Jolly Jumper
May 1st, 2011
Design: Olivia Poole (1889 – 1975)
Client: Jolly Jumper
Date: 1959
“As a child Poole watched her elders strap their babies to cradle boards to carry them as ‘papooses’. Mothers would often hang the papoose on a sturdy tree limb and soothe the baby by pulling on the limb to cause a bouncing motion.
When her first child was born, she made him a swing and called it a Jolly Jumper. She made the harness or saddle from a cloth diaper and a blacksmith created a soft-action steel spring. An axe handle was used for the spreader bar. When grandchildren arrived, she continued to make Jolly Jumpers and by 1948 Jolly Jumpers were ready for mass production.”
Patented in 1957, this Canadian design is still being produced today in Mississauga, ON.
Source: Jolly Jumper History
Entry Filed under: Games and Toys
1 Comment Add your own
1. Hannah Wise | May 2nd, 2011 at 13:31
Chalk this up to another “I had NO idea this was Canadian”! This is such a genius invention. I am sure parents around the world – certainly in North America – owe hours and hours of baby-free chores, meals, and general downtime (not to mention amusement, of course!) to this simple contraption.
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