Kids on Leashes

<![CDATA[Over the past decade or so, I've seen a number of parents at the store or Disneyland with their toddler attached to a leash. The first time I saw this, I thought, "oh my, they're treating their kids like dogs". The second time I though, "not a bad idea". These days it bothers me much more.

But regardless of my opinion, I had made an assumption that such devices were new. You’d think I’d know better, as a historian. Then I was watching the James Bond movie “From Russia with Love” (1963) on TV, and Bond was on a boat, and here comes a mom with a toddler — on a leash. Exactly the same design you see today, with the little chest harness and everything.

There is a long history, of course, of child-restraining devices. Swaddling has always been popular, since it calms some babies and makes it possible to put them down where they cannot move. 17th century fashions gave us “leading strings” (see the picture) for grabbing the kid by. In the Victorian era, there were baby carriages and the clothing itself was restrictive enough to prevent a lot of movement. Playpens were popular in the 1960s.

Special technologies for children are also historic. The parents of the 16th and 17th century used walkers, and the items were just as controversial as today (probably more, since children walked into open hearth fires). They also had teethers made of coral (a damn sight safer than those PVC-infested things I see now), dresses regardless of sex for the first several years (easy toileting), and cradles (good for rocking with your foot while doing work with your hands). So there goes the idea that all this kid stuff is new. Videogames and carseats are new (though carseats look based on Victorian perambulators), but not walkers or (sigh) kiddie leashes.]]>