coachbuilt prams

I had a grey Marmet pram, my pride and joy. The beauty of the Marmet prams was that the handle was fixed to the chassis and not the body of the pram so that when going up kerbs the body was suspended and you didn't feel as if you were about to tip the baby out. I could not afford a new sun canopy so I took an old 'cream lined with dark green' one and unpicked it. I made a new one from some very pretty grey material with pink roses, dyed the fringe pink and re-assembled it using the original green as a liner. It was much admired - I think I missed a trick there as everyone asked me where I had bought it. This was 1958 and all available sun canopies were very plain.

I have a photo of me with my coach built dolls pram - wearing a winter hat -one of those that sort of had an Alice band at the front and made of a velvety material to match the coat collar

i also had a coach built silver cross pram...the rolls royce of prams....

my dil is expecting their first baby in august and has been looking at prams and she sent me the link to show me the pram/pushchair that they were thinking of buying...OMG it looks like something out of space and i nearly fainted at the price £400!!!!! it does not look big enough for a baby let alone when the child is 2yrs and needs the pushchair part!!! and on top of that its another £100 for the car seat!!!!...an i the only one that think that these are just over priced? after all its only a mothercar one...

I too had a Silver Cross pram - racing green. I kept it in the shed all wrapped up in sheets for years 'ready for the grandchildren' which never happened as they lived far away and they all had one of those all singing/all dancing contraptions. The chrome had flaked on the chassis and the frilly bit round the hood had lost its oomph so 3 years ago I sold it on eBay to be renovated by a dealer . I think I only kept it so long because of sentimental reasons.
Like Bellasnana I also had a Silver Cross dolls pram which my Mum gave to my cousin's daughter (what was she thinking of?] before I was married or even contemplating children. What made it worse was that she put my favourite doll in the pram and I never saw either again.....I would so have loved my girls to have played with them.

I had the Silver Cross and it was so smooth to push. I think she are safer than todays buggies. They keep the babies high up, away from dogs and smokers.

My Silver Cross pram is still in my loft along with the fringed pram rug and broderie anglaise sun canopy.

I always thought I would use it for the GC however that never seemed to happen as DD's own pram was more practical.

Proper prams are so useful for baby to sleep in during the day, I never knew what to do with GC and usually ended up with folded blanket on the floor.

I have loved this post. It's made me feel happily nostalgic reading everyone's happy memories.

Lovely posts , I always , always wanted a Silver Cross pram , did not seem to happen with first born , then second time around I had twins so that put an end to that .
I always fancied one though , so suggested to DD that we bought her one , but, as she quite rightly pointed out they are not practical in this day and age . Heyho.

Thank you for this thread, Greatgran, it brought back some happy memories! My mum bought our pram from George Henry Lee's - now John Lewis, and it came with a free cot! We only lived a couple of miles away from mum and dad, which was just as well, as the pram obviously wouldn't fit in the car. I used to push the baby there in the afternoon, and then Mr H would come after work and push the empty pram home while I drove home with the baby! When I had number two, I got a little seat that fitted on top, and pushed two of them round. All my little'ns have been in it too, and it's up in the loft in case there might be any more! Oh, happy days!

The best thing about the coach built prams was that the baby faced the parent - unless, like DS2, they insisted on lying on their fronts. I see that there is a resurgence of prams/buggies that face the pusher. Research has shown that these are better for the baby's development than the forward facing kind.

My sister had a black Silver Cross in the days before she could drive. The road she walked along into town was mostly across open marsh land even though it was a main road. My nephew and niece would be lovely warm n dry in the pram. My sister would be freezing and look like a drowned rat on wet days.
I had my children quiet late so 1987 and1991 and was driving by then so the coach built was no use. I would have loved one though. I had an old fashioned version of todays travel systems. Folding pushchair (suitable from 5-6mths) with a carry cot that clipped on. Bought for us by my dear mum.

I had a silver cross for my first in 1985, but of course it wouldn't go in the car, so was only good for country walks along the lane - ex-mil didn't think that one through, but it was excellent for baby sleeping in the garden in the winter, and loading up with hay bales and water for my pony down the lane.

Ten years later, I had a lovely new one for Ds which folded up every which way. Flat, tilted at several angles, padding that could be removed, carrycot ditto, and as the child grew it could all be stripped away to make a really neat little stroller. I think what you see isn't always just what you get nowadays, my daughter's is almost the same, I bought it for her. As in, when you see them out and about, they may be capable of doing more than you can see. And at £500 in 2010 not much different from what the silver cross pram cost in real terms in 1985. However, I think all the folding in and out of car boots doesn't help them to last.

modern prams are almost as big as a real pram, but they don't have any room for shopping and the baby looks so crumpled in the too upright seats

I had a brown Churchhill pram (a Glasgow company) and used it for both of my DC. It had bigger wheels at the back and leather straps for the suspension. We live up a hill and it was no problem to push it even filled with shopping and growing child. I am lucky to have a big cellar (being up a hill) and that's where my pram still resides even though my youngest will be 32 this year. I just can't bear to part with it.

