Long gown

The donor wrote that the gowns in this gift escaped the unfortunate fate of the rest of the family's baby clothes (said to have been destroyed in a fire at the family home) because they were sent to South Africa for her when she was born in 1921. "I never wore them because too hot but that is how they were kept separately from the rest". In fact, even in the UK such gowns would not have been in general use by this date, but no doubt they were sent to South Africa by older members of the family such as the grandparents, whose own experience of caring for babies would have meant ensuring that they did not catch cold.