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Are small children hung in “baby cages” in front of apartment windows so that they can get “really fresh air”?

Claim:

In 1922, a wire-fenced “baby cage” was invented to hang infants in front of the windows of residential buildings so that they could get “real fresh air.”

Evaluation:

TRUE

Sometimes we just don’t get it quite right. One example is a wire-fenced “baby cage” that was supposedly invented in 1922 to hang infants outside apartment windows and give them “real fresh air.”

Photos and videos of the alleged invention were divided At Social media platforms for YearsThe most recent post we found about this claim went viral in June 2024 and had more than 134,000 likes at the time of publication:

We verified this claim in November 2023 and found that the strange device does indeed exist, despite its obvious dangers.

Snopes conducted a keyword search for “baby cage patent 1922” and found that the invention was real. US Patent 1448235 was described as a “portable baby cage” and registered on July 19, 1922 by Emma Read, who then described herself as a resident of Spokane, Washington.

The patent was approved on March 13, 1923 and expired on the same day in 1940. It read in part:

It is known that raising and raising babies and young children in crowded cities poses great difficulties from a health point of view. This is especially true for babies and young children who are currently growing up in large apartments, as they do not get enough fresh air and are not outdoors to exercise.

In densely populated cities where houses are close together and in large apartments, there is no possibility for adequate ventilation. Back and front gardens are small and apartment dwellers have no possibility to provide children and babies with sufficient fresh air from outside.

With this in mind, the aim of the present invention is to provide an article for babies and toddlers that can be hung on the outside of a building next to an open window where the baby or toddler can be placed. This article consists of an enclosure or cage in which the baby or toddler can be placed together with suitable toys. The baby can get fresh air through the grid or wire mesh and it is indicated that the baby has sufficient space or room to play with toys…

The description further explains that “appropriate bedding” can also be provided in the cage to allow for adequate napping with the help of “appropriate curtains”.

The following images accompanied the patentwhich contained dimensions and design information about the cage:

(Google Patents)

Snopes has long investigated the origins of seemingly bizarre inventions of the past, including a device that allowed its user to smoke an entire pack of 20 cigarettes at once and cone-shaped plastic face masks that supposedly protected people from snowstorms.

Sources

“A nanny supervises a baby suspended in a wire cage attached to the…” Getty Images, https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/nanny-supervising-a-baby-suspended-in-a-wire-cage-attached-news-photo/3136964. Accessed November 2, 2023.

Dapcevich, Madison. “Is This a Real Vintage Device for Smoking a Whole Pack of Cigarettes at Once?” Snopes, October 25, 2023, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/vintage-smoking-device/.

—. “Real Vintage ‘Baby Cages’ to Give Toddlers Fresh Air?” Snopes, November 7, 2023, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/vintage-window-baby-cages-for-toddlers-fresh-air/.

—. “Vintage image shows bizarre ‘blizzard cones’ used to protect faces from snow?” Snopes, September 3, 2023, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/vintage-pic-cones-mask/.

Emma, ​​​​Read. Portable baby cage. US1448235A, March 13, 1923, https://patents.google.com/patent/US1448235A/en.

“https://twitter.com/historyinmemes/status/1718535800634159248.” X (formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/historyinmemes/status/1718535800634159248. Retrieved November 2, 2023.

Imgur. “Imgur.” Imgur, https://imgur.com/. Retrieved November 2, 2023.

Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CrHbZkxub16/?img_index=1. Retrieved November 2, 2023.

PollutionOk9449. “Baby cages were invented in 1922 so babies could get ‘fresh air.’” R/Damnthatsinteresting, Oct 31, 2023, www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/17kr9wp/baby_cages_invented_in_1922_so_that_babies_could/.