Baby Driver Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cradleboard

A cradleboard allowed the mother to strap her baby securely onto her back while she went about her daily chores. If she was working in the one area, she simply placed this portable seat onto a nearby sturdy branch where the baby could see her - and be rocked gently by the movement of the branch in the breeze at the same time. The cradle board was also a comfortable and easy way to carry a child if the mother had to travel any long distance. The infant was trussed to it like a chicken about to go into an oven, but this padded device was excellent for keeping the baby's back nice and straight, even if it couldn't move its little hands. They were tucked down to its sides. As the child grew older, however, its arms were left free to enable it to develop its fine motor skills. The board was excellent for the mother's deportment as well. Some cultures in the Americas still use this device for its practicality and ease of use.

The cutest thing about these efficient little carriers was that each had a small canopy, like an umbrella, above the baby's head, to protect the child from the elements. And, just like the dangling toys placed in cots above babies in western cultures to keep them amused, so Native America women tied small beaded ornaments and dream catchers around the rim of these canopies to keep their babies entertained. Even more amazingly, the soft materials used to line the cradleboards acted as nappies, and were either washed and reused when dirtied, or tossed away and allowed to break down naturally in the soil, and replaced by fresh linings. They were all made from soft plant fibres, many of which also had antiseptic qualities. How impressive is that? Free disposable nappies invented centuries before the west came up with its very expensive store bought ones.

Answer: In a sling under the mother's parka

This remarkably clever design was comprised of a small sling sewn into the back of a thick warm parka worn by the mother. This was placed just under the hood of the parka, so that if the weather allowed, the hood could be flicked back to allow the baby's head to emerge. Otherwise, the child was kept safe and snugly warm nestled up against its mother back, completely protected from the harsh weather in that part of the world. The parkas weren't the short closely fitting ones we recognise in western cultures, but lovely thick long ones that went down to the knee or lower, and deeply lined with fur.

The parka with the baby sling built into it was known as an amauti (I bet you're glad I didn't ask that for a question) and it was designed so that the mother could swing it around her shoulder to enable her to feed the baby, or clean its little rear end, without it ever being exposed to hostile weather conditions. It also enabled the mother to keep both hands free for doing other tasks. The baby was securely strapped into the amauti, so that it was in no danger of ever slipping out. Many infants in Arctic regions of our globe are still carried in this way by their parents. What a brilliant idea, don't you think?

Answer: True

Unlike women from the Arctic region of the world, however, this sling was designed so that it wrapped around the entire body of the mother. She used it not only to carry her baby, but as a form of shopping basket as well, into which she could place the food she had gathered during the day, or carry various objects she needed for her work. Known as a rebozo, the sling was also used to help reposition the baby during the mother's pregnancy if she began to feel too uncomfortable, and even taken into the delivery area so that the mother could try out different positions to find the one that suited her most when giving birth. Talk about your all purpose utility vehicle.

Women in other areas of South America simply used a large rectangular sheet of material that they folded in half, wrapped around their shoulders and tied securely in front of the mother. The baby was then placed into it. This seems an insecure way to carry a child, but women from these cultures knew what they were doing and had this method of carrying babies around down to a fine art for very many centuries. This form of child toting in these countries is still commonly seen in these countries even today.

Answer: In cane plaited carriers

These beautiful objects designed to safely carry bubs around every day were highly decorated, and, one imagines, will one day be greatly prized as collector's items. The intricate designs are made out of delicate beads of many colours, and usually features creatures such as dragons or birds or leopards. One in flowers would be nice as well, don't you think, given all the lovely blooms that grow so abundantly in that part of the world? Many of the plaited cane baby carriers also have beaded amulets woven into their designs as added protection for the small passengers carried within.

Mothers from other areas of south east Asia use large pieces of fabric folded in specific ways and carried over one shoulder as make-do baby carriers. These fabrics are exquisitely decorated with hand sewn embroidery designs, and are used as sarongs as well. Like their sisters from Mexico and Guatemala when carrying babies, the slings are also used as ready-made shopping trollies to carry an assortment of tools and food at the same time. These objects probably give the babies something to play with for hours when one really thinks about it.

