It's a Baby-Tenda! Mom had one, and all three of us (we're in our 60s now) were fed in it when we were toddlers, and amused ourselves with blocks, etc while my mother cooked. Ours had wheels and a checkerboard on the tabletop. I have never seen another one.

Ah, as to safety-- ours had a seatbelt, but I did end up rolling myself down a short flight of stairs.

If I had one as a toddler, I don't remember (grew up in Hawaii and mom just tossed us in the yard in a playpen). But had something similar for my kids....they could scoot around while I was busy doing stuff in the house and it had a tray on it for toys, crackers, etc. Very handy and now that both of them are grown with good jobs, well educated, and families of their own, guess it never harmed their development. lol.

I really appreciate all the feedback and the chatter that my simple request has generated. But I received a surprising response from the Babee Tenda company when I sent an information request to them as you can see below. Does anyone have any pictures of a similar item with the Babee Tenda logo decal on it?

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From: Babee Tenda [mailto:babeetenda@babeetenda.com]
Sent: November-25-14 10:41 AM
To: Gary Fera
Subject: Information on a Vintage Babee Tenda Item

I'm sorry we cannot help you, this is not a BabeeTenda product. Thank you.

----- Original Message -----
From: Gary Fera
To: babeetenda@babeetenda.com
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2014 7:45 PM
Subject: Information on a Vintage Babee Tenda Item

Is there any way to get some information about the item below that was given to me by a friend? It is awesome. Thank you.

Gary

I am the first of seven children. We all sat, played and ate in it. Sometimes fell over and was put right back in it. Five of us ended up with college degrees.
By the way, It was still around when my son was learning to sit up. Guess what --Yes---he spent some time in it. Ended up with a degree in aerospace engineering.

The ad included earlier by rouxb is what my Babee-Tenda looked like. The one in your original picture, Gary, may have been an item with the same idea, but modified, or made by a competitor. It does look different and larger than the advertised one and the one we had folded up, just like the picture. Yours represents the idea of the Babee-Tenda, and that is what I was responding to, but if there is no logo/name on yours, it probably isn't the exact brand. Even I remember seeing the name as a first grader and questioning the spelling to my mother.

People used to be quite crafty back in the day. It is possible that someone handmade that, instead of buying the commercial version. Is there a manufacturere's stamp anywhere?

I can see some guy putting wheels on it and a steering wheel and making it into a go cart- looks pretty sturdy! LOL

Some great new comments. Thanks. No harm to the kids using them from the newer feedback. And yes this could be a look alike from a competitor. There are no identifying marks that I could find but I haven't started to take it apart yet.

Gary

We used to have similar thing when I was a kid - and me and my brother spent some time in it growing up as it was believed to provide safe environment and help to learn to walk earlier back then.
I believe this thing is ok for perfectly healthy kids though several doctors strongly advised against when we considered one for my son who was a late walker because of his medical condition. The main objection was against forcing to walk before a toddler is ready - as muscles need to be toned first which most of the kids do via crawling. The "thing" does not offer crawling option so the kid learns to move via moving his legs (like walking).

It looks like a mid-century modern version of the Babee-Tenda. May have been custom made rather than a manufactured piece.

We also had one of the original Babee-Tendas used by both myself and my sister. Ours did not function as a walker, but was a safe place to "park" the baby while they ate or played with toys while adults were busy cooking or doing other tasks.

OMGosh. Love this little item. It is a wonderful piece of mid century furniture and I am quite jealous of the owner. If you ever want to sell keep me in mind.

Yes, garyfera, your model looks like a custom job...mine looked just like the one in the wonderful black and white ad from days gone by...THAT was my model. You certainly got a lot of airtime on this one!!! Much fun...thanks.

The original Babee Tenda is still around: http://www.babeetenda.com

I was the first in my family (born 1948) to use the Babee Tenda. It was not used as a walker but a place to "contain" a child safely. Wheels were a convenience so Mom could move us from room to room. I was fed there, played there and was safely held in place by a web belt, similar to a 3-point harness. No danger of falling out! After you out-grew the seat, the back made the table top "complete" by covering the hole made by the seat and a child could then use it as a play table. Had many tea parties and coloring sessions on it. That same Babee Tenda has been used for 3 generations in our family with no issues. Would use it again with no problems.

