coachbuilt prams

I bought a second hand Silver Cross pram for no1 for £20 in 1977 and sold it for the same price probably about 4 yrs later. DS was 20mnths when I had DD.

We had a pram seat for DS but had a nasty mishap. Just by the front door there was a small slope back. As I went to open the front door the pram tipped up throwing DS off the seat onto the ground. He was lucky to only crack his front tooth but I felt dreadful.

DS1 is a surviving twin; I had bought a huge, navy blue Silver Cross twin pram ready for the birth, and when I found it wasn't needed, stored it away. (Already had a smaller pram from DD's babyhood)

Then, DS2 arrived 15 months later (still not sure how that happened!) and the twin pram was an absolute godsend - baby in the top end, toddler at the other end (padding in between them) and each under a hood when needed. Like the rest of you, I walked miles with it.

We lived in Lee on Solent then, while Theseus was on a posting with the Fleet Air Arm, and one day, while the wind was howling up from the sea, I met an old lady who had obviously been a nanny. (She was still wearing her Norland coat and hat.) She looked approvingly into the pram, and congratulated me on taking them out even in the wind "Full of oxygen, you know, my dear."

Lovely thread! Do people still put babies put to sleep in the garden?

And my mother sold my coach built dolls' pram too, for 5 shillings, without asking me! I sobbed and sobbed...

Ah, such happy memories - what a lovely thread. I too had a navy Silver Cross coach built pram, with lovely white broderie anglaise/navy lined canopy. I lived in Kent and went strawberry picking during my baby's second summer. I had to leave the pram at the end of the row, and when I got back, found little children poking crisps in! It lasted three children, and the little seat on top was brilliant. They all slept outside, even in December, but the prams were so water and wind proof that our babies came to no harm. Young peoples' lives today involve more shopping (in malls) and car use so they need small prams I suppose. We used to leave the pram outside the shop in the village, but that wouldn't be done these days.
Such happy times.

I used to love the canopies which we had on the coach built prams. Those silly little parasols they use now are pretty useless.

My late MiL used to pop into our local 'pram' shop and put a few bob down each week for the Marmet coach built pram she was buying for my DH. She was on her way to the doctors with her urine sample in a whisky bottle in her bicycle basket. While paying the money into the fund some bright spark stole the 'whisky'. No more need be said.

I had a lovely silver cross too. Loved going out pushing the babies in it. And in summer we had one of those white fringed canopies to keep the sun out. Wonderful memories. I was in a store the other day and saw a brand new silver cross - couldn't resist going over and rocking it just to remember how it felt. Got some strange looks from the other shoppers though

What a coincidence because I have had my Best of British magazine today and it was talking about old prams and gave his website.
www.pramtasia2014.com/

I have looked all over the net for a coachbuilt pram that I had for my son in 1950 that looked very much like a Silver Cross but the wheels were all the same size. It was a Swallow make. I have seen a Swallow pram but is not the coach built one that I had. I have found out on the net that E-bay had one for sale for £250 but there was no pcture of it.
Lovely memories.

Hi everyone, I just want to thank you all for the interesting reads, Im in NZ and these prams are very rare over here, last week I was walking past an antique shop and saw one in the window! I couldnt help but going in, it was so captivating and after some harm and haring when I got home I just had to have it! so I went back and got it. Its a 1960's Osnath, although my baby days are well over I just had to have it to put my reborn doll in it! I've loved reading all about them and all the wonderful personal experiences people had with them back then and their history. Mine cost an absolute fortune which will take me a long time to pay off but they are so stunning and I couldnt resist it. Makes me wish I had a baby to push in it now! will have to wait for some grandchildren, I cant wait for my elderly mother to see it, she will just love it. One thing I noticed it really stinks of tobacco even though I have washed it. Did they really use to smoke around the babies back then? does any one know? Many thanks and I hope to read more on the site, from what I can gather they were very expensive back then too. Did alot of people own them or were they just for the wealthy? Many thanks.

I trained as a nanny in the seventies. The college I went to was also a home for children in care and we had a fleet of coach built prams. The youngest babies always had their morning nap in these lovely prams, either lined up on the lawn, or in one of the garages if it was wet weather. We also used to parade through the local park with them on our afternoon walks, toddlers in tow as well. Must have been quite a sight

You probably were turning heads, Thistle. What lovely colours. I could walk miles with a pram like that!

