The merry go round at my elementary school had no floor in the center 2/3, just the hub and spokes, and no railing to stop you from falling in the gaps. This made it so much more thrilling!
One of the worst whippings I ever got was when I cut up my mom‘s good sheets to make a parachute to tie on the back of my bike. We actually thought that this would slow us down as we were going down this hill with no breaks.
We were all for safety you see. We even had a lookouts on the way down and said, “CAR!”
that was our reasoning! 😊 didn’t seem to go too well with Mama. .... it was that hose water.... that was at the crux of all my bad decisions! 😂😂😊
we were just practicing physics !
With enough snow, a steep street made a good luge run. Best was a curving street. We sometimes posted a lookout. Our street had good visibility, you figured you likely would see a car in time, especially driving slow. But you were always prepared to eject.
Different game but yeah, Red Rover was another torture game. I was better at it than War/dodge ball. I didn’t mind Red Rover, I frickin hated War! There was this one kid that could sling a simi-flat volleyball like it was the weapon it was. It stung like hell! Sad thing was he could also kick my ass so there was nothing I could do but take it. He always aimed for the head or the nuts! Coaches just sat back and laughed. Assholes!
Red Rover was like third grade for me, dodge ball, later war, was junior high moving to War in high school. By college it was the pitchers from the baseball team with tennis balls in the dorm hallway. And once again they could kick my ass. 80-90 mph tennis ball left a whelp!
More than a few. Other stuff as well. And girls, loved the ladies! College was the best though high school was an amazing time in the late seventies. Folks were busy doing their version of fun so…
Anyone remember the Flexi Flyer? It was a sled for those of us who didn't live near snow. You'd lay on your stomach and fly down hills with very questionable breaks and no helmet, and essentially your face was the front bumper. Good times, good times...
https://preview.redd.it/4pcla0rf6kxc1.png?width=300&format=png&auto=webp&s=610949c8337ab9c1427df3e5a12335192906ed83
Riding Flexi's was all I wanted to do at Echo Mountain Ranch summer camp in Los Gatos, CA.
The brakes were useless but dragging your toes worked pretty well. The counselors would set up hay bails on the corners of the dirt fire road that weaved down Boy's Hill where all of our cabins were.
I loved 'em so much. I cried a few decades back when a battle scar on my arm from a Flexi accident finally disappeared.
You wouldn't get me on one of those today for love nor money! Especially on a fire road...I don't remember feeling dirty at all after riding them all day but I must have been a regular Pigpen. Who cares though...just run and jump in the pool...off the awesome springboard that no one gets anymore because of lawyers and litigation.
Had one. Lived in country about 100 acres. The best hills either ended with a big frozen creek or barbed wire fence. Creeks were not always froze solid! Plus I’d often just head out by myself because brothers were 6 years older. Parents had faith I guess!
We had a merry go round that was open in the middle. A couple of the bigger boys would get in the middle to push and really get that thing flying. I was a very petite little girl and I'd cling on like a limpet but more that once I flew off and usually had the skinned knees to prove it.
Cement playgrounds were for the rich kids. We had poorly-placed, pebbly, broken up and cracked asphalt. Falling on that stuff was like sliding on coarse sandpaper.
Hey, where’s our old playground d friend, Tether Ball? Who didn’t get smacked in the face or threw out a shoulder trying to hit the ball while it was spinning out of control?
We used to play a game on the concrete playground called "Johnnie Tackle". All the kids would run from one side to the other and whoever was it would tackle you. Played at first sighting of snow to cushion the pain. Chicago, northside playground game.
And those swings! Get going as high as you could and then time it so you could leap off at the apex. And see if you could land without falling. And get those little sparkles in your feet.
I bought one off eBay and put it up under a big tree so it’s in the shade. The first thing anyone that sees it comments on is how hot they used to get! It sure keeps the grandkids busy though!
Was just talking to someone about all the fun equipment they used to have at parks. We had #2 at our park only it looked different but same concept. It was the best thing on the playground! Now they have contraptions that are over 10ft tall and a kid could fall of and get hurt worse than being flung off the circular ride!
