Remember when?

even i am not old enough for these gems.

source: The Dangerous Playgrounds of the Past Through Vintage Photographs, 1880s-1940s - Rare Historical Photos

my 85 year old mom can tell stories of some of these death rigs.

seriously happy some of these houses of horror got retired, before my little boy, "king of the hill" bravado kicked in.

some of you older folks may have done some of these contraptions into the '50's.

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I was born in the 50's but remember nothing like that height wise, but when I was a little older in my teenage years we figured out with the help of a friend that the canvas chain link swings at our old elementary school could be spun around over the top for quite a few turns. Daredevils we were...


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I’ve seen some old pictures of the stuff like you have shown plus huge wooden slides that dumped kids into a river.

I will dig them up, scan them and post.
 
I was born in the 50's but remember nothing like that height wise, but when I was a little older in my teenage years we figured out with the help of a friend that the canvas chain link swings at our old elementary school could be spun around over the top for quite a few turns. Daredevils we were...

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when i was about 10 i was finally heavy enough (or peer pressured enough) to try to "wrap a swing" around the bar. we had a set like this in our local public park.

lived to tell about obviously ... but goes back to that old saying about " babies & fools"

i went around maybe 95 degrees from BDC, and started dropping straight down, head first.

last second leg kick, or an arm jerk, that got my a*" to flip toward the ground, and miraculously missed the bar (observers say it wasnt by much), cracked like a whip at BDC, and was flung outta the swing.

after i stopped crying, so what does my dumb a** do?

promptly try again until i went around .. once .. and enjoyed my rite of passage kudos. manhood proven, we all hopped on our "stingrays" and split :poke:.

easy peasy till about age 12 ( maybe 5-6 times total, didn't have the nads to keep going around more than once, else my Dad woulda surely killed me, if i didn't kill myself) .. then "swinging" was for "girls", "little" boys, or other kids not under death threat from their folks for being so reckless.

:)
 
I was born in the 50's but remember nothing like that height wise, but when I was a little older in my teenage years we figured out with the help of a friend that the canvas chain link swings at our old elementary school could be spun around over the top for quite a few turns. Daredevils we were...


.
We used get all the way to top of the upper rail and the let go and try to make a 10 point landing without breaking a leg!! Those were the days!
 
We used get all the way to top of the upper rail and the let go and try to make a 10 point landing without breaking a leg!! Those were the days!
the kid in black is my hero - stuck the landing.

the kid in green is looking to get hurt - late on his "dismount" and went more up than out :)

 
My young-uns had it easy. Grew up "soft" - plastic, sand, pretty colors, railings, etc. .:)

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I tease my kids right back, and then remind them of me walking 20 miles each way to school. Wasn't true, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.:poke:
And don’t forget, plastic is a PETROLEUM product (gasp)!! And it’s NOT biodegradable??
 
Wasnt near high enough!!

our thing was like the "broad jump" in track & field.

the further away from the swing set you could land, if you could extend your arms out, feet forward, and stick the landing (at least land on your feet), that first spot your feet touched was your distance.

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The kid in black shirt, landed on his feet, and fell forward. He gets good marks for form and distance.

THe kid in green shirt shanked it ..landed on his feet but never really left the launch pad. Again, by the stingray club standards, he was daring enough to try, but just needed practice.


These kids below are good, but a few need work. Mostly on dismount (form). And landing. You cant land backward, even if its on your feet. We'd take you out of the "medal round":poke:

Man, those were the days. Honestly, remember it like yesterday, though over a half-century ago for me.




Now, this young lady could be in the "stingray flyers". She got her head above the bar on the backswing, got in a strong pull toward BDC. dismount and landing flawless. Got out there about seven feet away from the set.

she's pretty happy with herself. And barefoot no less. (sorry, gotta watch about 10 seconds of an ad before you can skip it).

https://www.weareiowa.com/embeds/video/responsive/524-276743d4-77b9-44bf-80c1-1fbf0e05205b/iframe

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I tease my kids right back, and then remind them of me walking 20 miles each way to school. Wasn't true, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.:poke:
My parents got to say that, not the 20 miles part, but the fact that they grew up in Winnipeg—including the winter.

They deprived me of similar stories. I don’t have kids, but do drive a school bus. “A C-body Chrysler with a potent V-8, heater, a/c, radio” just doesn’t have the same effect.

we all hopped on our "stingrays" and split :poke:.

easy peasy till about age 12 ( maybe 5-6 times total, didn't have the nads to keep going around more than once, else my Dad woulda surely killed me, if i didn't kill myself) .. then "swinging" was for "girls", "little" boys, or other kids not under death threat from their folks for being so reckless.

:)
Without helmets, I’m sure.

