History of Baby Showers

While the ancient Egyptians did not hold baby showers as we know them today, they did observe rituals associated with birth and pregnancy. However, the details surrounding the rituals of childbirth and pregnancy are difficult to study in detail because they were essentially female-centered events. In addition, as in many cultures, both ancient and modern, Egyptian celebrations associated with childbirth took place after the birth. Soon after the infant's arrival, the mother and child in the Old Kingdom were secluded so that the pollution of birth could be contained and eliminated, often for 14 days. There is also evidence that certain domestic rituals took place after 40 days.

Though the nature of these rituals is unclear, they most likely involved visiting temples or local shrines and included the ritualized disposal of the after-birth, such as the umbilical cord and the placenta. Archaeological evidence from the site of the New Kingdom village of Deir el-Medina mentions "the festival of so-and-so's" daughter, which may refer to a gathering or celebration after the birth during which the baby was named to mark its identity and suggest rights and privileges (Johnston 2004). These rituals of inclusion underscored broader identities and membership in the larger community.

Like the Egyptians, ancient Greeks celebrated pregnancy after the birth of the child. When the child was born, both the mothers and attendants shouted oloyge (a strident noise) to signal the labor was over and peace had arrived. Immediately after the umbilical cord was cut, the baby and mother were bathed, though they would remain impure for 10 days and their helpers for five days.

On the fifth or seventh day after birth, the child would be welcomed by a ceremony called Amphidromia (Running Round) in which the father would walk around the hearth several times, symbolizing the infant's integration into the household. In a ritual called Dekate (Tenth Day) the mother would return to her place in society marked by a meal attended by her close relatives and friends. (In modern Iran, family members still visit the mother on the tenth day after birth.) Mothers would dedicate gifts to the main birth-goddess Eileithyia (whose sanctuary was found at the edge of the city), such as girdles, dresses, and other objects associated with birth (Johnston 2004). For many women, giving birth was the only way for them to gain recognition in a male world, and childless marriages ran a greater risk for divorce.

Childbirth was an almost mystical event during the Renaissance, and mothers-to-be would often be surrounded with references to the Annunciation to encourage and celebrate her. Unpublished inventories, diaries, and letters indicate that pregnancy and birth were celebrated with a wide range of birth objects such as wooden trays, bowls, and majolica wares, painting, sculptures, clothing, linens, and food. Painted childbirth trays, in particular, were popular items and were inscribed with wishes for good health and successful childbirth. They were used to both carry food and gifts to the new mother and serve as decoration to be hung on the wall. Such childbirth objects emphasized the family and procreation and encouraged Renaissance women to fulfill a maternal role.

The predecessor to modern-day baby showers began to take shape during the Victorian era. A Victorian woman would keep her pregnancy a secret as long as possible and would not appear in public due to cultural definitions of proper behavior. Even the words "pregnant" or "pregnancy" were nearly taboo. After she gave birth, however, often other women would hold tea parties for the new mother--but only afterthe baby was born. In a move that may hint at modern baby shower games, women would attempt to predict pregnancy with childish games. For example, if two teaspoons were accidentally placed together on a saucer, it would be speculated that a woman might be expecting. In the early 1900s, the post-birth tea parties turned into showers. Gifts were typically handmade, except, as in the Middle Ages, the grandmother would give silver. A woman who had a second baby might be thrown a "sprinkling."

The modern baby shower started after WWII during the baby boom era and evolved with the consumer ideology of 1950s and 1960s. In other words, baby showers in the mid-twentieth century not only served an economic function by providing the mother-to-be and her home with material goods that lessened the financial burden of infant care, but purchased "things" also emerged as the principle whereby women make themselves into mothers. The commodities associated with pregnancy and birth served to construct the identity of the fetus as a social being (and often become treasured objects of many women who lose their baby). Rituals of the modern baby shower include "showering" the mother-to-be with presents, making shopping trips organized around the baby-to-be, establishing a playful atmosphere at the shower, and placing the mother-to-be on a chair for her to sit on as she opens her gifts and passes them around for her guests to view.

The shower, in many senses, serves to indoctrinate the woman into the special behaviors associated with her new role in society. Paradoxically, though, the cute games played at the shower tend to infantilize the woman and return her to innocence--and the central chair, often decorated, also gestures toward a symbolic return to the virginal, nonsexual state associated with Mother Mary, Queen of the World. The modern baby shower, then, supports the themes regarding the woman's transition to a more dependent, but pure state while also creating and reinforcing the personal relationships which form the community.