Incubators have been around since the late 1800s, originally just to warm babies, but then helping premature babies everywhere thrive. However, they haven’t always been in the same atmosphere you normally see them in. Because incubators were too expensive for most hospitals to have, Dr. Martin Couney, an innovative specialist in this area, turned them into an exhibit for the first time in 1903.
That’s right, people would come and pay a fee to watch the babies. One incubator exhibit was a permanent fixture for decades at Coney Island, and others were added at Luna Park and Dreamland. While many were skeptical and Dr. Couney was hesitant to charge people money, it was something that attracted public interest, and it helped save the lives of over 6,000 babies.