Gadget Inspector: Bjorn Identity
Why are Baby Bjorns everywhere? We go to the Swedish Embassy to find out.
by Gwynne Watkins
November 8, 2007
Lisa clicked us through a slideshow demonstrating forty years of Baby Björn publicity photos, including the first one to feature a man carrying a baby (France was scandalized!). She also showed us a photo of Ellen Degeneres' "Oscar Björn" from last year's Academy Awards — a one-off visual gag that the Björn people seem to have taken very seriously.
Next up to the podium we had Avroy Fanaroff, a pioneer in the field of parent-infant bonding. His speech was focused on something called "kangaroo care," which (as far as I could discern in those twenty minutes) is the practice of putting a baby on the parent's naked chest in order to facilitate bonding. He showed us lots of charts and even more breastfeeding photos (Avroy would totally get kicked off Facebook). In the end, he tied it all together by saying that Baby Björns facilitate kangaroo care — which seems like a bit of a stretch, considering that there's no skin-to-skin touching or eye contact when a baby is strapped to your clothed chest. But whatever. He has more degrees than me.
Now it was time for the main event: America's Next Top Björn Model! Actually, 
Dr. Avroy Fanaroff, benevolent kangaroo expert.
The runway of America's Next Top
Björn Model.
No embassy would be complete without an Ikea showroom.
it was a runway show of Baby Björns through the decades. Instead of Tyra, we had pink-haired Björn creative director Lillemor Jakobson, who was both the oldest and hippest person in the room. As the models slinked down the runway, we watch the Björns turn from '60s denim to '70s corduroy, from '80s pastels to '90s neons, from breathable mesh to expensive satin. It was like seeing my mother's entire life in fabrics.
The day concluded with a tour of the Swedish Embassy, with its big, opulent . . . Ikea showroom. That's right, there's an Ikea showroom permanently housed in the Swedish Embassy. Judging from everything I'd seen that day in the Embassy, the most important contributions to Swedish culturehave been made by Ikea, Pippi Longstocking and Baby Björn (in that order).
On the train ride home, I looked over my press kit — and I had to admit, I'd totally drunk the Kool-Aid on Scandanavian baby stuff. The Baby Björn creators pride themselves on making products that are sleek, functional, and endlessly road-tested. And they put a high premium on safety. They sometimes develop a product for years, only to abandon it because it doesn't quite meet their safety standards. (In contrast to major American manufacturers, who are all, "You know what this baby spoon needs? Some lead paint!") They take children very seriously, those Swedes — as evidenced by this paragraph on "Children's Culture" from a Swedish Embassy pamphlet:
Because few children live idyllic lives, culture for them must dare to touch upon the difficult and the painful. Grief and divorce, unemployment, death, love, eroticism, betrayal and abuse all feature here, just as in culture for adults.
Sheesh. It's like a whole other country.
©2007 Gwynne Watkins and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Gwynne Watkins was Babble's founding Senior Editor. She has written for a variety of web and print publications, and her theatrical work has been produced throughout the New York area. Her new family musical, Tea with Chachaji, will premiere in early 2010. |
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