Babywearing during the Civil War

[Gburgseamstress]

Hi, I'm pretty new here.
This might be an unusual question, but I'm trying to find out whether or not babywearing was done during the Civil War. I would assume it was practiced among the poorer population, however, I can't find any documentation of it.
I thought I might find some help here as my efforts to find any evidence are unsuccessful so far. I would appreciate any help or being pointed into the right direction for further research.
Thank you!!
Aneta Koehn

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Babywearing during the Civil War

I've not found evidence of non-native "baby-wearing" for mid-century, after going on 16 years looking at children/family topics. The closest I've found is the papoose board for native American people, and that's not a constant, either--and I've not found *any* information to say such a measure was adopted by any whites.

Was there something you read or saw that leads you to the assumption that it was practiced among lower classes?

There are two ways to approach history research (actually, there are more, but let's look at two.) The first is to start with a modern practice, and try to justify or find it in the past. The second is to ask a more open-ended question, and see how the Original Cast handled the situation.

Let's look at it from the more open-ended angle: what did families do with their infants?

Letting a baby lay in the cradle (or padded crate, or drawer) is one option, as is letting them sit on the floor/ground, or be minded by an adult or older child or servant. Carrying baby on the hip is one option. Strapping a baby or tying him into a sitting position in a chair is another. (I know, that sounds barbaric... but think of a soft scarf tied under the armpits and through the rungs of a chair, not "kidnap victim." :) )

Looking at engravings and images of family life from the mid-century gives some good clues to the management of infants, as can reading advice manuals to mothers.

I think one reason it's hard to find documentation for the modern practice of baby-wearing in the mid-century is that it just may not exist. It's a relatively modern thing in US culture (dating to within my own lifespan, starting in the 70s). Prior to that, babies handled in different ways. Working forward from the historic window you're looking at is often a lot easier than trying to work back from today.

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Babywearing during the Civil War

Perhaps the only thing I've seen (again not Anglo-American) is Henry Bibb's illustration of women working with an overseer lashing at them. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/bibb/ill12.html

Overall however, I've not found any practice of carrying the child except in someone's arms.

[Gburgseamstress]

Re: Babywearing during the Civil War

Thank you for responding to my post.
By poor class I meant women who would not have had nannies and immigrants, mostly. I wasn't sure if they would have brought that part of their culture over and practiced it. I was thinking of doing an immigrant impression this summer with an infant. If I were to portray an immigrant wearing a baby in a sling would I be out of line? Or would I be better off with a rocking cradle?
Thank you for the picture of the slave wearing her baby, I love it!
Thank you again for your input.
Aneta Koehn

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Babywearing during the Civil War

This is Virginia's spouse posting.

In some of your posts, you imply that that natives of other European countries were doing the practice you wish to portray. I would be interested to know if you have documentation that such practices were being used in Europe, and, to narrow it further, in the countries that contributed to the immigrant populations up to the 1860's. The census records for the 1860's census show a very heavy proportion of the immigrant population came from the English/Celtic countries, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Eastern European and Italian immigrants were, for the most part, later on in the 19th century and early 20th century. Only if the practice of carrying the baby in a sling was used in the country of origin of the person or ethnic group you portray could you make any assumptions about the same practices being brought to this country. Paintings from the time period showing "peasants" might be a good source of information.

To me, it would seem among the poorer populations in Europe (and also in this country), the families would have been geographically closer so "babysitters", i.e., parents living with you, maiden aunts, children old enough to care for the infant but not old enough to do a decent day's work, etc., would have been widely available. These babysitters would have substituted for having to take the baby with you and could have brought the infant to you at feeding time. Such an arrangement would have allowed you to better concentrate on your work. But this is all supposition because I don't have any documentation that such customs were the accepted practice.

It is a possibility that a dearth of evidence could be an indication that it wasn't done. Until you find some primary documentation that it was done, I wouldn't incorporate it into your impression because any activity you do is immediately stamped as "something they did at that time." There is a lot of misinformation circulating because someone was doing an activity at a reenactment/historic site based on the premise of "it seems so obvious surely someone must have been doing it." Since you stated you are new at this, learn to look at statements from other reenactors, historic sites (especially docents and other volunteers but professional staff and professionally prepared displays are not to be excepted.), or "the captain's wife who has been reenacting since the war ended" with a critical eye. We had a member in our unit who spoke with the air of absolute authority about completely bogus information. Even though this list has many knowledgeable people who provide very good information, don't take our word for things just because we said so. Don't be afraid to ask for documentation. It helps keep us all critically analyzing information. By posting your question in advance of incorporating an activity into your impression, you are taking the step of researching first -- a commendable process. It is an unfortunate characteristic of research that often you will find something that seems perfect to do but you can't document it.

Looking at the positive if you can't document this practice, if you are doing third person you could explain to visitors looking at your baby sleeping in his/her cradle that you wanted to carry your baby in a sling but couldn't find evidence that the practice existed during the time period.

Michael Mescher

[Homespun Ma]

Re: Babywearing during the Civil War

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/William_Hogarth_007.jpg

Here is a link to a painting by William Hogarth , circa 1750, depicting a woman carrying a child on her back. Perhaps this was not commonplace as women may have had others to help hold an infant, but in circumstances when a mother had to travel a distance on foot, would she possibly have improvised ways to carry her child, such as using a shawl to tuck a child into?

Lauren Ehas

[Michael Comer]

Re: Babywearing during the Civil War

There are two figures with children on the back in the image. Which one are you referring to?

One on the right is a woman with a child clinging to her back but that's not 'child wearing' since the child is more or less doing a piggy back ride.

There is another figure on the left with a bundled up baby being carried on the back. Interestingly enough it appears to me to be a man since there is a pipe present and what looks to be facial hair although the face is only partially seen. This one might be closer to what is being discussed.

[Homespun Ma]

Re: Babywearing during the Civil War

I was referring to the child on the left, and yes, it does appear to be a man upon closer examination. However, the child who looks to be riding piggyback appears quite young and I find it doubtful that a very young child could hold on to the mother for an extended period of time without some kind of additional support. I find the idea of the man carrying the baby on his back rather interesting, perhaps more research into earlier time periods would yield further information on whether mothers improvised ways to carry their young children. I do not think babywearing would be appropriate in most historical settings, however, if one is portraying a refugee too unfortunate to have a wheeled conveyance ,trudging down the road with what little you can carry ,I can see where babywearing of some sort would be appropriate.

Lauren Ehas

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Babywearing during the Civil War

It is, however, a century too early. Practices change. Before using this image as a documentation of baby-wearing in the mid-19th century, I'd personally want to have more images of people in the mid-19th century using slings, etc to support small children on the body.