Guess the Soviet-Era Baby Gear!

Lights, please. Cue the music. Where's my mic? Okay....let's play Guess the Soviet-Era Baby Gear! Take a look at the item pictured above. Study it. Take your time. What's your best guess? It may resemble an over-sized first aid kit or portable typewriter, but we assure you this is baby-related. Are you ready? Let's find out&hellip

If you said BABY STROLLER: you're right! [*balloons fall! leggy assistant hands you a gigantic check!*]

The austerity of Soviet-era design apparently extended to products for even the youngest citizens as this boxy pram looks neither comfortable nor practical. You can see more photos of how this box unfolds to become a stroller at English Russia.

Reader Anna sent in this tip and tells us that this stroller may not even be as old as you'd think. "The pram looks like it was made in the 1970s, but the documentation in the last image shows a date that could possibly be 1981 OR as late as 1989. Also, Soviet design and production lagged behind Western standards by anywhere to 10-30 years, so it's plausible that this jewel of portability is from the 1980s."

For comparison, here is an American stroller from the 80s. I'd guess there's at least a 15-20 lb. weight difference.

Thanks for playing! See you next time!

Thanks, Anna!

(Images 1& 2 via English Russia; image 3 via All About Props)

Comments (10)

Haha, I love it! It looks horrendous for the baby... where do the baby's legs go? The leg rest appears in front rather than underneath the seat, forcing the kiddo to sit with the legs straight out in front instead of hanging down in a natural sitting position.

AWE-SOME. Having lived in Romania for a few months, I'm completely fascinated by Soviet-era stuff.

I thought it looked vaguely medical. In our childbirth class last night, the teacher was talking about some Soviet era musical speaker you were supposed to stick up your hoo-hah to make the baby turn during active labor. That was my guess.

I was born and grew up in Russia in 70s and left in the 93 and never in my life I saw something like that. It must be some crazy "innovation" that never became popular.
We all used regular prams and umbrella strollers just like on the second picture.

I didn't guess it right. So no balloons fell and there was no check from a leggy assistant. HOW DID YOU DO THAT? or how did you not do that?

I was a baby in Ukraine in the 80's and left in '94, and we also didn't have any strollers that looked like that. So, not sure if this "design" ever became popular.

I think it's a great idea, especially seeing the hassle people with strollers have on the busses and subways. It would probably have to be modified a bit, to make it slightly more comfortable, but that can probably be done.

I looks like someone hacked my old printer.

Don't click on English Russia! You will be sucked in and fascinated and not escape for days, maybe weeks!

Or is that just me...