Ahhh, the Good [dangerous] Old Days !!
 

Inspired by folks rememberances of times less litigious, I wanted a place where we could list all the fun things that weren't totally safe, but with a little common sense, most people had miles of fun without dying.

I had a Chemistry set when young, Lots of scope for horror there, yet "Rotten Egg Gas" seemed to be my favourite experiment.

Also: This isn't our one here in Sydney, but remember the REAL old funhouses, like the ones in Coney Island set up by George Tilyou? Steeplechase Park starts at 4:06 - looks like [dangerous] fun to me !!

I found some of the Sydney footage:
Joy Wheel (which doesn't go as fast these days...)
Barrels Of Fun
Ski Jump

Couldn't find the Turkey Trot, which was also known as a "Cakewalk" - a series of rising and falling walkways that you travelled along.

These are (somehow) still going, but I believe that they are slower than they were in their heyday, so someone doesn't fall and sue.

BTW: any visitors to Sydney will be taken on a guided tour of Luna Park... it's all I have left in the way of amusement parks these days. I'd be proud to show it off.

Luna park you say? Hummm... :)

Have you ever been to that other amusement park in Sydney?

Star City is nice - we should go to the Lotus Pond restaurant when there - it's a fantastic Chinese Restaurant with great ambiance.

...I almost got started on a complete Moonie Planning thread then. Phew. We will start one, though. Oh yes...

Oh, and you can get a ferry across the harbour from one to the other.

Oh, and I thought we were going to bring up stuff like Tric-or-treating unsupervised until midnight and eating the candy the whole time! Now those were the days!

What about riding around in the bed of pick up trucks or sitting in the back of station wagons with no seat belts.

My friends parents had a pick up (bench seat in the front, no back seat) and a shell over the bed. They put some carpet down and somehow attached seat belts to I don't know what. We played games in the back of that truck from HB to Universal Studios.

I used to ride in the back of my neighbours Mini Minor (Sp) van with her son, while going to youth club each week - it was fun tumbling all around when going round curves !!

My dad had a beat-up 1937 Chevy pickup. We used to get all the kids in the neighborhood together for pickup rides. We'd just load into the back and he'd drive along the river on a dirt road, speeding through the puddles and spraying water everywhere.

Another great neighborhood activity was chasing the mosquito truck. We'd get on our bikes and ride in the fog from the sprayer. The thick fog of DDT.

(sigh) nobody trick or treats at night anymore. And stupid daylight savings changes made it worse. Stupid daytime Halloween.

We always trick or treat at night with about 20 kids (and libations!). It's loads more fun. :D

It seems to me that parents are way too quick to see if their kids are hurt after the most minor of bumps. I think it's contributed to all of the whiny ass people out there.

My parents would wait and see if I was going to cry before acting like anything was a big deal, now I swear, a kid bumps his head and you'd think they'd broken all four limbs and needed emergency transport to the ER.

You can still get a good Chemistry set but it's not easy and you probably end up on some watch list...

I used to buy cigarettes for my mother at a candy store that, if confused memory serves, sold all, and I mean all, kinds of pornography. Gone are the days . . .

I'll give you the cigs, but if you want to talk porn... Today's kids have much easier access to ALL types of porn than we ever had. Do I need to re-post the squid love page?

Then how can they possibly appreciate it?

Yes, please.

OH I want that
(Pretend that there are exclamation points on these phrases - my keyboard is malfunctioning, and I cannot be emphatic.)

anyway, that chemistry set looks amazing. I had one when I was a kid, but the instruction book was missing. My parents told me they would write away for a replacement, but they never did. My Mom was worried about me mixing things up unguided, so we went to the library, and I found a terrific book called Chemical Magic. It provided formulas for making invisible ink, changing color liquids, flame-proof dollar bills, colored smoke, all stuff that would go into putting on a magic show. I burnt a hole in the kitchen linoleum floor trying out the dollar bill thing. The whole endeavor came to an end shortly thereafter.

I used to ride on the tailgate of the pickup riding around the ranch - feet and legs dangling over the end.... either that or in the bed, standing up holding on to some support rack that was over the cab.

