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For anyone excited by the outdoor gym illustration: The dangerous playgrounds of 1900s through vintage photographs https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/dangerous-

For anyone excited by the outdoor gym illustration: The dangerous playgrounds of 1900s through vintage photographs https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/dangerous-playgrounds-1900s/ https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/dangerous-playgrounds-1900s... HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31855163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31855163

amelius 4y ago
Reminds me of Action Park, which wasn't for softies (at least 6 people died). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Park Documentary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_Action_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_Action_Park
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- lamchob 4y ago
  The wikipedia article is pure gold! > The Bailey Ball was an Alpine Center attraction developed and tested, but never opened to the public, as a result of those tests. It consisted of a large foam sphere in which a rider could be secured, and then rolled downward. The plan was to do it on a track with PVC pipe as its outer rails, and one was built alongside a ski trail.[11]: 16:25 > The designers neglected to take into account the tendency of PVC pipe to expand in heat. During the first test, with a state inspector present on a hot summer day, the ball, with a man inside testing it, went off the track as a result of the pipe expanding and bounded down the adjacent ski slope. It continued through the parking lot, across Route 94, and came to rest in a swamp. After it came to a natural stop at the bottom, the inspector left without saying anything and park management abandoned the project.[11]: 16:25 [43]
gadders 4y ago
That last picture of a climbing frame from 1942 wasn't much different from ones I played on as a kid in the 1970's: https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-1970s-historical-young-children-on-a-climbing-frame-outside-at-an-161983210.html https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-1970s-historical-young-chi... (Not that exact one, but a similar model in my part of Hampshire).
- benj111 4y ago
  Yes it seemed to change around the 90s in the UK. My local roundabout was a flat metal thing 3 ft off the ground with only tarmac to cushion the fall, and the slide must have been 18 ft tall. The monkey bars were more than tall enough for an adult, again with the same tarmac. And the tarmac was ancient with loose gravel, so you got stones embedded in your grazes. Them were the days!
- wink 4y ago
  Yeah, we didn't have exactly those in the 80s, but more with planks and ropes (think low-level tree houses). I've not had a good look at playgrounds the last few years (none where I usually go for a walk), but the ones in my childhood weren't as tall like in the last pictures, but tall enough that I sprained my ankle when jumping down... one day before my first day at school.
  - gadders 4y ago
    A few of the ones I visited when my daughter was in the correct age range (about 10 years ago) all have soft tarmac substitute around them that looks like it's made from recycled rubber (this is on top of changes to the actual equipment).
swader999 4y ago
Have you seen a terrain park at a ski hill?
bachmeier 4y ago
> On the other hand, maybe those rough-and-tumble recreation areas of yesteryear served as an early life lesson that the world was a harsh and unforgiving place. If that's the best argument in favor, I'll stick with the current playgrounds. Kids got seriously injured when I was growing up. One of them broke his leg. At least one broke an arm. Smaller injuries like getting scraped up and having bruises were very common. I don't think the cost-benefit analysis worked out in favor of dangerous playgrounds. Most of the arguments in favor apply equally well to having kids jump out of moving vehicles.

amelius 4y ago

Reminds me of Action Park, which wasn't for softies (at least 6 people died). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Park Documentary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_Action_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_Action_Park

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
lamchob 4y ago
The wikipedia article is pure gold! > The Bailey Ball was an Alpine Center attraction developed and tested, but never opened to the public, as a result of those tests. It consisted of a large foam sphere in which a rider could be secured, and then rolled downward. The plan was to do it on a track with PVC pipe as its outer rails, and one was built alongside a ski trail.[11]: 16:25 > The designers neglected to take into account the tendency of PVC pipe to expand in heat. During the first test, with a state inspector present on a hot summer day, the ball, with a man inside testing it, went off the track as a result of the pipe expanding and bounded down the adjacent ski slope. It continued through the parking lot, across Route 94, and came to rest in a swamp. After it came to a natural stop at the bottom, the inspector left without saying anything and park management abandoned the project.[11]: 16:25 [43]

gadders 4y ago

That last picture of a climbing frame from 1942 wasn't much different from ones I played on as a kid in the 1970's: https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-1970s-historical-young-children-on-a-climbing-frame-outside-at-an-161983210.html https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-1970s-historical-young-chi... (Not that exact one, but a similar model in my part of Hampshire).

benj111 4y ago
Yes it seemed to change around the 90s in the UK. My local roundabout was a flat metal thing 3 ft off the ground with only tarmac to cushion the fall, and the slide must have been 18 ft tall. The monkey bars were more than tall enough for an adult, again with the same tarmac. And the tarmac was ancient with loose gravel, so you got stones embedded in your grazes. Them were the days!
wink 4y ago
Yeah, we didn't have exactly those in the 80s, but more with planks and ropes (think low-level tree houses). I've not had a good look at playgrounds the last few years (none where I usually go for a walk), but the ones in my childhood weren't as tall like in the last pictures, but tall enough that I sprained my ankle when jumping down... one day before my first day at school.
- gadders 4y ago
  A few of the ones I visited when my daughter was in the correct age range (about 10 years ago) all have soft tarmac substitute around them that looks like it's made from recycled rubber (this is on top of changes to the actual equipment).

swader999 4y ago

Have you seen a terrain park at a ski hill?

bachmeier 4y ago

> On the other hand, maybe those rough-and-tumble recreation areas of yesteryear served as an early life lesson that the world was a harsh and unforgiving place. If that's the best argument in favor, I'll stick with the current playgrounds. Kids got seriously injured when I was growing up. One of them broke his leg. At least one broke an arm. Smaller injuries like getting scraped up and having bruises were very common. I don't think the cost-benefit analysis worked out in favor of dangerous playgrounds. Most of the arguments in favor apply equally well to having kids jump out of moving vehicles.