Historic Berkeley Regis

Lakeside Amusement Park’s Baby Incubators-Part 1

Hard as it is to believe today, several American amusement parks featured exhibits of live premature babies in incubators during the early twentieth century. At the time, incubators principally were known as heated enclosed boxes farmers used to hatch chicken eggs. Even with improved design, they were not widely endorsed by doctors as useful in saving infants’ lives.

Beginning in the spring of 1911, our own Lakeside Amusement Park became the setting for a display introducing people to and touting the benefits of incubators. Historian David Forsyth indicates the incubator babies were located “in a quiet corner near the grand stairway that led down from the tower.” The Rocky Mountain News described the scene in April 1911, no doubt using some information provided by the doctor in charge:

“Another very interesting new feature is the Baby Incubator, the only one in the West. Formerly, when premature infants opened their eyes in this world, they usually lingered a short while and then departed for more congenial climes. Now, thanks to the modern incubator, 85 per cent of these little folks are saved. A doctor will be in continual attendance at the park and will lecture upon the subject every afternoon and evening. These infants weigh from twelve to eighteen ounces and one of them could readily be put into the average size hat and still give the infant plenty of room.”

In Part 2 we will explore more of the display’s features and operation, as well as the stories of some babies who were cared for at Lakeside.

Sources: David Forsyth, Denver's Lakeside Amusement Park (Boulder, Colo.: University Press of Colorado, 2016); Rocky Mountain News, 23 April 1911.

Pelicans were enjoying Rocky Mountain Lake today! Photo by AC

Denver residents push for upgrade to playground amid safety concerns The park at 41st and Tennyson, formerly known as Cesar Chavez Park, sits at the heart of Denver’s Berkeley neighborhood. For many residents, it is a daily gathering spot.

Here's a notice from Parisi after their fire earlier this week. This sale is taking place today at 4401 Tennyson Street (NW corner of W. 44th Avenue) in the restaurant parking lot north of the building.