Medals Related to Babies

References:   Baxter 140, CoF 4, Marqusee 70

The obverse bears two nude babies. Above, BETTER BABIES. The reverse bears a field for the name of the recipient and the following legend: BETTER - BABIES - MEDAL / AWARDED BY / THE / WOMAN'S / HOME COMPANION; signed LAURA FRASER / SCULPTOR. The medal is edgemarked © CROWELL PUB. CO. 1913

Elaine Leotti, in her paper "The American Woman Medalist," comments:

"Fraser's Better Babies Medal done in 1913 for the Woman's Home Companion is her only piece which can truly be called feminine. It is a well balanced medal, nicely executed if a bit on the sentimental side. The babies' bare flesh is soft, almost palpable, their curls and dimpled elbows invite touch, thus appealing to exactly the audience the medal was meant to impress."

Today, the title "Better Babies" almost invariably elicits a wince or a giggle. What was the background for this medal? As the Eugenics Archive of Cold Harbor Spring Laboratory puts it:

At the beginning of the 20th century, citizens concerned about high infant mortality in the United States took up the call of "baby saving." These initiatives relied on standards for normal child development, as well as input from healthcare professionals and public health officials. Better Babies Contests addressed this concern for child welfare and physical development, becoming the first eugenic competitions held at state fairs.

The first "Scientific Baby Contest" to combine these standards was initiated by Mary DeGarmo in 1908 at the Louisiana State Fair. DeGarmo linked the competitions to the social efficiency movement and its call for standardized homes, roads, and schools. Many Progressives believed that such standardization would improve the lives of young children.

With the assistance of Dr. Jacob Bodenheimer, measures of contestants' physical and intellectual development were carefully recorded. Winning contestants often appeared in graduation gowns and were presented with "loving cups" to mark their achievement. By 1913, the Woman's Home Companion magazine co-sponsored the contests, which were simply known as "Better Babies Contests." The magazine presented certificates signed by DeGarmo and Bodenheimer documenting that winners had "a sound mind in a sound body."

Mary T. Watts and Florence Brown Sherbon had organized Better Babies in Iowa in 1911. However, in 1920 they were provided new evaluation forms by Charles Davenport, who was then a member of the American Association for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality (AASPIM). Using Davenport's forms, they organized the first "Fitter Families for Future Firesides Competition" at the Kansas State Free Fair. Watts and Sherbon added a hereditarian explanation for human differences to the Better Babies Contests' earlier focus on child development and welfare. Thus they completed the transformation of Scientific Baby Contests to a vehicle popularizing eugenic ideas.

The medal exists in a 33mm gold and a 51mm bronze variant. The Medallic Art Company struck it between 1912 and some time in the mid twenties and the total mintage is probably in the hundreds.

Sourced from the excellent E-Sylum and the Eugenics Archive.

References:   Baxter 355, MACo 1913-005

The medal's obverse bears a seated mother, facing left, cradling a swaddled baby, bassinet partially visible at left. Around top, MOTHERHOOD; signed at lower left, V.D. Brenner

The reverse bears winged putto on cloud, facing left, blowing a trumpet.

This medal is a restrike of the earlier Circle of Friends medal.  The theme proved popular and in 1929 the Medallic Art Company issued these small diameter variants of the original design.

The circular medal measures 50mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1929-025

The medal's obverse bears frmale nurse, kneeling left, playing with naked baby lying on ground. Around, · BEVERLY HOSPITAL · / INCORPORATED - 1893; signed at lower right, Dallin / 1930

The reverse bears a one-mast sailing ship, sailing left to right. Around left top, HANDICAP RACE; engaved, CLASS II · 1929; in cartouche under ship,engraved to SKIPPER; in exergue, 7

The dates on this medal are somewhat confused.  Cyrus E. Dallin himself dates it 1930 on the medal and this is also the year that Dick Johnson's reference lists for this medal.  On the other hand, the reverse has the medal awarded to SKIPPER in 1929, the year before the medal was supposed to be designed. My best guess is that the medal was used as a belated award for a charitable boat race that actually took place the previous year.