I would also leave the house in the morning, saddle up the horse - or ride bare back - and be gone for hours at a time out riding. Never telling anyone where I was specifically going. I fell off one day riding without a saddle. Was going pretty fast and literally slipped right off the backside. The horse was part belgian (big!) and I couldn't get back on - even climbing up on a stump. Normally I would have used a fence to climb up but there weren't any around. I ended up having walk him home.

We had giant lawn darts when I was a kid. It was great fun and of course you could threaten people with them when the ground was too icy to play.

As far as riding goes, I used to ride around hanging off the side of my uncle's tractor sometimes for miles at a stretch.

Also, I had a red rider BB gun at least until my brother shot me in the back with it and my parents decided that that was not a good toy idea.

I was at a flea market the other day, and a guy was selling a set of lawn darts, still in its original 70s box. Now I wish I had bought them.

Then there was the "$20 Cracker Bag"

This was a $20 assortment of fireworks (Crackers in the Oz vernacular) that always contained at least 1-2 hours of fun.

My favourites were the "Golden Showers" and the "Peacock Fountain". Flower Pots were pretty too, as were the various volcanoes.

Sadly, firecrackers have been outlawed in NSW for a looooong time now. Hence our excitement when we went to Texas in '02 and bought over US$300 of crackers and let them off at a private ranch just out of the city limits. Good times.

Anyone wanna explain this one to Lash, or shall we send him to the Urban Dictionary?

No. Just add it to the quote system and move on.

I dunno. I think my biggest danger was my brother. He shot me with a bb gun, he toppled over the swingset while I was on it, one of them tossed me off ot the high slide......yeah right, being the baby was a good thing?

I made myself use a seatbelt because if I didn't, my mom would slam on the brakes and we'd go flying and hit the back of her seat.

I always took responsibility for what happened to me. Or, rather, I was always blamed? So, I just accepted it. Once I was hit by a car and I knew I'd get in trouble for being out on the bike so I just got up, grabbed the bike, and ran home. I knew my mom would say 'What were you doing to make that guy hit you with his car?????'

I don't know what a golden shower is but with the comments I can sort of figure it out.....

Jumping of the swing at its apex...onto concrete. Flip dismounts from the highbar...onto concrete. Falling from the top of the jungle gym...onto concrete.

Who needs "cushioning"?

Good times.

Much of which explains the condition of my knees today.

And perhaps part of the reason for my knee and foot surgeries.

We did cherry drops and death drops and had monkey bar fights. Oh and trued to walk across the top of the monkey bars. And played "Frogger" with a snake by running through the swings (while in motion) to get to the other side. The first person "out" got to be the snake, by laying on the ground under the moving swings to get the people running across.

I remember the girls at school used to do a move where they sat astride the bar, with their ankles locked together (ie: legs crossed, and swivelled 360 degrees around the bar, ending up upright again.

I don't remember what they called the move, but it was incredible to watch.

Pole dancing?

My elementary school had really tall swings. The top bar was probably 15-18 feet high. So we had significant air when when jumping out of them (though bark dust was on the ground so no concrete).

In fifth grade one of my fellow students broke his arm when he landed wrong. The school went into complete lockdown and panic mode and for a long time the swings were closely monitored during recess and they took out the seats at the end of the day.

We all honestly could not understand the fuss. A broken arm was a really cool prize (even the kid thought so once it didn't hurt so much) and we were all jealous.

Pine cone wars

Backflips off the trampoline

Diving dead man style into the pool (headfirst, arms by your side)

Ah, memories

We did those too. I don't think we had a name for it.


I can't imagine doing any of that stuff now. I don't even think those types of bars are still around.

Off the roof into the pool.
Bottle rocket wars
Tennis ball canons

(I hope headliner is not reading this...)

LOL Yeah, those too

Diving off the peer

Beating the train

Breaking into warehouses

underage drinking

cross-dressing at a Marine party

There's danger for you !! :D

There's a website discussed in these parts recently that cries out for pictures.

Action AKA Traction Park - It's amazing I survived that place.

As of 3 years ago when I worked at an elementary school, they had them, and kids still do all the tricks you guys are talking about.

That makes me so happy to hear!

Actually, one thing that amazes me in this day and age is that Muni still allows people to hang off the sides of cable cars in San Francisco. I'm sure every once in a while someone must fall off or get dinged by a passing car.

I commute on this every day, believe me it is more dangerous getting on or off since the regular vehicular drivers never stop for the cable cars (public transport). They zoom right past and woe for any passenger disembarking.

