; Silver cross, possibly a ‘Monaco’ circa 1979.
Owner; Now unknown but it once belonged to Adele Preston (and her husband Stephen) who live in Doncaster
“The picture shows Stephen as a baby in his silver cross pram in 1979. Can you believe that my mum bought this pram off my mother-in-law and so my mum had it for me? Then our worlds collided again many years later. We are now married with our own children. I wish we still had the pram now. Unfortunately my mum gave the pram to a distant relative who didn’t look after it at all. She said she used to cringe everyone she saw it…
I have my own coach built pram which is a navy Silver Cross Balmoral – it’s not a vintage; it’s one of the newer models. I do however have a vintage Silver Cross dolls pram with a rose on the side it was passed down from my fathers family in British racing green! It is in a bit of a mess and I am going to restore it when my youngest gets a little older.
I think I may have a ‘thing’ for Silver Cross as my daughter has a Oberon in pink with the rose plaque on the side too. She loves it but I am not too fond of the colour.”
Pram three: 1960s Pedigree Doll’s Pram by Triang
Owner; Lorraine Haysome of Hampshire
“Why prams? They hold so many precious memories for me. I remember being sat on a toddler seat on a coach-built pram when I was little and how tall they felt with memories of how much I could see and the excitement I felt. I remember pushing my own pram when I was a little girl and how much it meant to me. Sadly due to severe postnatal and the treatment, I lost all of the memories of pushing my own children in their pram. Restoring prams ones gives me something of that back.
I also collect doll’s prams because of their link to a childhood when life was happy and they take up so much less room. In fact, I love collecting and restoring vintage prams. You don’t make much money doing this (well, I don’t). I do it for the sheer enjoyment of it and the thought that something, which has been loved once, can now be loved and appreciated again. I also am amazed how they have survived especially in today’s throw away society and wonder where they have been for so long and how they have been stored. It gives me a feeling of doing something worthwhile and creating something beautiful out of what may have become very tarnished and ugly.
It’s a bit of hope in today’s world.”
Prams four and five: A 1960s Silver Cross, Super Rose and a 1950s Churchill
Owner; Lynne Davidson Of Newcastle upon Tyne
“I bought the pram when it was advertised for ‘spare parts’. I had a Rose pram as a little girl and loved it. I decided to restore this model so I could give it to the local nursing home to help the ladies with dementia.
It’s just an enjoyable hobby. My health is not good and I have been struggling with post traumatic stress disorder since my 19 year old son Ross was murdered by burglars. I find the prams keep me occupied and take my mind off things a bit. It also gives me an incentive to leave the house to pick up the bits and pieces I need otherwise I would stay in.
My next project is a Churchill which was made in Glasgow, probably in the 1950s. They were just a small company and no ones seen anything like it before. The lady I bought it from thinks it was a special order. I haven’t done any work on it yet but will need to repair hood and give it a good polish I’m not even going to touch in paintwork as want to keep the original. My lovely daughter did a seven hour drive to collect it – bless her.
Restoring prams can be quite an expensive hobby especially as I give some away to home but the ladies love them and they push a pram instead of having to use a walking frame. One little lady is 99 and when she gets upset unless carers give her a pram to rock so she calms down.
I do keep a few but am running out of space!”
Pram six: A Silver Cross De Vere , circa 1947
Owner; Theresa Gatt of Malta
“I live in Malta where prams vintage are scarce. They either got thrown out for scrap when no longer needed or they were left to rust and mould in garages or lofts. I searched for years before I found this beautiful Silver Cross De Vere.
I bought it In a junkyard/garage in Malta. It was on a high shelf and the chap didn’t want to bring it down. So I told him I wasn’t going to buy it without seeing the interior first and I left; telling him I was going to see another pram. I went to a nearby coffee shop and ten minutes later he called to tell me that he brought it down.