Grannyactivist's post reminded me that my Mum hid her bottles of drink in my Brothers Silver Cross. Posh place for an alcoholics ' stash ' wasn't it?
It could be a bit noisy pushing him about. LOL

In 1965 when I was 3 months pregnant with my first child, I saw a beautiful Marmet pram in navy and white going round on a stand in the baby shop window. I was smitten and went in and put £1 deposit on it as it was £36 plus£2 for the bag. I paid £1 a week until it was paid for, but the lady In the shop would not let me have it until the baby was born as it was unlucky to have a pram in the house until all was well. It served 5 children and I kept it and had it remodelled and is now as new and I use it for my great grand son when he visits. It takes up a lot of room but I refuse to sell it as it holds so many memories of all the walks we had. People stop and say how lovely it is to see a baby in a proper pram and it is always the centre of attention whenever we go out.

Oh I remember my coach built dolls pram, I cried for days when I tipped it up and scratched the paintwork.
The lady next door had twin babies and me and my friend were allowed to push them round the block in our dolls prams. We can't have been more than7!
I also recall being about 11 and still playing with my dolls and the pram, dont think that happens these days.

I had a gorgeous, coach-built Marmit Queen [black] with a well in the middle for one child to put his feet. It was huge and I would walk most days with the children in it the four or more miles from home to Abington Park. We then did the tour of the park and home again. I was very fit in those days. The pram was a luxury that I could only afford because it was second hand. All the interior was white leather and all the bedding and sun canopy was white. I used to polish it regularly.

You have reminded me of my lovely Silver Cross dolls pram which I absolutely loved. Never forgave my mother for selling it to the window-cleaner for 7/6 without asking me first

You can still find coach built prams for sale on eBay. Not very practical for today's way of life though.

Chloe, I agree, I think I loved my pram as much too. I am sitting here thinking about it now. Actually although I loved the canopy it was a pain as the cord kept loosening and so the canopy kept falling down. It had a little back rest that you could prop the baby up with and I made matching white broderie quilt covers.
The only problem was that my first born was very sicky and it spoilt the image really having to put a bib on him to go out. I didnt want sicky dribbles on my lovely cord cover!
My grandchildren looked so squashed up in their compact travel systems and certainly couldnt lie down properly for a daytime nap. (in the garden all weathers)
I remember in the 70's when those first maclaren blue stripy buggies came out a doctor saying children would grow up with back problems, but I can't say I have noticed all the hunchbacked 30 to 40 year olds that were predicted.

What a chilling story, ga. Interesting that your mum was visiting the children. It seems a lifetime away to recall accounts of children being sent to orphanages and placed in care, rather than them being removed for their protection.

This thread triggered a memory from my childhood. We had a 'wicked stepfather' (yes, really) who used to threaten to put us in a home if we irritated him (which we did, constantly!). He told us that he'd put his own children in a home, but we didn't believe him. After his and my mum's first child was born my mum had a big second hand silver cross pram for the baby and the mattress used to lift up to reveal a little cavity. We were out one day and for some reason we children lifted the mattress when the baby was out of the pram. There in the cavity were lots of sweets and several brand new comics. My mum was horrified when she saw what we'd found and so were we when she told us they were for my stepfather's children who she was going to visit in the children's home.
We later discovered that he and his ex-wife argued over custody as neither wanted their children and all three remained in the care system.

When expecting our first baby in 1971 the only way we could afford to buy a pram was to cash a bond that I had for about 10 years it was for £50 a huge sum then (and now on occasions) we bought a navy blue tan sad with all the bits including a pram tray and a tasseled sun shade which had very defeating strings to alter it never did get to work them properly. I was almost as proud of that pram as I was the new baby. Walked for miles and miles as didn't have a car and couldn't drive anyway ,remember wiping it down every week and polishing the chrome. When baby number two arrived had a pram seat which baby one was promoted to. It has now gone down in family history that whilst out with two babies one in pram one on pram seat ,on approaching a parking barrier thought pram etc could easily pass underneath - it didn't baby number one got bashed on the head....could explain a lot really. Wish I could say my mothering skills improved over the years but like to be honest. Do remember when pram days over placed it for sale in local paper got a fiver for it helped pay for some driving lessons. Wish in a way I had kept that pram......

We couldn't afford a coach built pram or fit one into our small house even if we could! I had a borrowed carry-cot with a set of wheels for the first weeks then we bought a sort of large pushchair which could be laid flat for DC to sleep in. I do think the big prams look very comfortable and would have loved one.