childhood safety, for example, can be seen in the furniture designed for sleep. Cradles, which are meant to rock, were the predominant form of infants’ sleeping furniture for much of the nineteenth century. The exhibition includes a hooded cradle, 1780-1820, one of seven in the Historical Society’s collection. This form, fairly common in its day, featured solid board sides and a sturdy hood at the head, reflecting parents’ concern with shielding their infants from drafts and protecting their eyes from light. In contrast to the heavy, closed construction of the hooded cradle, visitors to the exhibition will see that a hanging cradle from 1820-1850 has open slatted sides, since by then health-conscious parents were advised to keep babies cool, with open windows and light clothing recommended. This particular cradle was an expensive luxury item, made in the European style with bentwood construction. The high trestle base raised the cradle well above the floor, making it easier for an adult to lift the baby. A cradle this
form that has evolved in response to ornate would most likely have been used changing views of childhood. Highchairs in the parlor for presenting a new baby to were rare prior to the late-eighteenth cenvisitors. tury. During the seventeenth century, By the mid-1800s, childrearing individual seats were a sign of status, and experts were warning parents to avoid the because children had lesser status due to rocking motion of cradles, since “the deltheir youth, they icate texture of the typically stood infant’s brain while their elders would often be Objects of childhood are sat to dine. The exposed to great earliest highchair danger.” In place of among the most in the Staten Island the cradle, many evocative items in the Historical Sociparents chose to Staten Island Historical ety’s collection use cribs, reprewas made 1780sented in the exhi- Society’s collection. A 1820. It is essenbition by a carved new exhibition . . . tially a child-sized walnut crib, 1880- features more than 30 1895, that folds flat version of vernacufor storage. The examples of children’s lar adult seating, American concern furniture . . . but with long legs to raise the child up for childhood safeto the table. Its tall stiles angle inward for ty has continued with subsequent generaincreased stability, and the wear on the tions establishing guidelines for such crib upper front stretcher attests to the small characteristics as the spacing of slats and feet that rested there. the type of paint used. By the middle of the nineteenth centuThe highchair is another furniture ry, highchairs had become a common item in households of the growing middle Convertible highchair, class. As the use of these chairs became Thompson, Perley & more widespread, the simplicity of the Waite, Baldwinsville, early highchairs gave way to more comMA, 1876-1890; used by plex, multi-purpose forms. By the 1870s, Jane DePuy (1900-1991) most highchairs came with an attached of Port Richmond, tray, a feature that allowed highchairs to Staten Island. Staten take on the additional function of a play Island Historical Society area, as the tray held the child firmly and Collection. safely in the seat. Visitors to the exhibition will see a convertible highchair, made 1876-1890 by Thompson, Perley & Waite of Baldwinsville, Massachusetts, which not only has a tray, but also boasts a patented mechanism allowing it to convert to a rocking chair or a stroller. This complex form, intended to contain as well as entertain the child, was used by young Jane DePuy (1900-1991) of Port Richmond, Staten Island. Several DePuy family items on display indicate the common practice of keeping furnishings in use for multiple generations. The exhibition also features a display of childhood artifacts related to highchairs, including bibs, children’s utensils, and a feeding bottle. Young children generally joined their families at the dining table, but their food may have differed from that of the adults. Sarah Josepha Hale, in “The Ladies New Book of Cookery” (1852) suggested that children up to
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