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Home » The Domestic Sphere » Childhood and childcare » Children's furniture

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  • This image shows the interior of the B2 type aluminium prefabricated bungalow at the Museum of Welsh Life. The prefabs were designed and developed as a means of providing housing after the Second World War and they were a triumph in space planning. Each bungalow contained two bedrooms with built-in wardrobes, a living room, entrance hallway, fitted kitchen and bathroom. Four different versions were produced, all using more or less the same layout, but made of different materials. The aluminium bungalows like the one at the Museum were made in factories which once produced aircraft. They came off the production line at the rate of one every twelve minutes. The type B2 bungalow was made up of four sections which were pre-assembled complete with all electrical wiring, plumbing, and water and gas pipework. The prefab at the Museum originally came from Gabalfa in Cardiff and was built between 1947-8. The house is furnished as it would have appeared in 1950 and includes some pieces of Utility furniture. This was a basic range of furniture made mainly of plywood and produced in Britain during and after the Second World War due to the scarcity of timber. Furniture was needed for those who had been bombed out and young couples who were setting up homes for the first time. Those who were eligible would be given coupons or 'units' and could order the furniture through a standard catalogue. This was also the age of 'making do' with what you had and some pieces of furniture would have been hand-me-downs or bought second hand. The prefab was in many ways 'a housewife's paradise', with ample storage and innovative features and fittings. It boasted a fitted kitchen which had hot and cold running water, a cooker (gas or electric), a 'copper' for washing, as well as a built-in refrigerator. The other luxury was the fitted bathroom with its heated towel rail - usually the warmest part of the house! Little wonder that the B2 prefabs were affectionately known as 'tin palaces'.
Prefab Bedroom, Museum of Welsh Life, c. 1950
  • This chair was previously owned by Morris 'the tin man' of Montgomery and is believed to have been made in the town.
Child's 'potty' chair, early 19th century
  • This late-seventeenth-century joined high chair is a good example of a piece of children's furniture from that period. The back panel has been inscribed with the initials GN and the date 1669 - it was the chair of Gruffydd Nannau, the fourth of that name who was born shortly before 1669. He died unmarried and without issue in 1689, the same year that he was made High Sheriff of Merioneth.
High chair which belonged to the Nannau family, Llanfachreth, 1669
  • Baby walkers were used from the medieval period although the earliest surviving examples date from the mid-seventeenth century. Although a variety of designs were produced, this piece is very simple in construction being a square type with a hinged top. It dates from the late nineteenth century and originates from Blackwood, Monmouthshire.
Baby-walker from Blackwood, 19th century
  • This cradle has an individual appearance and has been painted blue inside. It was made by John Jones, a carpenter from Cenarth, Cardiganshire.
Cradle from Cenarth, 19th century
  • The child's commode rocking chair in this image is in its original state. It is made of maple and mahogany with a shaped tray attached to the arms by leather thongs. The seat also has a recess for a potty and a hole cut at the back to create a carrying handle.
Child's rocking chair, 18th century