[AMERICANA] [PEDIATRIC] BABY BOOK OF WILLIAM S. BAUGH

Philadelphia, PA: Wanamaker’s, 1929. Red leatherbound hardcover diary with black decorative edges and titling on spine and front cover, “The WANAMAKER DIARY 1929”; numbered pages and insert contains a map of Philadelphia with routes to Wanamaker’s Department Store. The diary is bookended by ads, almanacs, and recipes. Illustrations preface each month. ~~This book is an interesting snapshot of early/mid century pediatric practices and daily life in 1929. William S. Baugh was the first child of Albert, a medieval scholar, and Anita Baugh who kept the diary. She filled it with typical first child anecdotes, such as when she was bathing him and “he tried walking along the floor of the tub, digging his little pink toes in and pushing himself along.” Nita is concerned with his low birth weight, and most of the entries pertain to his health issues. Numerous original prescriptions are pasted into the book. ~~While this baby book is relatable to modern parents, it also contains advice and practices no longer recommended. Nita’s entries reflect the trend towards a more disciplinarian approach to infant care during the 1920s and 30s, such as when she stopped his night-time feeds at just one month old, started him on orange juice diluted in water at that age, and “[gave] him the soap stick every day” – a suppository meant to promote early toilet training.~ ~Billy grew up to be interested in music and travel, graduate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1951, join the Navy, marryd Pauline Smith Brown in 1963, and die in 1981. ~.