Coachbuilt prams

We bought a brand new one in 1971 for our first baby. It was white with green upholstery. I used it for all 4 of our babies and it is still in our loft! It was a bit cumbersome to put the top on the back seat of the car and the wheels in the boot, but I loved it. Baby slept in the garden in it, toddler sat on the pram seat, when I walked to meet the older ones from school. Oh happy memories.
I was hoping one of the family would want it when they had babies, but they all wanted a modern designer pram/pushchair.

My mum and her best friend had matching Silver Cross prams in 1947 !

My mother had a huge Silver Cross pram when I was a baby, there are photos of me in it in the family archives.

Later on I had a Silver Cross dolls pram of which I was immensely proud. My mum kitted it out with proper sheets and blankets. I spent hours pushing my dolls up and down the pavement.

Pic of my sister in her coachbuilt pram - must have been 1955

We had a Silver Cross one like the one Musicgirl described. It meant I could walk the 5 or so miles to see my MIL then get a lift home. I had a twin doll’s pram as a child.
Strange that, with this current thread, there was a Silver Cross coach built pram on Flog It last night.

I had forgotten but my sister had a massive twin pram, when her twins were little they were at one end and her toddler sat at the other end. When the hoods were up she couldn’t see over the top and the toddler used to wave through the gap between the hoods!

I had a Marmet pram with the sprung chassis and big wheels. As the body was soft it could be lifted off and folded nearly flat. Big prams were super for our babies, warm and comfortable and protected them from wind and rain. A beautiful canopy kept the sun off. I also had a seat for the toddler which fitted across it.
I met a young mum with her baby in a proper pram recently and she said she was Swedish and that prams are still popular there as babies are put outside to sleep.

Lovely memories of babies in the old big prams.

I had a beautiful green Silver Cross bought by my mother for my first baby, I walked for miles every day, the suspension was marvellous and so comfortable for the child.

The pram actually served four babies then lived in my loft for over thirty years. When we moved house I tried to sell it but had no takers. I then advertised it free to anyone who could use it and I was delighted when a young photographer took it to use in her studio. It still had the white broderie anglaise sun canopy and the original fringed pram rug.

I like to think that at least a few parents have photos of their babies sitting in my pram.

I would have loved a coach built pram but we had seven steps up to our house so it was impractical. We had the Silver Cross three in one system instead (1990s). This was a pram that could be removed from the chassis and replaced by the matching pushchair which could face forwards or backwards. The pram part was big enough for my babies to lie flat until they were nine or ten months old. I loved it and walked for miles with it.

I had a light blue marmet for my first 2 along with the broderie anglaise tasseled sun canopy however when my son came along years later I had a smaller soft bodied one that fit in the car boot as by then I was driving.

I should add that back in the 60s and early 70s we didn`t have a car, so fitting in the car wasn`t a problem for us. I hate those piddling little things they call prams nowadays!

I bought my Silver Cross coachbuilt pram secondhand when expecting baby number 1. I bought from a friend who`s mother had baby minded, and the pram had never been outside, We paid £32 for it, and it served 3 babies. Just after parting with it, I found myself pregnant again, bought a brand new Silver Cross, a decent size, but not coachbuilt, it had a vinyl body, that did for babies 4 and 5.

When I collected my DS1 from school he would sit in the bottom of the pram, baby inside and toddler on the shopping rack. Luckily there were no hills.
I still have the Silver cross I acquired for my DGC which is looking for a new home.
Let me know if you would like it. I even bought a new mattress for it and had the brakes renewed.

They certainly had their uses, Sara! I didn’t drive when I had my first baby. When DS was about three weeks old my cat had a fight with a dog and needed urgent vet treatment. I walked about two miles to the surgery with a bleeding cat in a basket balanced on top of the pram apron!

SueDonim
Yes, I walked miles every day.
I was working half days, and I’d race to nursery to collect baby, race home, and out with the pram in all wind and weathers, we moved to a different area when I was pregnant, and I had lots to explore.
If you want to make friends, buy a coach built pram, almost everyone stops to chat.

