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- txcrew, on 10/04/2009, -0/+244Playgrounds were so much better back then. A park by my house where I grew up used to have about 80% of those playsets. Now it's all replaced with the same, safe modern crap that's at every park. Playgrounds need to have some more risk.
- ManUnitdFan, on 10/05/2009, -1/+166I think 4th degree burns due to metal slides in July should be a prerequisite for growing up.
- rocknog, on 10/04/2009, -1/+156I remember playing on some of these things as a kid back in the late 80s/early 90s. Of course, it's all obviously a lawsuit waiting to happen, hence why we never see playgrounds like this anymore, but is it any surprise that as we continue to sterilize and sanitize play, especially playing outdoors, we're seeing an increasing epidemic of childhood obesity?
I mean sure, people blame junk food, but kids have always subsisted on a steady diet of sugar. People blame video games and TV, but I think at least part of the problem is that we're so terrified that a kid might get hurt, something that is almost inevitable when playing outside, that we actively steer our kids indoors these days. Oh, and don't forget the ever-present fear of child molesters and the like - and I'm not saying it's not a risk, it's just people act like it's something new - it's always been around, it's just with an ever-pervasive media, it's more obvious. - BREZZZ, on 10/04/2009, -2/+90Sir, the chimpanzee cages are not selling as expected and we have a large surplus.
Slap a cone and fins on, paint 'em red white and blue and call it a playground. A rocket or something. Those are popular, right? And find something to do with those old wooden water tanks and casters while you're at it. - superguysteve, on 10/04/2009, -1/+84Ah memories of childhood injuries...
- twiztidsinz, on 10/05/2009, -5/+70Back before the early-90's pussification of our children.
Anyone else draw the parallel between that and emo? - GutterMoo, on 10/04/2009, -1/+56Oh man, even as a child into the 90s there was a sweet rocket near my house. It had the sheet metal slide, which could probably cook a burger in a sunny summer day.
- FattyCorpuscle, on 10/05/2009, -2/+56Sharp edges, raw welds, burning hot metal slides on a summer day, concrete and asphalt surfaces to crack bones on...liability be damned, that stuff toughened us up. With the neutered playgrounds nowadays, we're gonna end up with nothing but generations of pussies.
- yacks, on 10/05/2009, -0/+54lawyers and lawsuits..
- neognostic, on 10/04/2009, -4/+57There is another deadly side to this coin.
Because kids do not play outside as much, they don't get exposure to natural viruses, bacteria, bugs and dirt, and their immunity systems are weakened.
They are only exposed to anti-bacterially cleaned homes and then the really virulent strains spread like wildfire in schools.
They never had outbreaks like this prior to the last 20 years, and now it happens every year. - indyGuy, on 10/04/2009, -1/+53Loved the rocket ship playgrounds...
- Metatron197, on 10/05/2009, -0/+45How come the playgrounds from the 70's are way cooler than the ones we have now?
- ghouze, on 10/04/2009, -4/+48Playgrounds, abandoned mines and discarded fridges (with the door still on) --
These are just a few of the places where Nature weeds out the weak and stupid -- - davidjunit, on 10/04/2009, -0/+42Wow, I actually remember the robot set. In the 80's there was one at a Hardee's in South Carolina. Checked the ol' Google street view and the playground is gone but the Hardee's is still there!
- BlackSnakeMoan, on 10/05/2009, -0/+37and intense as static shocks on the plastic slides too! I remember one that was a 20-30m downhill slide and you'd get a shock 2-3 times through the ride.
- nullvector, on 10/05/2009, -0/+35Gonna end up? We're already there.
- digitalArtform, on 10/05/2009, -0/+35No coddling in those days. Playtime was a true contest: your nuts vs the exposed rusty hex nuts in the slide.
- mogebier, on 10/04/2009, -2/+31A park here in STL still has the really big rocket ship one with all the slides and bridges. It is well maintained too by the town it's in.
- Chompy, on 10/05/2009, -1/+29Blame the lawyers, not Little Tykes.
- cuoops, on 10/05/2009, -0/+27I can't count the times I've seen kids(me too) get hurt on the barrel thing that rolls like a hamster wheel....good times.
- nullvector, on 10/05/2009, -0/+24I remember doing the stupidest stuff on those things back in the 80's. Swingsets that had 20ft chains....jumping off at the apex of the swing. BOOM. LAUGH.
Part of growing up is realizing whats stupid and what isnt. When you sanitize every situation a kid could get in, they get something like a car when they're 16 and don't know where the limits are. You can't "teach" kids limits, they have to learn on their own.
There were so many times as kids we either learned not to do something cause we saw someone else get nailed, or learned ourselves after we knocked the wind out of ourselves after jumping off a swing or merry-go-round.
If you take away the "chance" for kids to get injured, you have to take away everything, and plop them in front of the TV. Why do you think we have a huge childhood obesity problem these days? - TheRascalKing, on 10/05/2009, -1/+24When I was a young'n (12 years ago), the McDonalds up the street had one of those burger head thingys from page 2. It was awesome. You could get like 4 kids in there and make it rock back and forth on its huge spring. Then some dumbass had to go and get his finger pinched in the spring and all of the parents got in a huge uproar and they turned it into a damn plastic slide.
Bottom line is we would have more awesome stuff like this for our kids, if parents would just make sure their kids know how to be safe (and not jump off of tall ledges and stick their fingers where they don't belong, like under a giant metal spring), instead of assuming that kids will die if it isn't made out of foam and plastic. - Atario, on 10/05/2009, -1/+24/4th/ degree?
