In the late 1940s, baby clothes and nursery items were relatively simple. Soft cotton gowns, flannel diapers and basic bassinets were standard. Formal baby portraits were common, often featuring infants swaddled and propped on pillows with little more than a soft toy or blanket as decoration. These early images reflect a time when babyhood was viewed through a lens of routine, modesty and order — values still deeply rooted in the wartime years that had just ended.
By the 1950s, family life was becoming more centered on the home, and that included how babies were fed, clothed, entertained and raised. Baby gear became more elaborate, with the introduction of playpens, plastic toys, matching layette sets and new styles of high chairs and cribs. Photos from this time often show babies in structured play or daily care settings — smiling in bathtubs, perched in booster seats, or rolling around with early wheeled toys. These glimpses show how postwar prosperity filtered into even the smallest details of family life.
The visual culture of the time also reflects changing ideas about parenting itself. Families were encouraged to follow expert advice, keep schedules and make use of new tools to help raise happy, healthy children. The tone of the era was one of confidence — mothers were expected to manage households efficiently, and childhood was presented as a time of predictable progress through milestones and routines.
Below, we’ve collected a set of 1940s baby pictures and 1950s baby pictures highlighting how early babyhood looked for Baby Boomers.
Mom with a baby on a little ride-on toy (1942)
Boxer Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) as a baby – born in 1942
When Baby Boomers were babies: Baby in a playpen with toys back in the 1940s
Newborn infant being fingerprinted in the hospital (1943)
A man looking into the future (insurance ad from 1943)
Row upon row of bassinets — and a nurse holding up a baby. The baby!
But Dad sees more than a newborn son. He sees a long future stretching ahead… a future of companionship and fun… of kite flying… of camping trips… of electric trains… a thousand confidences to be shared.
Yes, being a father is a job — with a future. And that future is the most important thing in the world. In years to come, that little tot in the nurse’s arms will look toward you, depend on you — don’t let him down, Dad.
Today, just as it has been since the year 1875, The Prudential’s business is with the future — your family’s future, and that of some 8,000,000 other American families. Our job is to help make those tomorrows safe and secure — and to make today happier by giving you the peace of mind that wisely bought life insurance can bring.
Mom and baby doing nicely now… thanks to a fungus! (1944)
Baby Diana Ross – Born in 1944 (restored photo)
Mom wearing a toilet paper mask to protect baby from a cold (1945)
New mom at home in bed with baby (1945)
Nestled in bed with her newborn — and the little one’s sailor dad is home from the war! (Vintage ad for North Star Blankets)
Taking baby’s footprint for an old-fashioned birth certificate (1944)
1940s mom and her newborn baby boy (1948)
Newborn baby and a 1940s labor & delivery nurse (1948)
Five minutes old… and all yours! Actual delivery room scene. A nurse gently lowers the newborn infant into his sterile receiving blanket.
“May I make the introductions, mother?” (1949)
This was part of a series of vintage Johnson & Johnson baby lotion ads featuring newborn babies
1940s nurse wearing a mask with a newborn baby (1949)
1940s newborn getting an ID bracelet (1948)
1940s baby getting a bath in the kitchen sink
Cute baby boy getting a bath in the sink (1940s)
Little boy on his first Christmas in 1948
The pajama bottoms don’t quite fit!
Mother holding newborn baby in back seat of car (1946)
1950s baby pictures
Baby-sitting is not just sitting (1950)
Showing off a picture of a newborn baby – with the nurse! (1956)
Family looking at newborn through the hospital window (1958)
Mom with baby in front seat of car – 1959
Kids without seatbelts in big old-fashioned car from the 1950s
1950s mom with baby in a single twin bed
1950s father visiting hospital nursery to see new baby
Hospital nursery with newborn babies in 1955
