I wrote about the issue “children” seen in a new aspect in my last post “Why Finnish Babies sleep in a cardboard box” and got the idea to tell you a story about a Danish architect and his invention on baby safety creating a beautiful crib.

John Keats 1795-1821

During the WWII Denmark was occupied by the Germans. All building material and most of our food supply went to the Germans from the time they took over our country. Viggo Einfeldt was an architect, and he had a thriving business.

Viggo Einfeldt in his drawing office

If he wanted to continue, he could have collaborated with the Germans, which unfortunately a lot of firms did. I am glad to say that he didn’t do that.

 Junoseng from an advertisement from the fifties from Viggo Einfeldt

To survive, he had to review his business idea.

A tragic incident with a baby being suffocated in his bamboo crib bed fostered the idea to create a safe crib that could be extended to the growing child. The Juno crib has a renaissance now due to the beautiful, timeless design and can be seen in magazines for interior design. It is not produced anymore, but the old original beds were made of such a high quality that they can be used today after some renovating. They are also objects of collectors. I would love to have one for my growing flock of grandchildren.

a restored old Juno cot bed. Image belongs to Lene Kullen Hansen

Miniature models of the Juno cot

You see different models on the photos. Viggo Einfeldt made two different kinds. The first one turned up to be too expensive to produce as the idea was to give it various functions. Unfortunately, he died far too early in 1955 and the production stopped shortly after.

 My friend Dorthe Lohmann, Viggo Einfeldt’s grandchild, has let me use her pictures and she owns the rights to the Junobed.

The Juno I cot bed was taken at the exhibition in Sweden about the “Century of the child.”

The thought of safety in our baby and children’s products are not so old. My uncle was born in 1925, and he got some of his finger cut off in his pushchair. I could imagine the despair and sadness of my grandparents. In my early childhood, the small chairs behind parents bicycles were so dangerous, because the children’s legs could get into the wheel.

I will close with some more pictures from the 1950s taken at the exhibition “The Century of the Child”.

Danish Children’s furniture from1960s

Danísh Children’s furniture from 1960s

Danish School furniture from 1950s