The medal measures 57.2mm in diameter and was struck by the Gorham Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island, in what appears to be gold-plated bronze. No mintage is reported.

This uniface medal shows young mother breastfeeding her baby, one hand holding her breast, the other supporting baby's head.

Maker's mark at 6:00 om edge, MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y.

The Medallic Art Company acquired the rights to this French medal in 1933 and made a stock medal in one size. Chapu was primarily a portrait medalist who had a great influence on young American artists who studied under him at the Academie Julian. Among his American pupils were such greats as John Flanagan, Hermon Atkins MacNeil, and Bela Pratt.

The medal measures 85mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1933-035, Marqusee 113

The medal's obverse bears a mother figure reminiscent of Mary at left holding a baby while priest at right performs the christening, open Bible held in one hand. In exergue, incuse HENRY ERNST LINCOLN LUHRS / 7 JUNE 1931; (PM monogram) at left.

The reverse bears dove before sun over christening basin; stars around circumference.

This is a very elegant medal and it caught my attention for two reasons. First, I could not make sense of what I assumed to be the artist's signature at left and second, the dedication is for the son of prominent numismatist and collector Henry Ernst Luhrs. I have since identified the medal's designer as Pietro Montana; not a terribly big surprise given the Christian subject matter and the date.

Dick Johnson dates this medal to 1934, but the Luhrs family either used it for a baptism in 1931 or post-dated the medal once it became available. Either way, it is a beautiful religious medal that goes with several others to form a loose spiritual series. Beyond baptism, there was also a set of medals for boys' and girls' confirmation, a medal for engagement, and finally a medal for marriage.

References:   MACo 1934-027

The medal's obverse bears a nude woman holding spirited infant with ball. Around, THE DANCE OF LIFE BEGINS EARLY / AND GOES ON.

The reverse bears nude male being pulled and pushed by two contending nude women. Around, WITH PLEASURE - PAIN / AND THE PROTAGONIST; between legs of figures, signature A - S - C / ©.

In this medal Alexander Stirling Calder portrays life as a dance that starts with playful exuberance and continues with experiences both pleasant and painful. It is not up to the dancer to decide how to dance, or even whether to dance. While every person is the protagonist in their own play, the script is continuously being written by others.

This design by Alexander Stirling Calder was chosen as the 17th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series. It measures 73mm in diameter. Struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York, the reported production quantity of this medal is 891 pieces in bronze and 100 in silver.

References:   MACo 1930-001-017, Marqusee 101, SoM 17

The medal bears kneeling mother holding infant up into the air for a kiss. Around, · AMERICAN COLLEGE of OBSTETRICIANS & GYNECOLOGISTS; at left, 1951

The style and subject matter tend to make me want to attribute the medal to Abram Belskie, who designed a lot of medals for medical colleges and practitioners and did a lot of his best work in this late art deco style.

The circular uniface medal measures 64mm in diameter and was struck in a greyish metal, probably lead. It is likely a trial strike of a medal I have not yet identified.

This was the first Norway medal to be created for the series. The design was probably inspired by the rapid expansion of speculative North Sea oil drilling at the time prompted by the 1973 oil crisis.

The obverse presents a view out to sea with an advancing line of oil drilling platforms in the background. Ung subtly suggests a sea covered by oil slick that has washed up a dead gull on the shore in the foreground. 

The emotive conservationist theme of the obverse is matched by the mother and child design on the reverse. Ung intended this to represent Mother Norway embracing the child of future prospects. The design is thus something of a landmark in nation gendering as Norway at that time did not have the tradition of female allegorical symbols of countries such as Russia (Mother Russia), England (Brittania), and France (Marianne). Ung's design adds the future child, layering in traditional religious icon elements to the design, implying that the present country needs to take care of and protect the future environment. He's followed the tradition of having the mother's gaze fixed on the child who is in turn looking out at the viewer.

References:   NorA NO-1975