I was bought a beautiful turquoise and grey Marmet coach built pram by my Dad. That was in 1973 when my son was born. It was so nice to push and baby had a very smooth ride. A weeks shopping fitted well in the spacious tray underneath and there was a very nice bag to carry all the baby kit along with anything else. I was so proud pushing it down the street, thought I was turning heads!!!

It was probably a good thing you couldn't get a coachbuilt pram onto a bus - there was no excuse for not walking everywhere.

Forgot to say, it was 1963 when we acquired the first one, for £16.

We bought ours, for baby number one, secondhand from a workmate. It was a Silver Cross, in mushroom and cream, and although secondhand, it had never been pushed outside, it had always been in her mother`s house, whilst they were at work. We paid £16 for it, they were £32 new at the time, and it did for 3 babies, then we gave it to a home for unmarried mothers(do they exist anymore?), and bought another Silver Cross, still a good size, but one of the vinyl bodied ones, in navy and ivory, which did for 2 more babies before ending up at the same home for unmarried mothers.

I had a lovely navy and white Silver Cross and it had a canopy to keep the sun off; this canopy was white broderie anglais and lined with green. If I put the baby outside in the pram I had a piece of mesh netting to keep cats from jumping on to the pram. I used to walk miles pushing the pram very proudly and it definitely helped me 'get my figure back'.
(It's gone again now, of course)
What lovely memories!

Storynanny I know how you feel. Best days of our lives. They are just momentary longings brought on by lovely warm memories. In reality we'd probably run a mile.......or would we

Thankyou Soop I certainly will.

I didn't own one, but one of my earliest memories is being in one, I remember it had a false bottom where I had some toys stored.

When it came to buying one for my first child, my main consideration was that it would fit into the back of my car which I don't think is allowable now, as babies have to go straight into a car seat from birth. I did have a friend who had a Silver Cross coach pram, we were living in quite a small cottage at the time and when she turned up and I saw it for the first time, I did wonder whether she was going to get it through the door.

And I agree, PRINTMISS

One of the joys of owning these 'big' prams was that the children sitting in them were facing you, and you could talk to them when once they were sitting up and taking notice. I loved doing that, and since we obviously walked everywhere, there was quite a lot of chat going on too. It was lovely too, to wrap them up warm, dry and cosy on the not so nice days.

pinkprincess treasure that pram.

Pushing a sleeping baby in a coach built pram, through a leafy park, on a summer day...heavenly!

I want another baby! I want to push a proper pram again especially one with a tray to put my shopping on.

I had a Marmet for my two sons. It had a green fabric body which could be detached from the chassis which was the non collapsible strap hung type. I walked for miles with this pram and had a toddler seat on it when DS2 was born.I remember walking with it the two miles to the city centre to get wallpaper, and carrying the rolls on the shopping tray.I also had my hoover strapped across it when I took it for repair, baby happily sitting in the hood end.None of the modern versions could stand up to that.It was still in very good condition when I parted with it when DS2 was three, it was five years old then.
My mother told me that my pram as a baby was used to carry black market meat home during the war.She had an uncle who ''did the books'' for a butcher, and every Saturday she would push me in the pram and stand outside the shop where her uncle was waiting and he would slip the parcel of meat under the pramcover!.
When my youngest DGC was born in 2002 I managed to buy a refurbrished Wilson coachbuilt pram for her. She and I loved it but DS2 and his wife never used it because it would not go into the car. They carried on using the stiff unsprung travel system pushchair that made you aware of every bump in the pavement so imagine how the poor baby felt in that.
The Wilson still stands in my house taking up space, I wont part with it as I hope to see my future great grand children in it.

Mine was second-hand and fantastic,especially when collecting from school. Youngest DS in pram No2 DS on pram seat, No1 DS walking beside. Coats, PE bags, Book bags,shopping and loads of other stuff in tray underneath. My DGD's nursery has an outside area where babies sleep in old-style prams I watched a staff member lifting the cat nets and checking the babies the other day and thought "what a good idea." So there are still prams around.