The first strollers showed up hot on the wheels of the first carriages, though they weren't much more portable. Early strollers were often a lot like hand carts, and had to be supported if they were to remain upright. Like the earliest carriages, the first strollers were mostly of wicker and wood, but by the late 1920s the stroller had come into its own, and models which remained in use through the mid-sixties began to appear.

The Silver Cross and the Taylor Tot in the photo below are both direct descendants of strollers which first appeared in the twenties. The first Taylor Tot types were originally a bit less streamlined, but the Silver Cross hardly changed over the decades, and this particular model could still be spotted in active use on the sidewalks of New York City in the early 1970s.

The expansion of the stroller market in the post World War II period closely paralleled that of the automobile market. As cars became a necessity for every family, so did strollers. Often strollers were sold almost as if they were sports cars, themselves -- or at least as if they were irresistibly sporty.

The Folda Rola and the Taylor Tot particularly were marketed to parents of little boys -- both of them could be made into walkers by removing the foot pans and, in the case of the Taylor Tot, the handle. Just the thing for that active little boy! The ads we've seen didn't mention -- or show -- how an active little girl might use the strollers . . .

Pictured are:

• A Silver Cross (1960s)
• A Taylor Tot (1950s)
• A Peterson Folda-Rola (1950s)
• A Columbia Tuk-A-Way (1970s)