Hello everyone! I am still around, although sometimes just barely! Working on the musical has definitely taken a huge chunk of time out of my antique and vintage sewing, but opening night is this coming Thursday!! Huzzah!! I have almost made it! All the major pieces are completed and just minor things are needing to be attended to now! I wish all my readers could be in the audience to watch these most talented ladies and gentlemen as the take the stage! My heart just fills with delight as I watch them perform. Don't fret, I will be doing a blog post about the musical when it is over! I was able to find all of the dresses for the ladies in the music and drama wardrobe rooms and they were ALL vintage!!! Some were late 30s but most were early 40s, so are working perfectly for the timeline that the director was aiming for!! Laaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
Yesterday after rehearsal and before I made it home to crash, I had to go to my favorite antique store, Something Special Antiques at Tolleth House to purchase hat pins to secure the hats to the ladies' heads for the musical. As I walked up to the store I noticed this most divine baby carriage/pram/buggy/stroller. My eyes popped out of my sockets and I immediately started to covet. Bad I know. I walked in and the first words out of my mouth to Gwen, the proprietress, were "I WANT THAT BABY CARRIAGE!!!" She, in her usual way just laughed. After acquiring my pins, I walked out the door and Gwen followed me and told me, "You know, this buggy collapses."
(World stops spinning. Insect buzzing, birds chirping, dogs barking...all goes silent. Everything goes into slow motion. I think my heart stopped beating for a very slight second.......)
WHAT??? I mean, I'm sorry....what did you just say?
Ok. I have been on the look out for some time for a lovely, sweet, baby buggy to use in one of my fashion shows. I am wanting to do a show that has an expecting lady (so I can make a maternity wrap) and then a mother and her baby. All the prams/buggies I had been finding were the lovely wicker ones that are HUGE! Well, my house is full to bursting at the seams from all my "hobby" things, so was having a hard time justifying bringing a big buggy home. But a super fabulous, thing-I-had-never-even-heard-of-or-didn't-even-know-it-existed, COLLAPSIBLE one? Oh heck ya!!!
Sooooooooo, guess what came home with me?
Yup.
And here she is!!!
The Allwin Go-Cart!! Manufactured in the early 1900s.
All folded up. I honestly didn't know that those Edwardians were that inventive!! I had a collapsible stroller for my boys when they were babies/toddlers, but in my naivete assumed they were a newer invention!
I should have taken measurements, but I totally forgot to and I'm in bed so I'm not going to run back down and take them....I will guess that when folded flat, it's about 10" thick...
The wheels fold under it!!! How totally cool! I get this stupid grin on my face every time I set it up or take it down!!!
To set it up, the handle needs to be pulled back to it's locked position. As the handle goes back, the wheels open up. (For scale, I can easily place my hands on the handle without having to bend over or reach down.)
After the handle is back and the wheel are out, the canopy frame can be moved into position.
The sides go up next.
Bracket on side panel....this slips over a bold end.
Bracket and bolt end...
All joined together!
The back support goes back and the foot spot goes forward.
Here is how the front fits into the sides...the metal attached to the front pieces slips into a groove of a piece that is attached to the side pieces!
The fabric on mine that covers the depressed space at the front for older toddlers' feet has shrunk so the snaps that are attached don't reach the snaps on the front part...
Depressed space for older children's feet.
The front piece of the fabric has snaps that would have snapped to the other side of the snap that was attached to the front piece.
Ta-Da!!!!
The seat portion of the pram is lightly padded. I am assuming the back part was padded as well.
The manufacturer's plaque.
I decided for fun to put a baby in the Go-Cart! Greg's Grandma Faye got her for Christmas in 1924! She is a beautiful dolly and Grandma took very good care of her! I found the Christening dress at my other favorite Antique Store, Antique World Mall a few months back. The bonnet I got in Indiana about 17 years ago! Everything is a bit big on Dolly, but I don't think she cares...
Sweet Dolly! She is a really good size...actually like a small baby!
Here the Go-Cart has the back laid flat so baby can sleep.
Nap time!!
I remembered seeing this image in a book I have, "Hulton Deutsch Collection, 150 years of Photo Journalism, Volume 1". The nanny is carrying a folding stroller!!! Holy awesomeness Batman!!!
I did a lot of research online concerning my new acquisition and sadly only came up with a few references to this particular Go-Cart.
Here is my Pinterest board on the subject:
I am so very thrilled with the newest find! I asked my husband to help me restore it to its original beauty. I don't plan on selling it, so it doesn't need to remain in the condition it is in now. I want it to be happy and shiny once again!!
I am thinking also of filming myself setting it up and breaking it down. It is truly a very fascinating process to behold!
Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday my friends!!
Blessings!
g