Answer: Swahili sayings

These sayings are a form of blessings and protection against danger for the child, and this rather lovely object is known as a kanga, a pagne or a kikoy, depending in which area of this large country the parents live. Apart from carrying baby around, the material is used to sit upon, to carry small items around in a bundle on the head, as a form of apron while cooking, or even as a skirt. An interesting tradition associated with this baby carrier is that, when made or purchased, two are always obtained. One is then given as a gift to the best friend of the family.

Answer: In a bag strapped around the mother's forehead

The baby is placed into a bag which is then strapped around the forehead of its mother. This sounds terribly uncomfortable but it has worked since time began in that culture. The women have perfect posture as a result. This bag is known as a bilum and it is hand made out of string, with lovely patterns woven into the design.

It is a highly sought after object by tourists, and with good cause. It is simply quite lovely, but also extremely practical. A bilum is of course utilised to carry other objects as well as babies. Once these bags were made from reeds that grow freely right throughout the country. Today however the yarn or string used to make them is usually purchased from stores instead. Men also carry bilums, but theirs have much longer handles than the ones carried by the women.

This has nothing to do with gender inequality though, just practicality. Women find the shorter handles easier to carry around their foreheads. Men on the other hand usually carry their bilums over their shoulders.

Answer: Tied into part of their saris

Tied into the shawl part of the sari to be specific. A sari is a large strip of coloured cloth, and can be as long as nine yards. Many of them are absolutely exquisite, delicate and beautifully coloured. They are not sewn into any particular design though, but twisted and folded into various shapes instead, depending on the choice of style worn by the women. Amazingly so, there's at least eighty different styles in which a sari can be worn. So that leaves plenty of room to incorporate a part of this lovely garment as a baby carrier. Oddly enough though, it is only the lower caste women, in this very caste driven country, who carry their babies about in this fashion. Apparently mothers in the higher castes think that this practical solution is beneath them.

Answer: Leather

Until modern times, many women in most parts of Europe simply carried their babies around in various materials tied securely onto their backs. In Wales they carried them in shawls, in Scotland they were wrapped in plaid, cradleboards were used in many Sandinavian countries, but in Sweden, specially made bags of leather were manufactured in which to hold the infants.

These bags were known as bogs or boergs, and it is believed it is from this that the word bag is derived today. The bogs or boergs were manufactured with a round shape, with various lovely designs imprinted into the leather material out of which they were constructed. Babies were wrapped up warmly before being placed into these holders with their sturdy leather straps, and were then carried around in this fashion, much the same as we see parents carrying babies around in baby baskets today.

Answer: In the pockets of large coats

How practical was that? Whenever a baby had to be taken for any distance outdoors, the parents donned a large coat or cloak into which a large pocket had been sewn for that very purpose. Hopefully nobody ever sat on one, because these large baby pockets were usually attached to the hip part of the coat or cloak.

In England, where the class system became as rampant as that of the caste system in India, an upperclass woman usually employed a rocking nurse to carry the baby in her arms whenever taken outdoors.

Her job was to rock the baby whenever it began to cry. Upperclass women, of all the cockeyed ideas under the sun, believed that mothers should not get too close to their children for fear it would spoil them. Poor little things. Fortunately these women could afford to employ nannies or those rocking nurses, so their children were at least exposed to some degree of very necessary human contact.

Answer: Landscape gardener

William Kent was quite a well known landscape gardener - known as garden architects in those times. When he was working for the Duke of Devonshire, the Duke asked him if he could construct something to enable the Duke to move his children around. William, no doubt used to trundling wheelbarrows all over his gardens, built a shell shaped basket, added wheels to it, and the first perambulator was born.

Initially these early prams were designed to be pulled along by a goat or pony. When they began to be sold in America by one Benjamin Crandall, his son Jesse, an inventor and toy maker, added designs, handles, brakes, a model that even folded up, and the most essential of accessories in those times, a handle on which to hang one's parasol.