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moss bag
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
among certain Indian tribes, a kind of bag that is laced in front and sometimes attached to a cradle-board, used for carrying a baby and so called because the bag is lined with dry moss, which serves as a diaper. [See picture at cradle- board.]
Quotations
1743
[For clouts they use white mawse, twice a Day trying Drying itt well before the fire, or putt a Burning Coal, into the mawse which Dry's itt as well,--which is an Excellent thing Keeping the Child Constantly Dry, the soft mawse sucking all the Damp up,--Not being at the trouble and Charge other Nations are at, in Washing, Drying and Bying Cloth for clouts.]
1867
Cradles are never used; but this machine, called a "moss bag," is an excellent adjunct to the rearing of children up to a certain age, and has become almost, if not universally adopted in the families of the Hudson's Bay Company's employés.
1963
It is an event for the whole family, from the 15-day-old baby sleeping in a moss bag to the old lady of a hundred years. . . .