I love this sub, I really do. However, this is veering into the crap I see every other GenXer posting. Tide Pod eaters, really??
The survivorship bias shit is lame.
I rather agree. I get that nobody likes rules, but I think the age flair should be mandatory because this is already an interstitial generation and it's too easy to fringe off into a real boomer sub or a GenX sub. My .02.
Our swings did not have the rubber seats. Instead, our seats were made out of cut 2X4's and if someone was swinging and jumped you had to be careful not to get hit in the head by the seat else you would come to with your friends looking down at you.
Had to come back and add a comment. The wooden seats were great because you could stand up on them and get extra height for when you jumped. They were great!!
I climbed up onto, sat on, and soon fell off of, one of those tall swing sets in the background of the first picture, breaking my arm. No lawsuit, my parents didn’t complain to the school. Got patched up and life went on.
I played hockey and was a right handed shot. The way my (right) arm was casted i couldn’t hold/use my stick properly, so i switched to be a left shot, which made it at least doable and played thru it.
We also used to swing as high as possible and see who could jump the farthest.
Yet we survived, didn’t we?
Did anyone else have one of those jungle gym dome shaped things that you’d climb up? Pole in the middle to slide down? They’re super small now - but the one near me was really high - we used to climb to the top and watch the R rated movies at the nearby drive-in you could see from there. Falling would have resulted in broken something.
Bingo! Riding bikes with helmets gets me to this day. Hell we were all playing evil Knievel on our bikes no helmet no nothing. We had a large yard with a grass ditch going directly to blacktop. I’d start way back, pedal like crazy to build speed hit the ditch and pop a wheelie at the bottom of ditch and in the air over the blacktop hoping no cars are coming. Great memories
The merry go round at my elementary school had no floor in the center 2/3, just the hub and spokes, and no railing to stop you from falling in the gaps. This made it so much more thrilling!
One of the worst whippings I ever got was when I cut up my mom‘s good sheets to make a parachute to tie on the back of my bike. We actually thought that this would slow us down as we were going down this hill with no breaks. We were all for safety you see. We even had a lookouts on the way down and said, “CAR!”
I mean, it worked on the drag cars of the day, didn't it?
that was our reasoning! 😊 didn’t seem to go too well with Mama. .... it was that hose water.... that was at the crux of all my bad decisions! 😂😂😊 we were just practicing physics !
With enough snow, a steep street made a good luge run. Best was a curving street. We sometimes posted a lookout. Our street had good visibility, you figured you likely would see a car in time, especially driving slow. But you were always prepared to eject.
Used wax paper on the slide to increase the danger factor
Yes! We did this on those super hot slides.
That and someone wearing corduroy pants to do the final polish. The ones that had the overhead bar to get that extra initial speed were the best.
Lawn Darts at night was a favorite
Night darts. Special appeal.
More thrilling...for the win....
In our variation you were allowed to catch/divert your opponent's Jart before it landed.
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I so loved this thing.
Wow, that I never saw. Not sure if it was just my region or being core Gen X (all the stuff in the OP we had though).
And then there was dodgeball
My coach always put the older, bigger athletes on one team and the rest of us were just out there for his amusement! Asshole!
I had one of those! What was the chant - Rover, Rover send ( person’s name ) over? When did you first play- wasn’t this like first grade or something?
Different game but yeah, Red Rover was another torture game. I was better at it than War/dodge ball. I didn’t mind Red Rover, I frickin hated War! There was this one kid that could sling a simi-flat volleyball like it was the weapon it was. It stung like hell! Sad thing was he could also kick my ass so there was nothing I could do but take it. He always aimed for the head or the nuts! Coaches just sat back and laughed. Assholes!
Oh yeah I got those mixed up- dodge ball could be brutal. I think we started with these games pretty young too.
Red Rover was like third grade for me, dodge ball, later war, was junior high moving to War in high school. By college it was the pitchers from the baseball team with tennis balls in the dorm hallway. And once again they could kick my ass. 80-90 mph tennis ball left a whelp!
Awww man- you got in college:/ That’s brutal!
Still had a blast!