Of course, on the Powell or Hyde line, totally different kettle of fish, way more tourists. That would be a turkey shoot. Since the cars can't move sideways, it's the driver of a car who is at fault if they graze a passenger on the running boards, or the passenger has a really big ass. :-)

After two recent MUNI crashes, funny headline today, SF MUNI takes out insurance. Like they did not have it before??

When I was in elementary school, we used to have a carnival every year with dangerous rickety rides, toothless carnies and everything. The shopping center a few miles from us used to have the same type of carnival at least once a year. We thought it was the greatest thing ever!

Who cared if the track on the roller coaster collapsed? Who cared if the ferris wheel (which even then was evil, evil, evil) fell over? Who cared if the carnies were diseased and just took a crap right before they made your cotton candy?

Not us!

EWWW!! I remember those. Christianson Amusement I think was the name of the one around here? Always went. Loved the games.

I think I won't ever EVER buy cotton candy at a carnival ever again.

I have a feeling that some of you would die just looking at the so called "rickety" rides I've ridden through the years.

There are still a few good old fashioned fun house attractions left in the US, but most are in Europe.

Self operated shuttle coasters and zipline rides, anyone? :)

I broke my ankle after a failed attempt on the bars. I used to swing all over them in elementary school. I tried again when I was in 8th grade I think... and fell right off and broke it. I had ridden my bike down to the school.

The YMCA day care I went to (on school campus) was still there and drove me home.

I was embarrassed, for some reason, to say I had fallen off the bars and told my parents I'd fallen off my bike. (why that was better I have no idea - I wonder if I've ever told my parents the truth on that one.)

That was the first time I broke my ankle.

Second time was playing badmitton in college. Yes. I broke it playing badmitton.

I LOVED playing. You have no idea how intense the game can be with experienced competitive people. Sadly, I don't think I've played since. Guess I didn't want to tempt fate again. Although I don't sprain my ankle anymore like I used to as a kid. Wonder if I've got a bunch of scar tissue or something in there keeping it all together... or maybe I'm just not running around on playgrounds not paying attention. ;)

We did that when we went to SF last year. And had ourselves the full "Full House" [opening] experience. It was fun and a bit scary. What was freaky was watching people jump on randomly while it was moving.

We also loved to ride our bikes down the steepest sidewalk we could find with no hands (and, of course, no helmet).

Jumping our bicycles over pits using plywood sheets and rocks as ramps.

One kid once his the lip and actually broke his bike frame cleanly in two but somehow none of us ever got hurt doing it (and, of course, there probably wasn't a bike helmet or knee pad in the county let alone on any of us).

Last year my son was riding without a helmet, hit something like a rock or whatever it was and fell - bonking his unhelmeted head on the curb. He freaked out and did this weird thing where his body got all still and he couldn't move his hands. He's done this before when he had an asmtha attack and freaked out. I was able to calm him down then... but this time my husband saw him and he freaked out and called 911 and he ended up going by ambulance to the hospital.

Now he has to wear his helmet. I can't afford for him not too. (let alone the whole health part of it.)

p.s. If anyone knows what that reaction is called - I would love to know. The paramedic told me in the ambulence but I coudln't write it down and promptly forgot. I would be nice to be able to look it up though.

Hysterical paralysis or conversion disorder?

By no means would I suggest that kids shouldn't wear helmets when riding their bikes just because we never did and mostly survived (I knew two kids killed on their bikes, though I don't know either of them would have survived even with a helmet).

I miss Slip n' Slides. Not sure if they're still around, but this was the best way to use 'em.

I'm tempted to call shenanigans on that one - mostly because once the guy's body leaves the ramp, it looks like a small black shadow, one which would be pretty easy to fake with readily available tools. And boy does he travel a long distance from what doesn't look like that steep a downhill. But I'll be happy to be proven wrong. I really want it to be real.

It's not. It's a viral ad for Microsoft Office.

Ah - curse you Microsoft - for so many things

I used to swim in an irrigation canal near my house. My mom did not approve. It wasn't until I stepped on a broken bear bottle that I finally stopped.

Ok JW and Lash, which one of you left that bottle in the canal!?!

Not mine - I use Bear Cans these days. :D

I almost lost a toe on that damn bottle. LOL at the typo.