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Overview and history

The Swácot was a baby cot designed by engineer Alfred Edward Foster and his wife Annie in Birmingham, England in the mid - late 1940's and commercially available between 1953 until 1955. The cot was originally produced as a 'one-off' item to cater for their first child, as they could not find what they considered to be a suitable product which met their needs. What they wanted was a strong, safe and soothing cot for baby to sleep in, so the Swácot was born, initially as something of a prototype. With 2 more children to cater for over the next few years and with input from over 200 midwives, the original design evolved into the "Home" model, which quickly found favour amongst the large number of relatives and friends who saw, and asked for the early cots.

It quickly became apparent that there was a wider demand for something completely different from the normal, wooden cots commonly available at the time and so what had been a part-time exercise making a few cots turned into a full-time business with a small factory established in Winterbourne Crescent, Birmingham 14. With limited production prior to a major product launch - of around 50 cots a day - the cot was made available via exhibitions and direct sales from the manufacturer. Production ceased however, with the untimely death of the founder of the business in 1955.

Key Design Features

The Swácot was designed from scratch and incorporated several elements which had never been considered in cots before. The design was patented in the UK under Patent number 635887 and in the US under Patent number 2601111. The Swácot name was a registered Trade Mark number 719210. One of the most important features, which gave inspiration for the name, was that the mattress was laid at the bottom of a cloth hammock, suspended from the top frame of the cot, which swayed gently as the baby moved. This swaying effect was very soothing and comforting - mimicking the pre-natal sway which babies experience before birth. In many cases, this meant that the baby would rock itself back to sleep if it was woken or restless. The positioning of the mattress and baby at the bottom of the hammock provided a naturally low centre of gravity to aid stability.

The frame itself was constructed from steel rods with flexible joints, meaning that the swaying motion was not too constrained by a rigid structure and that the cot could easily be folded flat, meaning that it could be placed against a wall or under a bed during times when the baby was awake and only took up space when the baby needed a nap. For many people in the early 1950's housing space was at a premium, so this feature was very attractive to families in small houses, apartments or caravans, for example.

A E Foster demonstrating the strength of his product in 1954

It was also common to move the cot around the house, as it was so light and easy to fold, it could move with ease between various rooms and even floors. The design also allowed the cot to be completely disassembled in around 5 minutes and packed into a carton around 90cm x 10cm x 10cm which weighed less than 10lbs (3kg) for easy storage or transportation.

A key feature and selling point was the strength of the cot: constructed from slender but strong high tensile steel tubing, promotional material highlighted this point with images of Swácots containing up to 2 adults and a 4 year old child, sustaining a weight far in excess of normal use. The welcome letter which accompanied each Swácot shipped stated that it took iron bars weighing 6 hundredweights (305 Kg) to be loaded before the frame collapsed. Given that the cot was positioned for babies from birth to around 18 months, there would have been no concerns over the product's strength.

Safety was also promoted as an important feature - sales material at the time drawing attention to the breathable fabric in the hammock and stating that "there is absolutely no danger of the dreaded 'CO2 bath'" which was cited as a potential danger with leatherette products of the time.

Sales and Marketing

Having established that there was a market for the Swácot, small numbers were produced and promoted via children's nurseries and most notably at the London Nursing Exhibition of 1954, which provided worldwide exposure for the cot. The Swácot was initially available as a "Home" base model, designed for new babies with just a frame and hammock - a mattress "containing 2lb (900 grams) of genuine horse hair" was offered as an option for those who did not have their own mattress and also a floral valance, available in white, pink or blue was available to enhance the appearance.

British singer Joan Turner with her daughter in a Swácot c.1955

Early interest came from hospitals and nurseries as well as families, with several high profile celebrities of the day providing endorsements. The range of Swácot models expanded to include a specific "Hospital" model, which could be ordered to a custom size and specification if required and a "Toddler" model, which embodied the core features of the Home model, but was larger and constructed from heavier gauge steel rods to cater for children up to 7 years old.

In 1954, the "Home" model cost £6:3:6 (six pounds, three shillings and six pence) including the mattress and valance, which equates to around £375 in terms of 2014 relative earnings in the UK. No details exist of the pricing for other models, nor are any sales data available.

It is believed there are still a few Swacots in existence despite now being around 60 years old, most of these within the founder's wider family: it was not unusual for several generations to sleep in the same cot - a testiment to to the original design and the relative ease with which components such as the hammock can be replaced with someone having even modest skills with a sewing machine.