The Jolly Jumper

Funny how 12 years between kids can yield such different toys. When my oldest daughter was young, I had a Jolly Jumper given to me that had been passed down over the years and was on its last legs. It was the type that hung in the door and Michaela just loved it. I also remember back in the early 70′s, when my brother was a toddler, there being a Jolly Jumper in the house for him to play in. Maybe I played in one too but I can’t remember that far back – that was 40 years ago! With the birth of my second daughter in November 2009, I have been acquiring some new toys for her – one being a new Jolly Jumper – and she absolutely loves it.

As it turns out, Jolly Jumpers have been around for quite some time I have recently found out. The first Jolly Jumper was invented by Susan Olivia Poole in 1910 and produced for the retail markets in 1948. Poole was born in 1889 and died in 1975. As part Ojibway, she watched her elders strap their babies to cradle boards to carry them as “papooses”. While working in the fields, a mother would often hang the papoose on a sturdy tree limb and soothe the baby by occasionally pulling on the tree limb to cause a bouncing motion.

When Poole had her first child in 1910, she made him a swing and called it a Jolly Jumper. She made the harness from a cloth diaper and a blacksmith created a steel spring. An axe handle was used for the spreader bar. She made these for all of her seven children. In 1942, Poole and her minister husband moved to Vancouver BC and as their grandchildren arrived, she continued to make Jolly Jumpers for each of them.

Poole and her son Joseph Poole patented the Jolly Jumper in 1957 and started to manufacture Jolly Jumpers at the Poole Manufacturing Co. Ltd in British Columbia Canada. Fortunately, for all babies and parents, the Jolly Jumper is still being manufactured today in Mississauga Ontario under the original name of Jolly Jumper. There are two models available, the Jolly Jumper on the stand (which is the one that I have for my daughter) and the one that hangs from a door frame.

I love the history of the Jolly Jumpers but I also very much like that they help to improve your child’s balance and develop coordination while supporting the back. They are recommended to use only until the child is 28 pounds in weight or walking, whichever comes first.

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