Yes Beechnut it's fascinating.
I actually have a silver cross coach-built pram looking for a good home.
I acquired it to take my DGC out but they are much too big now! They all had their own buggies.

I’ve also still got the canopy for the pram. It’s a Morlands one, in the original box. That was second hand in 1975 so goodness know how old it is! I used to wash it regularly and starch the white broderie anglais outer cover - surely I had better things to do with my time??

I must have walked miles with that pram - as someone commented earlier, I used to be slim in those days!

I’m glad I started this thread as you’ve posted lovely stories of your prams.

I borrowed a pram for each of my 4 babies. One was a coach built silver cross and he slept beautifully in it. It rocked him to sleep.
My DiL used a family one for her DC and old ladies would comment and chat to her. She was told there was another one in Edinbugh's Princes St and sure enough these 2 mums met over their prams and are still friends 16 years later.

I bought a second hand Silver Cross coach built pram just before my first grand-daughter was born 10 years ago. It was navy with a white and navy striped interior. I did not drive, lived on the flat and used it to take my grand-daughter shopping when I looked after her 2 days a week. It also doubled as a cot when she was a young baby.
Whenever we went to town it always drew remarks, usually from women my age who used to reminisce about their own prams.
The pram only had one baby in it previously and was like new. It was bought on the Preloved site for the price asked for. I could not be doing with any auctions on E.Bay. It came with a broderie anglaise canopy and I bought a new mattress and pram bag on Amazon. My daughter and I travelled 200 miles round trip to pay and collect the pram.
After my second grand-daughter became a toddler, the pram was sold on. I asked the same price that I had paid, so the prices do hold firm on them.
There are web sites dedicated to coach- built prams and there are firms who do refurbish them. Even an old one stuck in a shed would probably go for about £150 or more.

We’d three under fours so had a variety of prams, double buggies, slings over the years. One of which was a secondhand navy Royale. I’d walk 2 mikes into town with one in the pram, one on top in a pram seat, one in a sling, and 2 miles back with the tray underneath crammed with shopping. There’s a killer hill on the way home that I struggle a bit with now without shopping. No wonder I was so slim back then.

We have a 40s weekend near us and the old prams always appear then - I assume they’re in storage for the rest of the year.

The toy versions are so cute. I tried to persuade the DDs to ask for one for Christmas or birthdays, but no luck!

Yes I had a navy blue Coach built Silver Cross Perambulator!
Second hand from a midwife who lived a few doors down. It also had green fringed sun canopy.
Cleaned the chrome up with polish, and whitened the tyres. We had a Silver Cross stockist in town so could buy pram reins and other related accessories
It glided along beautifully due to the suspension they were the Rolls Royce of prams really. Certainly not bus friendly.. but did a lot of walking then and took it to the parks.
I had both a single Silver Cross pushchair too and a Twin version both second hand but in pristine condition.
Never liked the look .of the “buggies” anyway but we’d gone past that by then😊

Proper prams! Where babies can stretch and wriggle rather than being scrunched up those dreadful 'travel systems' that seem to be everywhere now.

I didn't have a Silver Cross for my babies, couldn't it afford despite yearning for one. Still had a proper pram though, even though it was second hand it was in fabulous condition, the lady who sold it to me even cleaned the white tyres with scouring detergent.

Blondiescot

PamelaJ1

BlondisCot
Put it on eBay then someone else can love it.

There's quite a few on eBay but none seem to have any bids on them.

Just had a look, I want the twin one😂

My mother had a large cream Silver Cross for me when I was born. One day during WW2 my father was on leave and took me for a walk in it. A large car drew up alongside him and a man brandishing a bulging wallet asked him to name his price. (For the pram, not me!). He replied that it would be more than his life was worth to do so, no matter how much money he took home - prams were very hard to come by during the war.
It was a source of great pride to my mother, I believe.