# Old, dangerous playground equipment



## Capt Worley PE (Dec 13, 2012)

Man, I used to love the big metal slides that you could wax up with Sunbeam Bread bags for the ultrafast leg burn.

And the spin till you puke carousels....

And the higher that was probably prudent climining towers.

Apparently, I'm not the only one.

/&gt;http://1000awesomethings.com/2012/07/20/980-old-dangerous-playground-equipment/

/&gt;http://www.divinecaroline.com/22106/84399-playgrounds-70-s (I soooo want a space cruisers!)

/&gt;http://blog.paxholley.net/2010/03/19/9-reasons-why-playgrounds-back-in-the-day-were-more-awesome-than-playgrounds-of-today/


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## Judowolf PE (Dec 13, 2012)

Capt, do you watch Rick's restoration on A&amp;E...he refurb'd a Rocket slide like in your second article...I think it was last season, anyway, it turned out pretty cool!! Def don't make 'em like that anymore!


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## Capt Worley PE (Dec 13, 2012)

I watch it from time to time, but missed that episode.

That old stuff seemed to be designed to withstand an atomic blast. They always seemed to be anchored with car sized slabs of concrete.


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## Judowolf PE (Dec 13, 2012)

Yeah, it's designed to last unlike most of the junk today...The rocket was built off of an 8" steel pipe center that was supposed to weigh 400lbs, it took 8 guys to lift it


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Dec 13, 2012)

I went to school on the tail end of the 'dangerous' playground set era. So what if you got a twisted ankle or a bump on your head, that's what the school nurse was for.

As the years went by, I would sometimes drive over to the school sometimes because it was a good place to let whatever dog I had at the time romp off leash. You could see the pussification of the playground over time. It went from the stuff the Cap'n posted to the lame plastic shit. The last time I was there was a couple of years ago and they don't even have that anymore. All they have now is an outdoor pavilion consisting of a slab of concrete with a roof.


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## Judowolf PE (Dec 13, 2012)

I was on my son's playground committee at his school, there is some fairly nice stuff out there, but it costs an arm and a leg!


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## Road Guy (Dec 13, 2012)

when i was a kid my grandparents lived in Vero Beach, Florida and one of their playgrounds by the beach the main attraction was simply some type of WWII smaller bomber plane, it was bigger than a P-51 Mustang but defin not a B-17.. but we simply climbed all over it and ran and jumped off the wings into the sand.. I wonder if it is still there?? man that thing was awesome


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## Flyer_PE (Dec 13, 2012)

AT-11 maybe? About the only other aircraft I can think of would be a B-25. How high were the wings off the ground?


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## Road Guy (Dec 13, 2012)

well I was 8 so its hard to recall.. but there were no wheels, they had set it on blocks but low enough that you could jump of the wings without breaking a leg (unless you were just dumb) maybe 3-4 feet off the ground?? I'll see if I can dig up a photo from my folks!


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## ventilator (Dec 14, 2012)

I remember a state park we used to go to when I was young. It started out with all the classic old playground stuff. The swing set that about 12' off the ground so you could get way higher than you should before you jumped out, the old splinter filled see-saws that you could launch someone off of and of course the merry-go-round. Over the years all of the equipment started to disappear and now it is replaced by a small swing set with a plastic playground set.


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## Capt Worley PE (Dec 14, 2012)

I started first grade in 1972, and the playground equipment at my school was pretty close to new at the time.

There was a tower that was maybe 6' off the ground (who knows, could have been 12';I was six and I've never been good at assigning a number to things I see), underneath was open at two opposite ends, one side had bars to climb up, other had chains to climb up. First week of class, a guy in my class fell off and knocked himself unconscious. Teachers dragged him back inside, put him in his desk, and told us he was asleep. I remember him waking up.

Such were the way things were handled forty years ago...


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## MA_PE (Dec 14, 2012)

I remember my cousins from Soiux Falls, SD talking about a playground called Dennis the Menace Park. I found this online

As more and more emphasis at Sherman Park switched to the upper portions of the park, the area of the old swimming beach and picnic ground next to the river declined in use. The project to channel the river had left several stranded oxbows of the river, and the area became somewhat neglected. But on February 13, 1958, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, or the Jaycees as they were known, came up with a new idea for the park. They spoke to the board regarding their idea for a unique playground for children, equipped with unusual items for children to play on. The board asked the Jaycees to prepare a plan of their idea, and on May 12, 1959, the board approved the plan. The area was named the Dennis the Menace playground after the popular cartoon character. The playground was located at the south end of the lower portion of the park adjacent to an old oxbow of the river. In 1959, one of the first items brought to the park by the Jaycees was an* F-89 jet fighter plane *from the SD Air National Guard! That was followed by a* 1915 Seagrave fire truck, a WW II armored personnel carrier, and an anti-aircraft artillery gun*. Over the years the Park Department would continue to add play items to the park, always trying to use the unusual item at the park. By the 1970s the airplane, the tank, and the fire truck became too dangerous for children to play on due to sharp edges and rusting metal. In July of 1973 the jet plane was returned to the Jaycees, and eventually it ended up on private land near Newton Hills State Park south of Canton. The 1915 Seagrave fire truck was returned to the Fire Department and has been completely restored to running condition. The Park Department began to remove the other items, and by 1988, when the tank was sold, the area was no longer being used as a playground. The Dennis the Menace playground passed into history, and was replaced by the new children's playground at the new Sertoma Park. The land was turned over to the Great Plains Zoo, and is now part of the African savannah. The train ride at the zoo passes through the old playground, and perhaps the sound of children's laughter from long ago can be heard if you listen hard enough.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Dec 14, 2012)

All of this talk of old playgrounds made me feel nostalgic enough to lookup some of the places I used to play at as a child. When I was in Elementary school (1st through 3rd grades, 1986-1988), my mom went back to school at CU-Boulder and we ended up living in family housing which was just down the street from Scott Carpenter Park (just north of 30th &amp; Colorado). Many of the playgound equipment is still there including a 30'+ tall rocket ship made from tube steel and a steel slide from the 2nd level. I remember burning my ass many times over on that steel slide, which is probably why it's been replaced this plastic $hit.

Here's a link with pictures.

http://coloradotourisminfo.blogspot.com/2012/09/scott-carpenter-park.html

Just to the south of the park was a huge open hillside which was simply amazing for sledding in the winter. Ah, the good old days.


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## Capt Worley PE (Dec 14, 2012)

Swan Lake in Sumter still has an old fire truck (looks like from the teens). Check out the chain drive.






/&gt;http://shoutaboutcarolina.com/index.php/2009/05/free-things-to-do-sumter-swan-iris-garden/


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## Capt Worley PE (Dec 14, 2012)

Here's some more old stuff...http://www.plaidstallions.com/playground/index.html


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