The cream interior didn’t have a single tear. She’s was in near perfect condition – just was minor scratch on her side and tyres that were crumbling. Needless to say I snatched her up and, with brand new tyres and a good scrub and polish – here she is.
It’s been used by two grandchildren and numerous friend’s babies as well as a couple of children I look after (I am a UK qualified nursery nurse). I tracked down a 1950s Silver Cross dolls pram which I call ‘Greta’. I also collect miniature prams and have around 100. They’re made out of all sorts of materials – plastic, china, silver – as long as it’s a pram I’ll buy it!
I’ve always loved prams since I was 12. Our neighbour’s had three children and my sisters and I used to take it in turns to wheel the prams up and down the pavement for hours on end. I was the same when I had my children, always out with them in their prams. I have always wanted to own a classic vintage pram as they are so elegant.
People think it’s a ‘crazy’ hobby until they come and see my pram – then they quickly change their minds because it’s so pretty. Last July I visited the Pramtasia (a vintage pram event) at Duxford in Cambridge. Sadly, I couldn’t take my pram but the organiser Christine Horne lent me one for the big parade and it was gorgeous.”
Pram seven: A 1958 Silver Cross drop-toe Victor pram
Owner; Maggie May from London
“I was a child in the 1960s and always wanted a big dollies pram – but never got one. I can even remember a shop called “Juniorware’ in Salford (it was around the corner from my school). It was huge inside and sold everything for baby – women used to queue outside with their ‘paying-in’ books. I take my grandson James out in my pram; our vintage prams really come into their own when baby is ‘off colour’ – you don’t get that kind of comfort in a modern buggy.
Every time I push my grandson in this pram – I imagine it was the one I wanted all those years ago.
The Silver Cross you see here was made over by Prams with Pizzaz. It was originally green. It was one of the last to be made of aluminium. The Silver Cross factory in Guiseley, Leeds, was taken over during the war to make bomber planes. When the war was over they left the aluminium behind . It was used to make prams until it ran out. Previously they were made of wood.
My pram attracts a lot of attention; I went to a local fete recently and everyone was saying how wonderful it was to see a ‘proper pram’. An old lady said it made her day. These prams always make people smile…”
Pram eight: Wilson Monaco 1958
Owner: Brenda Ludvik who is from Eastern Canada
“I had been collecting prams for many years and longed for a Wilson Monaco. Although I had dreamed about owning a navy one with the ‘Camelia’ (cream) interior, the green pram came up for sale and – taking into account how rare they are in Canada – I decided I would be just as happy to have one in this colour-way. It’s less common than the navy and just as pretty.
My mom offered to buy it for me as a gift for Christmas. Mom had just had successful surgery to remove a tumour a couple of months prior. As a precaution from it returning, the doctors decided to give her a course of oral chemo treatment. Tragically, the chemotherapy damaged her heart and she was admitted to hospital two days after her birthday. Mom was misdiagnosed with pneumonia. She passed away two weeks later from the treatment for pneumonia.
Sadly, the pram had already been shipped and arrived within a day or two of her passing last January (2017). I had hoped to use it for my new great nephew but, as the pram was damaged in transit, it couldn’t be used for a child. I keep it for display. Mom was my best friend and my rock. It’s been very difficult year. Having this precious gift, and the friendship and support of the Facebook pram group community, has provided a bit of much-needed escapism.
Pram collecting is a lovely hobby and it has been a comfort and distraction helping me cope with difficult times over the years. I do have other prams but this one will always be very special to me, due to the connection to my Mom.”
In 2014, around 250 pram-lovers met at a venue in Chatham, Kent, to parade our prams and share stories of our hobby. Prams (from early Victorian through to 1970s) were adorned in their finest regalia – canopies, covers, bags and babies (real and dolls) were pushed around and everyone took part in a ‘Grand Parade’ which we filmed for future posterity.
To read Pram-tastic – the wheelie wonderful world of vintage prams, follow this link.
