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Jolly Jumper
DCHP-2 (Apr 2016)
Spelling variants:jolly-jumper
n. — proprietary
a device with a strong elastic suspension that allows a baby to exercise its legs by bouncing up and down.
Type: 1. Origin — The Jolly Jumper was invented by a Canadian mother, Susan Olivia Poole, in 1910 and has been available for retail since 1948 (see Jolly Jumper reference). She was inspired by Native American mothers who hung cradles from the limbs of trees (see the second 1958 and the 1962 quotations).
See also COD-2, which marks the term "Cdn. proprietary".
Quotations
1958
Jolly Jumper, approved by pediatricians, is a scientific device which leaves baby free to move legs, arms and head with a maximum of security. The simple diaperlike design of Jolly Jumper provides balanced support around chest, crotch and waist area, eliminating any chance of chafing or cutting off of circulation. Elastic sides give gentle support, and automatic adjustment can be made for babies in any weight range. Your baby can go into the Jolly Jumper four or five times a day [...].
1958
A Vancouver mother, Olivia Poole, invented a swing for her children and the idea mushroomed into a quarter of a million dollar business. Mrs. Poole got her inspiration for the Jolly Jumper, a device in which babies can exercise and play safely beyond their mothers' immediate reach, from watching Indian babies in cradles hung from the limbs of trees, forty years ago in Manitoba. She had no ambition to market the swing. It was used by her own seven children, nineteen grandchildren [...].
1962
What's the bounciest item in the Canadian export picture? [...]
What has 5,000,000 new potential customers a year?
The Jolly Jumper, that's what.
Not only is the item a life saver for mothers and a bouncy delight to children but it is just about to put some of the old bounce into the Canadian economy.
The credit should go in the first place to the Indians of B.C., who had the original idea probably back in the Stone Age. The Indian papoose was suspended in his harness by a bowstring from a springy pine bough.
A Canadian grandmother, Mrs. Olivia Poole, of Vancouver, B.C., saw this immemorial Indian baby device and took it with refinements to a North Vancouver firm, International Pediatric Products Ltd.
1968
47. Jolly Jumper, entertains the baby while strengthening back and legs. Can be moved to any location in the house.
1974
Diane Drum, concluding a prop-ridden evening, set herself amidst a children's playland -- swing, slide, an adult jolly-jumper, sand-box, teeter-totter -- trying things out in a half-hearted, somewhat frightened way at first, and then racing about joyously. It wasn't apparent whether she was trying to be a child on a voyage of discovery or an adult going through a second childhood.
1997
Rada bought a Jolly Jumper contraption for Asha and Elma set it up in the kitchen. When Asha got a few months older, Elma tried the harness on her and she danced around, squealing with delight. Her little legs stretched to their utmost and like an elastic she bounced and leapt with complete abandon.
2007
Another student, Alacia Cortes, 9, has taken her first independent steps, thanks to a unique walker that suspends and stabilizes her, much like a Jolly Jumper.
References
- Jolly Jumper • "History"
- COD-2
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