The Topeka state journal., 1919-12-04
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsNIN, Director.
Washington, ID. G.
CHECK YOUR BABY.


baby. madam inquired the depart
nent store attendant.
| The tired-looking woman, who had
been patiently wheeling a baby car
riage up and down the street while
gazing wistfully i'll the store windows,
| hesitated and carefully scrutinized the
uniformed baby-ehecker. What she
saw evidently reassured her. because
4 she obediently turned the baby car
! riage over to him, accepting in -e-
turn a paper ticket.
1 = don't like to leave him., she
apoIogized, but 1 do want to learn
that new knitting stitch
That's all right. madam" replied
| the attendant. He will be perfectly
safe with me. I have a whole string
of them here. and there amt whim-
| per out of one of them.''
| lie pointed to a long line of baby
carriages, each containing a precious
| occupant who had been exchanged for
a similar piece of paper. Encouraged
by this report, the tired-looking wo-
man gave Il parting pat to the blanket
envelpping her small son, and, enter
| ing the store, was soon lost in the
| crowd of afternoon shoppers. The
attendant bega.l parading up and
down, keeping watchful but kindly
! eye on his young charges, occasional
| iy restoring a rattle to some wailing
1
another.
This is the latest thing in New
| York-ba by-cheek Several depart
ment stores and moving pictures
| houses in the flat-dwellipg regions of
| the city have adopted it as a means
! of getting large afternoon trade, and
| 1t is proving successful beyond their
| widest expectations. After she once
gets used to the idea, the average
young matron checks her baby with
the same degree of noRchalance with
| which she checks her umbrella, and
apparently with the same degree of
relief.
For years, the flat-dweller's shop
ping and movie-going activities have
been handicapped by her matronly
duties. 1t has always been underste eod
| that wherever wonan's place might
be. baby's place was the home,
and in the absence of a nursemaid
| which is an extravaganza that very
| few flat -dwellers can afford, there was
nothing for competent mother to do
but stay at home with her offspring.
! But those days are over since some
/ enterprising merchant or movie ex-
| hibftor bethougf1t him of the simple
and efficient device of checking in
fants at the door.
The origin of the system is un-
known, but New workers. attribute the
| happy thought to Elizabeth, N. J.
| Elizabeth is known to have more
| babies in proportion to it's size than
i any other town in the country. They
are SO numerous, in fact, that the city
| is said to have issued a special set of
! traffic regulations for baby carria ges
SO that in Elizabeth the by is an inn
| Portant factor which even the business
men must take into account. Appar-
/ emily, they did, and the baby checking
/ system was the answer.
Il In r-lr ,s.1kvr
| hibitor who owns several movie
houses thruout the city saw the ad-
yeEtising value of the idea in opening
up new theater. He not only had
| a baby-checker at the door, but he
| had an entire creche adjoining the
| lobby, with a trained nurse in charge,
| where babies could be lefa in superior
care while their mothers gazed at the
| screen. He even had two carloads of
| white sand dumped in one corner of
the room for the children who had
reached the walking age, and there
were also games. swings and books
for the older children. AS each
mother came in with her. offspring,
she was asked to register and was
given a check for each youngster,
while a similar check was attached to
the child.
But" said this exhibitor in discus
sing his plan, I'VE had to give the
thing up.
He paused Significantly. DO you
| want to know why?' he asked, dubi-
ously. Then, as the visitor nodded,
| Because it was too popular. The
women were too eager to take ad-
vantage of it. They would bring their
| babies about / o'clock in the after
noon, pay the fifteen cents admission,
| and then go away and leave them in
| the creehe all afternoon Sometimes
| they would be gone five hours at a
stretch, SO that the kids would get
/ ha n
have more on her hands than she
j could attend to.
"As long as they stayed in the
| theater, it was all right. We could
mother to go to the nursery-that her
| baby was raising a fuss, but when she
/ went off to a card party, or to a
down town theater, and left all the
responsibility to US, we decided we'd
have to quit"
| Nevertheless, this mans experience
has not served to discourage other
movie exhibitors from trying the same
| thing. nor has it made much of an i'm
| ers, who have noticed tremendous
| increase in sales since the baby-eheck-
| ing system was installed. The creche,
with all its juvenile luxuries, may be
too attractive to be practical, but a
baby-carriage guard is undoubtedly
greatly appreciated and is a remunera-
| tive investment
| This is the only place ever do any
shopping" declared a woman to her
friend the other day, as she deposited
her baby in the care of the stores
| kindly faced baby checker. you
know, you can't 7go shopping with a
| baby with any comfort. They are too
heavy to carry, and if you leave them
out on the sidewalk alone you are
constantly worrying for fear they will
! be kidnapped. Until these people
started this checking system I simply
couldn't buy anything. I always had
| to stay" Her voice was lost in the
general buzz of other feminine voices
| as she reached popular bargain
| counter.
Even tho abused by occasional
mothers imbued with the wanderlust.
says a prominent movie authority, the