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Remember when playgrounds were deadly?
- Thread starter kenny
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The good old days........
I fell off the monkey bars in the 6th grade and got the wind knocked out of me. Scary!
And some other kid would always step on your fingers, too. I remember this rotten little boy who used to put his eyelids inside out and chase us girls on the playground. Gee, I hated that kid.
I fell off the monkey bars in the 6th grade and got the wind knocked out of me. Scary!
And some other kid would always step on your fingers, too. I remember this rotten little boy who used to put his eyelids inside out and chase us girls on the playground. Gee, I hated that kid.
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We had a thread about this last year sometime - one interesting thing in an article said the rate of emergency room visits because of playground injuries is roughly the same as it was and pretty similar in severity, even though all the "dangerous" stuff has been removed, because kids are naturally inclined to try to push their limits, and so if dangerous stuff is removed they'll just play with "nondangerous" stuff in dangerous ways.
packrat
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We had these monkey bars and this metal may pole thing. BEST EVER. We also had two merry go rounds-the "new" one we called it, which was metal and had metal upside down U's every couple feet w/a bar that connected to the center. We'd straddle the U and sometimes curl our feet around the bottom of the U and lean waaaay back ohhh it was like flying. The "old" merry go round was wooden and had 6 long seats for I think 3 kids each like a picnic table. A bar to hang on to. Loved them.
Funny story...a few years ago on the fishing trip my dad, brother, uncle and family friend take yearly, my dad and the family friend were walking to the lodge and had to walk by the playground. Dad grins and says "Hey, you wanna ride the merry go round? Get on, I'll push!" Friend (who had a stroke years before, uses a cane, and has limited mobility) climbs on. Dad pushes, starts running..gets going really fast and jumps on----aaaaaand friend starts slipping, can't hold on w/just his one good arm-flies off. Breaks a hip. Dad runs back to the cabin hollering for my brother "Dale fell off the merry go round and I need help to pick him up!" and my brother's like umm..come again??
Poor guy spent like 3 weeks in the hospital up there. I was talking to mom the next day and asked if she'd heard how the guys were doing fishing and she's like well, after Dale fell off the merry go round.... 
Funny story...a few years ago on the fishing trip my dad, brother, uncle and family friend take yearly, my dad and the family friend were walking to the lodge and had to walk by the playground. Dad grins and says "Hey, you wanna ride the merry go round? Get on, I'll push!" Friend (who had a stroke years before, uses a cane, and has limited mobility) climbs on. Dad pushes, starts running..gets going really fast and jumps on----aaaaaand friend starts slipping, can't hold on w/just his one good arm-flies off. Breaks a hip. Dad runs back to the cabin hollering for my brother "Dale fell off the merry go round and I need help to pick him up!" and my brother's like umm..come again??
Poor guy spent like 3 weeks in the hospital up there. I was talking to mom the next day and asked if she'd heard how the guys were doing fishing and she's like well, after Dale fell off the merry go round....
packrat
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There was one of these in the park near my house when I was in hight school. Turns out it's called a "witch's hat". The one I remember had a very tall center pole, and the donut-shaped circle that was suspended from and around it had an outer wooden bench that you were supposed to sit on, with an inner framework made of metal pipe that was supposed to keep your legs and knees safe as the whole thing bangs around the metal pole. Of course kids don't necessarily like to follow the rules... especially when there are no adults around to push the thing and make sure everyone sits on it rather than standing on it. It's quite the wonder that no one lost fingers or worse to that thing (that I'm aware of, anyway).
Us teenagers liked to hang around it (and the swings - the park had good-sized swings) around dusk.
Us teenagers liked to hang around it (and the swings - the park had good-sized swings) around dusk.
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Yes, I grew up with all the scary things in those pictures, pretty much. Plus the see-saws where your not nice partner would jump off when you were up in the air so you'd crash to the ground. The 15ft high metal slides you could just fall off the sides. All of it. I lived. I never saw anything too gruesome beyond a broken leg. I CAN understand how horribly wrong things could have gone on these contraptions. Isn't it funny to look back and contemplate how dangerous some of this equipment could be. Blast from the past for sure.
When we were young, we also went swimming all by ourselves since Grade 1 or 2. Can you imagine? Yes there was a lifeguard, but it was a lake, not a pool. No parents, we'd just ride our bikes there. No one watching out for us.
The good old days.
When we were young, we also went swimming all by ourselves since Grade 1 or 2. Can you imagine? Yes there was a lifeguard, but it was a lake, not a pool. No parents, we'd just ride our bikes there. No one watching out for us.
The good old days.
Maisie
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On the housing estate I grew up in there was a water fountain in the shape of a pyramid. It didn't actually work as a fountain though. We used to try and climb it.
The roofs in the neighbourhood were being repaired so there was plenty of tar lying about. Rubbing it on your shoes meant you would stick to the pyramid - making it easier to climb. I never made it to the top as I'm terrified of heights.
The pyramid was eventually removed by the health and safety people. I can't say I blame them!
The roofs in the neighbourhood were being repaired so there was plenty of tar lying about. Rubbing it on your shoes meant you would stick to the pyramid - making it easier to climb. I never made it to the top as I'm terrified of heights.
The pyramid was eventually removed by the health and safety people. I can't say I blame them!
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