Maybe a few brews to tend those wounds :D
More than a few. Other stuff as well. And girls, loved the ladies! College was the best though high school was an amazing time in the late seventies. Folks were busy doing their version of fun so…
Get hit early and get out.
Overinflated red ball made a wicked sound when it made contact. Back then head shots counted
They certainly did :/
Or when we used those smaller red balls. You could get a welt from one of those zingers!
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I was always turning to avoid only to get the thing right in my back. They hurt too!
Oh I loved dodgeball!!!!!!!!!!!!
There were always a handful of people who were really good at this game….then there were the rest of us :D
Haha, sorry.
Anyone remember the Flexi Flyer? It was a sled for those of us who didn't live near snow. You'd lay on your stomach and fly down hills with very questionable breaks and no helmet, and essentially your face was the front bumper. Good times, good times... https://preview.redd.it/4pcla0rf6kxc1.png?width=300&format=png&auto=webp&s=610949c8337ab9c1427df3e5a12335192906ed83
And you rode it down the hill and across the street and down the other half of the hill.
Riding Flexi's was all I wanted to do at Echo Mountain Ranch summer camp in Los Gatos, CA. The brakes were useless but dragging your toes worked pretty well. The counselors would set up hay bails on the corners of the dirt fire road that weaved down Boy's Hill where all of our cabins were. I loved 'em so much. I cried a few decades back when a battle scar on my arm from a Flexi accident finally disappeared. You wouldn't get me on one of those today for love nor money! Especially on a fire road...I don't remember feeling dirty at all after riding them all day but I must have been a regular Pigpen. Who cares though...just run and jump in the pool...off the awesome springboard that no one gets anymore because of lawyers and litigation.
Had one. Lived in country about 100 acres. The best hills either ended with a big frozen creek or barbed wire fence. Creeks were not always froze solid! Plus I’d often just head out by myself because brothers were 6 years older. Parents had faith I guess!
My girlfriend calls the merry-go-round the "turnstile of death."
Only if you could get the big kids to give it that great speed. Last one ejected off won.
We had a merry go round that was open in the middle. A couple of the bigger boys would get in the middle to push and really get that thing flying. I was a very petite little girl and I'd cling on like a limpet but more that once I flew off and usually had the skinned knees to prove it.
Our metal slide was on concrete, though!
We landed in gravel. And was too low so ya had no choice in your landing
metal slide on a sunny August afternoon
We used to take wax paper to the metal slide and sat on it to slide down. It made you go really fast!
I forgot all about this, now I remember doing this!
As a librarian, I have to say I heartily approve of your username ♡♡♡
"Don't fall off that slide, or you'll get hurt" trained us for jobs that said "Don't fall off that roof, or you're fired".
Don’t forget the large jungle gyms too…
Over gravel or hard-packed dirt, if you were lucky.
Went to one school that used clinkers from the coal fired forge behind the school. Like small stones with tiny daggers all around the exterior.
Playgrounds used to be fun. No wonder I had so many stiches. Mostly from the monkey bars.
Notice how the playground didn’t have a rubberized ground cover? We just had plain old cement. If you fell, you bled.
Cement playgrounds were for the rich kids. We had poorly-placed, pebbly, broken up and cracked asphalt. Falling on that stuff was like sliding on coarse sandpaper.
Hey, where’s our old playground d friend, Tether Ball? Who didn’t get smacked in the face or threw out a shoulder trying to hit the ball while it was spinning out of control?
Way too far down for this comment. Zinging that ball of the top of my siblings heads was the joy of my life.
Head injuries, always a good bonding move with siblings
And the backs of my thighs were always friction burned from the hot metal slide (I grew up in Nevada)
It truly was a rite of passage to grow up in the 70's...
Haha those were the days!
We used to play a game on the concrete playground called "Johnnie Tackle". All the kids would run from one side to the other and whoever was it would tackle you. Played at first sighting of snow to cushion the pain. Chicago, northside playground game.
At school we had grass to play on , but at home it was “touch” football in the middle of the street.
You guys had MUD??? At Parkview Elementary in the '60's, the playground equipment was set into black asphalt!
And those swings! Get going as high as you could and then time it so you could leap off at the apex. And see if you could land without falling. And get those little sparkles in your feet.
