The Baby Cage

A Bizarre Fad of the 1930s

In the 1930s, as cities grew taller and more crowded, a peculiar and now-alarming trend emerged: the baby cage. This bizarre invention was a wire cage designed to be hung outside high-rise apartment windows, allowing infants to get "fresh air" and sunlight. While the idea seems shocking and perilous today, it was rooted in the popular but flawed health theories of the time.

The Rationale: A Dose of "Fresh Air"

The concept of the baby cage was a direct response to the widespread belief that fresh air and sunshine were essential for a child's health and development, especially in the urban environment. This idea was heavily promoted by medical professionals and parenting guides of the era, such as Dr. Luther Emmett Holt's influential 1894 book, The Care and Feeding of Children. Holt and others argued that "airing out" babies would "renew and purify the blood," improve digestion, and build immunity to common colds. For families living in cramped city apartments without access to a garden or balcony, this presented a significant challenge. The baby cage was presented as a sensible, if unconventional, solution to this problem, providing a way for babies to get their daily dose of the outdoors without leaving the safety of their home—or so it was believed.

The Decline of a Dangerous Trend

Design and Distribution

The baby cage was essentially a metal or wire box, often with a roof to protect the baby from rain or debris. It was designed to be securely attached to the exterior of an apartment window frame. The first patent for a "portable baby cage" was filed in the U.S. in 1922 by a woman named Emma Read. She described the invention as a way to provide a safe space for "babies and young children, to be suspended upon the exterior of a building adjacent an open window, wherein the baby or young child may be placed."

The trend gained particular popularity in London during the 1930s. The Chelsea Baby Club, a local neighborhood community, even distributed these cages to its members who did not have a garden, suggesting that the invention was, for a time, a widely accepted tool for childcare. Famously, Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly used a similar chicken-wire cage for her daughter Anna when they lived in a New York City brownstone, a practice that was met with concern by a neighbor.

A Look Back: The Decline of a Dangerous Trend

The baby cage, while created with the best intentions of promoting infant health, is now seen as a dangerous and alarming artifact of a bygone era. The practice faded out of favor in the mid-20th century as perceptions of child safety evolved and medical advice shifted. The risks—from the potential for the cage to detach and fall, to the baby being exposed to extreme weather conditions—are clear to modern parents. The baby cage stands as a stark and fascinating example of a one-in-a-million invention that, while born from a genuine desire to improve life, ultimately reveals the drastic differences in societal norms and safety standards between generations. It serves as a powerful reminder that not all good intentions lead to sensible outcomes.