In these times of terror, you can never be too protected against the unexpected.
But if your nerves are a little frayed these days, imagine how people felt in 1947, with two destructive world wars behind them and a potentially more menacing era of conflict underway.
In this context, the robust inspiration behind US patent 2,425,688, the All-Terrain Stroller (1947), seems almost reasonable – embodying both the paranoia and pragmatism of the time.
The All-Terrain Stroller – presumably made from recently decommissioned Sherman tanks – surrounded infants with all the protection and comfort of, well … a Sherman Tank. It was designed to traverse a range of obstacles – from curbs and stairs to enemy strollers and small-to-mid-size canines. It even incorporated an emergency hand-brake, for when your eyes wrote cheques your tread couldn’t cash.
But alas, the ATS’s uptake was modest. It’s a relic of another time, an intimidating ancestor of today’s fancy three-wheeled super-strollers you see being chased by trendy jogger mums and dads. Sure, today’s strollers might be a little more nimble than the ATS, but how much use will they be when the Russians drop the big one?
Ah, for the days when your Bubba was safe, come rain, hail or land mine.