Chopin12 is my hero

Wow, still making them! thanks for the link Kathy Dunn!

So much better and SO much more attractive than those plastic "play station" you see now.
This is a real heirloom piece of furniture.
What a find!
Regards,
Karen & Joseph
for Decorative Philosophy

My mother died 6 years ago and I am still hanging on to this child's furniture piece. The legs of the unit can be tucked under and the unit was used as a rocker. It was used in our household for Infant children to have a nap or sit and play with toys or be fed at while sitting, while mother was busy in the kitchen cooking, baking, or using her ringer washer machine with the cold tub for rinsing her load. My goodness she worked hard in those days. My mother refused to get rid of it and used it as a storage unit for her yarn and knitting projects.

Now that she is gone it is up for sale.

I continue to be delighted with all the feedback and comments. I really don't think this is a custom hand made model based on the 2 pictures right at the start of all of this dialogue. The first picture of the one that I have and the second picture is of one that was sold on eBay about a year based on a Pinterest item that I found. They are the same item in my opinion.

This is indeed an heirloom piece of furniture and I plan to refinish it (it could become my 100th project - what a great hobby). I am considering selling it in the Toronto, Canada market place. There would be no market in the small city that I live in.

Thank you all.

Gary

Diane Smith ... I just saw your comment. What are the chances that you could post a picture of you item? Do you have it listed?

Gary

P.S. I'll disappear for awhile to go back to my monster refinishing project on the buffet below which I am doing for my sister for Christmas.

I sat in one after I was born, in 1947; it went on to serve my four younger siblings and my eldest nephew. When he outgrew it, it became the base of his dungeons and dragons empire.

In 1956, Babee Tenda sued a company called Scharco, which made a similar product and used the name baby tender. Scharco lost and was prevented from continuing sale of the product.

My baby tenda had wheels and an adjustable seat. It was still good when I had my grandkids. I think it is in the basement. I will have to look for it.

This is a safe box for a toddler to play with toys or eat or just watch .Mothers used these to put their toddlers in while doing house work or other tasks. They would take it from room to room and as long as there was something to keep the child occupied they could continue their work. I had one with a horse painted on the sides. I did not have many toys but an Eaton's Catalogue was one of my favorite toys. Times sure have changed.

nice

We had the one in the black and white ad posted by rouxb. When we were finished with it, it became the play table until it was too low for us. I think the legs folded like a card table and the (as stated before) seat back folded to fill the hole with the seat snapping (maybe) to the underside for easy transport to 'grandma's house'. My mom would put it against a wall so my sister wouldn't get in the way!! What memories...

Yes, it's called a Baby Tenda - my brothers and sisters used this back in the 50's early 60's until it was banned because it was rolling down stairs.

What a great piece. If I had a grandchild, I'd use it. It got the good Housekeeping seal of approval back then. Just don't use it around stairs and you should be fine.

I would recommend taking the wheels off if you were to consider using it for an infant, but please don't use it. It most definitely would not meet current safety standards as "walkers" ( child propelled walkers) are a safety hazard and have been outlawed for decades. Current exer- saucers are stationary for a good reason ( falls down stairs or children having items fall on them as they bump into them with walker). Children are too precious to take any chances. Now, don't get me started about the paint.

According to todays standards it would not be safe to use for a toddler because of sharp edges and potential of splinters. If tipped over your child could be seriously injured. Put a doll in it and use as décor item.

Back when I was a toddler it was considered to be a safe box but not now.

@chopin12: I hang my head in shame. O my. Considering your chastising, yesterday I stuffed the bird, didn't use a thermometer and left it at room temp until everyone showed up. So far, no one
has reported anything untoward. Next, I think i'll head down to the local antique/thrift store to get a circa 1970s crib for the baby.

P.S. I actually owned a Pinto and survived.

Well. In the forties, fifties, and up to the seventies parents raised their children. We all survived. Now, we live in a nanny state, and the Government and some poking women who think they know it all are trying to tell us how to raise our children. They are in our living rooms, kitchens, refrigerators, medicine cabinets, and even trying to get into our bedrooms and our sex lives.

