Backyard Rides of yesterday

We had an "amusement park" of sorts at our house when I was a child. My home in rural NJ was the setting.

A small roller coaster sold by Sears Roebuck in the 50's was the main attraction. You climbed up a ladder and sat on a small flat car that rode down a track. The track had several bumps and was straight. You rode the car into the grass and took it back up to the top for the next ride. Our front yard was double terraced and long rolls of plastic(like the kind used for insulation) were placed going down the hills. A hose turned on full force created a great backyard water slide. In the winter this was our sled run and we built jumps into the banks.

We had a wire strung between 2 trees and we would hang onto a grip and ride from one end to the other.

My father and his friends built a fun house (walk-through) in town that was used for years by the church's and fireman for carnivals and fairs.

Alas none of this exists except in my memory and pictures. The house is still there and maybe the children that live there now will create their own park.

can you give us pictures?


Andrew Finn

When I go to visit my parents at Christmas I will dig through the old slides and put up a link.
Frantic Ferret's avatar
My friend had one of those roller coasters. Being the daredevil that he is, he decided to rig up frame that had a newspaper attached so he could burst through it. Somewhere along the line it was determined the newspaper should be on fire (Flaming Wall O' Death!) for additional thrills. Well, rather than bursting through the newspaper it kind of wrapped around him so he went careening down the driveway with burning bits of newspaper covering him and the car. Fortunately proper eye protection was worn and no injuries resulted.
coasterqueenTRN's avatar
LOL! And I thought my brother and I were daredevils. That's awesome!

Our biggest "attraction" was a huge pile of dirt that eventually became a huge "ramp" The landing was rough (especially on our bicycles) but the airtime was amazing! I am surprised we didn't do a "Flaming Wall O' Death! That is hilarious.

Don't forget the Slip And Slides. Those were awesome, as well as the Sit N Spin.

-Tina

*** Edited 11/1/2005 9:07:30 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

None of you happen to be named "Knoxville" or "Margera" do you?
coasterqueenTRN's avatar
^LOL!

There was also the Big Wheel. Those were awesome for flying down a VERY steep hill.

-Tina

I remember when I had slip and slides, I used to put them on the hill in my back yard and link them together, they were great. I would have one on the hill that was just a slip and slide and connected to a flat one on level ground that had the little inflated pool splash landing for double length. I used to build tunnels and everything out of picnic tables and tarp and hoses/sprinklers when I started making them really long. They would go from the very top to the bottom, about 100+ feet, but it levels out in the middle like a double dip giving it the feel of a speed slide. it was ALOT of fun (dispite parts of the hill were littered with rocks and such which related in some wicked gashes, mostly when I attempted making turns...). :) *** Edited 11/3/2005 1:54:47 AM UTC by P18***
Quite a few years ago, I created a skyride type attraction for my sister to use for her dolls. I used sturdy clothesline and a basket for a ride of about 20 feet or so. Didn't take long for one of us to decide our cat would fit. Turns out the cat did fit and seemed to enjoy the ride.

Frantic Ferret's avatar
We used to have these neat things that I can't recall the name of. They were circular yellow cars that you sat in that had two big red wheels. The wheels had crankls on them so you couldmove the car or turn them opposite directions to spin. We used to get everyone together and use them like bumper cars on our carport.

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