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Crib Teething Rails Recalled

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 13) -- Okla Homer Smith Furniture Manufacturing Co., Inc., Ft. Smith, Ark., in cooperation with the (CPSC), tod ay announced a recall and replacement program for plastic teething rails on about 70,000-80,000 full-sized baby cribs made by the company. The cribs have been sold under about 180 model numbers by numerous department and baby furniture stores across the country, including Sears, Roebuck and Co., and Montgomery Ward.

A spokesman for the furniture company said the plastic teething rails may become brittle and pose a potential hazard of cracking when chewed. Broken pieces could be swallowed by a teething infant, become lodged in the windpipe or perhaps injure a baby in other ways.

The cribs with the teething rails being recalled can be identified by the label, "OKLA HOMER SMITH FURNITURE MANUFACTURING CO., INC.," on the inside of the headboard near the bottom, and a numerical manufacturing date for the period June 1976 through December 1976, ink-stamped underneath the headboard. Only cribs made in the June-December 1976 timeframe carry the potentially defective teething rails. Since the model numbers are too voluminous to list here, it is important that consumers look for the manufacturer's label and the manufacture date to see if they own one of the cribs.

All of the cribs are wooden, and almost all of the teething rails are white, with about one percent being red. The cribs ranged in price from $50-$100.

New rail covers can be obtained free-of-charge by contacting the retailer, or Okla Homer Smith at P.O. Box 1148, Ft. Smith, Ark. 72902. Consumers should be prepared to provide their names, addresses, whether the cribs are single - or double-drop-side units, and whether teething rails are present on the end panels.

Since the teething rails can crack at any time, anyone owning one of the cribs is entitled to free replacement rail covers even if the teething apparatus currently does not show signs of brittleness.