- ghatid, on 10/05/2009, -2/+23What's wrong with breaking a few bones? Once they regrow, bones become stronger, right?
- kamikazicondon, on 10/04/2009, -1/+22http://www.american-playground.com/MerryGoRounds_c ...
These were my favorite...you'd get a bunch of people to run around jump on and everyone would fly off...those were the days. - schlagsahne, on 10/05/2009, -1/+22@ manlyandy
boom goes the dynamite.
"The most important factor directing the proper development and maturation of the immune system so that it will best serve a person for life is exposure to bacteria and actually being infected with a variety of bacteria and viruses."
http://www.chiro.org/Immunity/ - directedition, on 10/05/2009, -1/+20Reminds me of my old elementary school playground. It was the early 90s and they were busy de-awesomifying playgrounds around the country. I got to spend two years on the awesome playground before they bulldozed it and built a plastic boredom town which stands to this day.
After all, if the kids don't get to have fun, then noone sues. - mapyqf, on 10/05/2009, -0/+19These are awesome. Too bad childhood has become childproof and a couch in front of a TV is more acceptable than playing outside in a space ship.
- LuckyASN, on 10/05/2009, -1/+19For god sakes man, get a life.
- ghatid, on 10/05/2009, -1/+18They were designed back when people believed in the survival of the fittest.
- alpha88, on 10/05/2009, -0/+17Kids these days are pussies. If you want a giant robot, you need to make sacrifices! If you're going to baww every time you get a little scrape, you get stuck with the boring plastic crap that's everywhere today.
- davethe1st, on 10/04/2009, -1/+15Lol, you sound like my mom.
- ghatid, on 10/05/2009, -1/+14These look a lot more fun than the current ones look...
- PhillyOC, on 10/05/2009, -1/+14You forgot the /s.
- stklaw, on 10/05/2009, -5/+17It's called choice, responsibility and consequences.
If you don't feel confortable letting your children climb 20ft high, then fine. But forcing one's decision on others is ridiculous.
If you decide to climb that high, you should understand the risk you are taking (possibility of falling) and the reward you get (immense fun), and be prepared to take the consequences (injury) when things go bad. I don't see why a child should be an exception of this rule. Kids grow up by learning this rule and is exactly why children today are morons.
Anyways, I didn't bury you because we all hate medical bills - yacks, on 10/05/2009, -0/+12of course nowadays anything fun that may or may not kill kids is banned. if a kid scraps his knee on something it needs to be change... and of course it is creating a society of wimps..
- tk121, on 10/05/2009, -0/+11Dugg for the McDonald's Hamburglar prison... that thing was awesome! I think I barely fit in it when I was 8, but I would try to squeeze myself into it again if I ever found one.
- homedaddy, on 10/04/2009, -1/+12There's a playground in SF that still has a lot of the old metal playground contraptions. At least they have them over sand though. I remember my old playground had all of this stuff over concrete.
- videodroner, on 10/05/2009, -0/+11No. He just misplaced it on "parks."
- senorsubagua, on 10/05/2009, -0/+11the miracle-barrel-of-broken-teeth
- Carsonauto, on 10/05/2009, -0/+10I remember with the rocket ships, every kid would try and climb to the top....on the outside.
Good lord those were fun. - metalwalker, on 10/05/2009, -0/+10"Giganta. A Robot that automatically produces fun."
But like all robots he'll never know what it means to love. - york2600, on 10/05/2009, -0/+9I had a great time playing on our Merry Go Round in elementary school, but after 2 or 3 kids broke their arms in about a month they pulled it out. After that we all just sat around. No more fun playground equipment. Why play on the new lame stuff they put in.
- DLit, on 10/05/2009, -1/+10no tetanus shots here
- Puppytwo, on 10/05/2009, -2/+11I would play in those and I am 16. Playgrounds now suck major dick, god especially the ones with rubber ground to be even safer.
- KMFDM781, on 10/05/2009, -0/+9Actually, the parents in the 90's ruined everything by suing any time their kids got hurt. In the 70's and 80's we just dealt with it when we scraped our knee or busted our ass...part of being a kid. Now we have trick-or-treating at 4 and 5 in the afternoon because it's safe daylight. Some places have curfews for Halloween. God forbid people let their kids out past dark. *****, I used to be out until people went to bed on Halloween, with my mom when I was young, and by myself when I was older than 10, and I got a metric ton of candy. Bag snatchers/ing and TP'ing were part of the experience. Kids these days really are pussies. "Waaa! I can't have gluten! Waaaa, I can't be out past dark!"
One day we will have 40 year old IT professionals with a bad comb-over, wearing a glow stick around their necks coming home from work because it's dark out. They will drive cars with a dispenser for little wipes for the steering wheel. They will need their hands held and to be protected from every little thing because that's how they were raised. PUSSIES!!!!! - shark72, on 10/05/2009, -0/+9Why don't you have a seat over there.
- senorsubagua, on 10/05/2009, -0/+8 All rides should be properly mounted on a field of gravel or concrete slab.
- richmomz, on 10/05/2009, -0/+8Bingo - anyone who has experienced the "merry-go-round of death" knows what real pain feels like!
- Rikushix, on 10/05/2009, -0/+8It's a ***** anthropomorphic hamburger. Chill.
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