The Baby Incubators are a medical facility and sideshow attraction on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
History[]
The Incubators were established in 1902 by Dr. Martin Couney, a pioneer in premature care who had founded a similar installation the year before in Coney Island, New York, after years of touring international expositions to show his inventions. The installations financed themselves initially by charging visitors with $1, and later with whatever donation they wished to pay (in the show Boardwalk Empire the entry is shown to be worth 25 cents instead).
Season 1[]
Nucky Thompson stops in front of the building and stares at a premature baby being weighted and then placed in an incubator in January 17, 1920. He then walks to the pier to stare at the sea. ("Boardwalk Empire")
Nucky makes a donation to the incubators some days later. Lucy overhears him on the phone and confides to him that the place spooks her, praising his decision to not have children. ("Broadway Limited")
The Incubators are later visited by the Darmody family in August 1920. Jimmy jokes with his son Tommy that he and his mother Angela found him there and took him home after being prepared in one of those "ovens". Tommy replies that he is fooling him. After a laugh, Jimmy leaves Tommy on the ground, and the child runs to the nearby Dittrich Studios. ("The Emerald City")
Season 2[]
Prohibition agent Nelson Van Alden is riding a cart in the Atlantic City Boardwalk with his wife Rose for their 13th anniversary when they pass the Baby Incubators. Nelson suggests visiting Lucy the Elephant in Margate, but Rose, distracted by the incubators, does not hear what he says. ("21")
| Season one appearances | |||
| Boardwalk Empire | The Ivory Tower | Broadway Limited | Anastasia |
| Nights in Ballygran | Family Limitation | Home | Hold Me in Paradise |
| Belle Femme | The Emerald City | Paris Green | A Return to Normalcy |
| Season two appearances | |||
| 21 | Ourselves Alone | A Dangerous Maid | What Does the Bee Do? |
| Gimcrack & Bunkum | The Age of Reason | Peg of Old | Two Boats and a Lifeguard |
| Battle of the Century | Georgia Peaches | Under God's Power She Flourishes | To the Lost |