Dad to me: “You’re almost at a 180-degree circle!”

Brother to Dad: “No, that’s half a circle.”

Only swing-set accident I had was attempting to crawl under a “passenger swing” (tubular steel contraption hinged at the top of the swingset A-frame, two seats for two facing each other). At age four, that whole “force = mass x acceleration” thing wasn’t exactly familiar. Part of the frame dug a miniature ditch in my scalp! I ran inside and lay on my parents bed (they were home.) The bedspread must have looked like a bloody crime scene!

And don’t forget, plastic is a PETROLEUM product (gasp)!! And it’s NOT biodegradable??

And very likely made in Foo King, China.
 
My parents got to say that, not the 20 miles part, but the fact that they grew up in Winnipeg—including the winter.

They deprived me of similar stories. I don’t have kids, but do drive a school bus. “A C-body Chrysler with a potent V-8, heater, a/c, radio” just have the same effect.


Without helmets, I’m sure.

Dad to me: “You’re almost at a 180-degree circle!”

Brother to Dad: “No, that’s half a circle.”

Only swing-set accident I had was attempting to crawl under a “passenger swing” (tubular steel contraption hinged at the top of the swingset A-frame, two seats for two facing each other). At age four, that whole “force = mass x acceleration” thing wasn’t exactly familiar. Part of the frame dug a miniature ditch in my scalp! I ran inside and lay on my parents bed (they were home.) The bedspread must have looked like a bloody crime scene!

And very likely made in Foo King:), China.

diggin' the story -- minus your mishap.

helmets? not the stingray club in the 70's.

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Again I say..... those were the days! Mine had a 12 sissy bar, I think thats what we called them, that I leaned back on to pull wheelies until my fat 10 yr old butt broke it and I landed flat on my back, goose egg on back of my head and 2 skinned elbows. Brothers laughed and my pride was to hurt to cry! Yep!, those were the days!!
 
Once as ubiquitous as traffic lights, now unicorns. And, this one doesnt even have a receiver anymore.

I took this five years ago. Saw it yesterday, and it hasn't changed a bit.

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Again I say..... those were the days! Mine had a 12 sissy bar, I think thats what we called them, that I leaned back on to pull wheelies until my fat 10 yr old butt broke it and I landed flat on my back, goose egg on back of my head and 2 skinned elbows. Brothers laughed and my pride was to hurt to cry! Yep!, those were the days!!
Those were the days... LOL and the injuries... Here's one unforgettable injury, back when I was I'don know how old but with plenty of time on my hands (disadvantage kid no summer camp type) plus paper route cash to burn, me and a friend would go down to the hardware store and buy the long threaded bars with nuts, some steel/rubber wagon wheels, no wasting time going to scavenge at the dump as hardware store was closer but we did get washing machine pulleys and belts at dump. We would cobble up a go-kart real quick and it was all plywood, 2x4's with bent over nails holding the threaded rod axles to the 2x4's with a rope and feet's on steering with the front 2x4 rod axle.
It was my cast iron reel mower engine with a over the shoulder string for a throttle and we used it so much that the front steering wheel tires got overheated and one came off the steel wheel... didn't stop us, still did laps around the block with one tire and one rashed up steel wheel. Welp one day my friend said let's go somewhere(?) down to the field to check the snake traps(?) and told me to stand on the back holding on to his shoulders as in 2 up riding... I was leery as he was older and was known to do 'dumb stuff', I go on with a command to GO SLOW! He didn't and on the first turn at the end of the block I tipped over to the left still holding on to his shoulders tipping him off the Kart and as we both headed to the pavement his penny loafer sockless left foot went into the sharp edge of the tireless rashed up left steel wheel cutting right through the loafer and into his foot which he wasn't happy about (fancy shoes mom be mad) and blamed me leading to a minor slapfest. I got probably one of my first episodes of motorized road rash other than the basketball court at that time. The spill had dislodged the bent nail motor anchorage and front axle so we had to drag it home and then figure how to sneak our injuries past mom to avoid the 'what have you been up too' questions.

:lol:
 
That is exactly what Im talking about! No wonder at 62 I can bearly function sometimes! We couldve came from the same neighborhood!
 
That is exactly what Im talking about! No wonder at 62 I can bearly function sometimes! We couldve came from the same neighborhood!
It goes back to before any of us. Once when I was at my moms house, she had the news on and they were covering a story where some unfortunate kid was hit by a car and killed outside a school, and the reporter said “the grief counselors were on the scene”. To which my mother said “Grief counselors??!! When I was a girl, we came to school one day and were told one of our classmates drowned in the park lagoon. The nuns told us to say a prayer and that was it. Then we had a math test”.
 
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