The actual Babee Tenda wasn't a walker, but a card-table-height and size table, with a foot rest for the baby's feet. It also had a harness attached, to keep the baby from trying to crawl out; it was really pretty safe. The reason my family didn't pass it to any later babies was that, with age, the fastenings that secured the folding legs loosened and there was concern a leg might collapse - that almost happened once. It was then relegated to play table status.

I suspect the subject table was also not intended to be a walker-with all that wood much too heavy for an infant or toddler to move with just chubby little legs. And, it isn't painted.

I still remember the day my mother put my little brother in whatever version of "Baby Tender" we had, and he went racing down the hall, "walking" on his own for the very first time. He was so happy as he went smashing into walls and we ran after him! This was in 1964, and our version was meant to be a walker as well as play table. It was made of wood with skinny legs, a square table top, and was certainly not too heavy for a toddler to wheel around. I do remember that they were discontinued or banned after that because children were falling down stairs in them, (nothing beats supervision) and it was decades before I saw anything like it that children can propel themselves in. I know how important crawling is, and there are orthopedic considerations when a child is learning to walk, but at the same time, their legs do need strengthening. There are versions for sale now, of course all rounded and plastic and pretty, but they do the same thing - they let a child sit in it and propel themselves, and it makes me wonder why they could ban it then and how they could bring it back?

Back when my parents were children my grandmama had my grandpa make one. During the depression people didn't buy things like they do today so they didn't spend spend money on things you could have made as grandmama would say. I had looked through pictures of grandmamas foster children in these funny looking things and asked her questions about what these kids were in. She called it her Baby tender too. Me being confused I questioned why didn't you tender them over the knee like you did us? I thought it was a spanking machine. She corrected me as she was laughing no no Rhonda that's just what they called them it's a wooden walker just like the plastic and metal round one your mother uses for your sister thought I'd share that with you because maybe yours is hand made also

well maybe a child could "walk" in it, but they would have to be future NBA stars as the height of the table to the floor was about 30-36 inches - high enough that when we children were 4-7 years old and wanted to color or have tea parties our child-size chairs fit under the table. They are a lot higher than the plastic walkers on the market now. There is no way a child could get anywhere near stairs unless a mom strapped a true "toddler" in it. They were not meant for toddlers to walk in, but to be "contained" so a mom could work in different rooms of the house and keep baby occupied at the same time.

Our version had a fabric sling that was adjustable so that the toddler's feet just touched the floor, and off they went, walking.

The design looks like it is from the 1950s. I'm a fan of mid-century modern design, and this has the "feel" of that period, or even as early as Bauhaus.

I'm sure you can evaluate it for safety and alter it if you are concerned. Personally, I like wood better than plastic. :-)

I think a lot of people above are confusing the Babee Tenda with a baby walker (many manufacturers). The former cannot be used as a walker or propelled by the infant as their feet don't touch the ground. The latter is a device that has many critics and is related to many infant injuries: http://www.newbornbabyzone.com/baby-products/is-it-safe-to-use-a-baby-walker/

If found a 19th century version on-line:
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/more-furniture-collectibles/childrens-furniture/19th-century-baby-minder/id-f_1247762/

Kathy Dunn you have hit the jackpot. What you found online looks way more like what I have than the Babee Tenda. Still searching to try to find out who made the unit that I have

Kathy Dunn----Some may be confusing it with a baby walker but I am not. I sat in one, my siblings sat in it. my son sat in it. Any toy can be dangerous if not used properly or without supervision. Have you heard the one about the mother who is trying to have all swings banned because her child had a fatal accident in one??

It is the proto-type for Bam-Bam's car

I imagine a lot like today's equivalent of the bumbo seat and walking room.

Haven't read other comments yet, but I had one of these for my kid over 35 years ago. It wasn't a rocker, but it did convert from a high chair to a table. Very handy.

Mine didn't have wheels. The high chair was table height and the eating/play table was low without wheels. Used it for both my children in the mid-70s. Not sure what I did with it.

My mother had one and we were feed in it and kept in it while she did work around the house. It was called a "baby tender".

I am curious to know if you ever found the name for this piece. And if you sold it? I am in Canada as well and i have one too. Looking for more information on