Here I describe the backstory to the development of the “baby machine” technique that ultimately led to our description of the E. coli cell cycle published in 1968 (Cooper and Helm- stetter, 1968; Helmstetter and Cooper, 1968; Helmstetter et al., 1968). At the conclusion of this personal account, I attempt to dispel any impression that there are major complexities associated with either performing the baby machine procedure, or perhaps of more pertinence, with deci- phering the growth-rate dependency of chromosomal replication patterns. Both undertakings are actually quite simple to carry out, as I endeavor to explain with a few relatively painless illustrations