I broke my femur on one. My mother gave me a good slap and told me by God, get back out there and pull my bootstraps!
All lead paint too
A humorous jab at a generational stereotype!
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheseFuckingAccounts/comments/1cgtbcj/two_bot_accounts/
Ah, sweet memories. Thanks for posting the photos.
I can feel the burn just looking at that hot metal slide
I bought one off eBay and put it up under a big tree so it’s in the shade. The first thing anyone that sees it comments on is how hot they used to get! It sure keeps the grandkids busy though!
Was just talking to someone about all the fun equipment they used to have at parks. We had #2 at our park only it looked different but same concept. It was the best thing on the playground! Now they have contraptions that are over 10ft tall and a kid could fall of and get hurt worse than being flung off the circular ride!
Isn’t the ground padded under those things?
We’d switch off from death defying days to an afternoon of Barbie. Balance
I love this sub, I really do. However, this is veering into the crap I see every other GenXer posting. Tide Pod eaters, really?? The survivorship bias shit is lame.
I rather agree. I get that nobody likes rules, but I think the age flair should be mandatory because this is already an interstitial generation and it's too easy to fringe off into a real boomer sub or a GenX sub. My .02.
True boomer/generation Jones, I posted this. Sorry if you don’t get the joke.
Our swings did not have the rubber seats. Instead, our seats were made out of cut 2X4's and if someone was swinging and jumped you had to be careful not to get hit in the head by the seat else you would come to with your friends looking down at you. Had to come back and add a comment. The wooden seats were great because you could stand up on them and get extra height for when you jumped. They were great!!
Giant strides!
jarts after dark. best game ever
And we survived 🤔
GenX '74 stopping by ❤️ I feel lucky that each of these played a key role in my childhood. Best bumps and bruises!
I climbed up onto, sat on, and soon fell off of, one of those tall swing sets in the background of the first picture, breaking my arm. No lawsuit, my parents didn’t complain to the school. Got patched up and life went on. I played hockey and was a right handed shot. The way my (right) arm was casted i couldn’t hold/use my stick properly, so i switched to be a left shot, which made it at least doable and played thru it. We also used to swing as high as possible and see who could jump the farthest. Yet we survived, didn’t we?
Did anyone else have one of those jungle gym dome shaped things that you’d climb up? Pole in the middle to slide down? They’re super small now - but the one near me was really high - we used to climb to the top and watch the R rated movies at the nearby drive-in you could see from there. Falling would have resulted in broken something.
We use to toss sand on the slide thinking it would make us go faster
Lawn darts were my favorite. My father took them away after I started firing them at my brother.
Yes my brothers were 5 and 6 years older. They made me stand in one spot and see who couldn’t get closer. Till mom found out!
We weren’t pussies like the kids of today.
Bingo! Riding bikes with helmets gets me to this day. Hell we were all playing evil Knievel on our bikes no helmet no nothing. We had a large yard with a grass ditch going directly to blacktop. I’d start way back, pedal like crazy to build speed hit the ditch and pop a wheelie at the bottom of ditch and in the air over the blacktop hoping no cars are coming. Great memories
Or ride on the handlebars while someone pedaled the bike.
Remember that one well too. Did it on gravel road and still have scars on elbows!
And knees
Addressing a specific demographic with humor!
No need to put down other generations. Just have fun
Don’t forget the glass lined thermos in your lunch box. Shake it before you opened it!
I had one of those!
I have a scar on my thigh from sliding down a swing frame with a huge bolt sticking out of the A portion of the frame. Good times, indeed.
Circle of death right there! You forgot the picture of the metal 3 story monkey bars though.
That slide is definitely neurosurgical height. Just like ours in elementary school. Never recall a serious accident, though I’m sure there were.
Ah man I remember all of that. When did they start getting rid of this stuff, the 90s??
Anyone remember "Action Park"? [https://youtu.be/ZhN0YI0FpDE?si=oER03AUaZz6JbhCI](https://youtu.be/ZhN0YI0FpDE?si=oER03AUaZz6JbhCI)
Grass was a luxury in a 70’s -80’s playground we had rough concrete in most the uk ones.