Loom Baby Carriage

Q:      I have a Lloyd Loom baby carriage that was bought for my dad when he was born in 1924. The inside has been re-covered but everything else is original and is still in very good condition. It has glass porthole-type windows in the side of the hood, a wooden handle, rubber tires on the wheels, and a brake. A metal tag on it says, “Lloyd Loom Products” and “Method Patented Oct. 16, 1917.” Can you tell me approximately when it was built and the current value? It’s priceless to me because it was my dad’s.

A :       Marshall B. Lloyd (1858-1927) was an inventor and manufacturer. He opened Lloyd Manufacturing Co. in Menominee, Mich., in 1907 and began making children’s wagons. In 1914 the company began making hand-woven wicker baby carriages. Then in 1917 Lloyd was granted a patent for a method of making a wicker-like material by weaving twisted brown wrapping paper around metal wires. He also invented a loom that wove the material, making the process much faster than weaving by hand. Lloyd Loom fabric is the name of the woven material. In 1919 Lloyd sold the patent for the process to a British furniture manufacturer. Your baby carriage was made between 1917, when the patent was issued, and 1924, the year your father was born. Today these carriages are not considered safe to use with a real baby, so they usually sell to doll collectors or decorators. It’s worth about $300.