When I began reading the comments on my Playground Memories post below I got a wonderful surprise. My post had been chosen as Post of the Day over at David's Authorblog! I'm honored and humbled at his mention.Thank you David and a great big thank you as well to all who left gracious comments.
The teacher part of me is always fascinated by the little country schools I come upon in my travels around the countryside. The one above was in a grove of huge old trees. It was shady and cool. Rather than tear it down this one had been turned into a community center. Notice the red pump in the front. I can imagine on a hot day a teacher pumping away and the kids bent over drinking straight from the pump.
The slide was under a tree out of the sunlight. I can remember almost getting burned many times sliding in the hot sun. Come recess time you did not want to be the first one down the slide! When I was in the third grade we had a slide at least twice as high as this one. A classmate decided when he got to the top he was going to slide down the support pole to the ground. I happened to be down at the bottom. When he slid down he caught my dress with his foot and ripped it around the empire waist. Mrs. Goad stapled my dress together for the rest of the day.I never did like Jeff!
Ah, the playground merry-go-round. The one piece of playground equipment that promised to trip you up and send you flying. This was the one activity I shyed away from during my childhood. It was always spinning round and round loaded with kids. When I look back to those days it's a wonder more kids weren't hurt. Surprisingly I only remember one child breaking an arm on our playground.
There was only one of these spring toys in the yard. The rest probably rusted away. You could get those things going back and forth so fast you could go flying off the front and planting your face in the ground if you weren't careful.
Swings - the one favorite piece of playground equipment everyone wanted to play on and there was never enough for everybody. They don't make this kind anymore. They're said to be too dangerous. Well, maybe so, but I can still remember swinging in the breeze and dreaming of what I wanted to be when I grew up and the voice of my best friend taunting me, "I bet I can swing higher than you."
Ah, the playground merry-go-round. The one piece of playground equipment that promised to trip you up and send you flying. This was the one activity I shyed away from during my childhood. It was always spinning round and round loaded with kids. When I look back to those days it's a wonder more kids weren't hurt. Surprisingly I only remember one child breaking an arm on our playground.
There was only one of these spring toys in the yard. The rest probably rusted away. You could get those things going back and forth so fast you could go flying off the front and planting your face in the ground if you weren't careful.
Swings - the one favorite piece of playground equipment everyone wanted to play on and there was never enough for everybody. They don't make this kind anymore. They're said to be too dangerous. Well, maybe so, but I can still remember swinging in the breeze and dreaming of what I wanted to be when I grew up and the voice of my best friend taunting me, "I bet I can swing higher than you."For more Ruby Tuesday
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56 comments:
What wonderful photos. I wonder if it's my age that this looks so perfect as a school. It's how I remember school being. Brings back wonderful memories. Aloha
There is nothing like a playground to bring our memories out to play! This is so cool. I would love to play on that playground even now!
I never liked slides, but I did like the merry go rounds. Swings made me sick to my stomach.
oooh I loved that it looks like little house on the Prarie and great shots
and tetter totters! :)
Carletta, here is a link to an old school in my neck of the woods.
http://www.co.clark.wa.us/longrangeplan/historic/reg-properties/venersborg.html
Note when you read this it has two
privies. :)
A lovely post full of good memories.
You' ve reminded me of my own playgrounds as a child.
Hi Careletta, you sure did find a nice school yard. I'll bet a lot of kids had fun there for recess and during the summer.
This is a very nice RT posting, thanks,
..
"I bet I can swing higher than you."
I remember those days for sure! Swings, slides, tetter-totters, merry-go-rounds what great fun!
What a wonderful post. Thanks.
Deb
That is an amazing set of photos! Wow that playground, that merry-go-round is talking to me!
Excellent!
I had similar feelings when I visited Bulgaria last year - saw my old school. Here in the USA they took better care of the old playground. Over there the slide was missing - only the steps to climb on it were there - wished I took a picture! I spent 2 months trying to find the old spinning thing - like the one on your post - no chance they all ended up in the crap yards! Thanks for bringing memories.
And all the equipment in RED, imagine that, Carletta! I love the fact that your teacher stapled your dress together for the rest of the day... :)
Lovely photos that sparked my own playground memories. Nifty post ;--)
Hugs and blessings,
this is a place of memories. The spring loaded red car ride is great, the swings and slide ruby due to the years of rust. At least the ground is kind of soft, not like the asphalt underneath the rides in NY City as a kid. It was in the old days that kids could make their own fum we live in a world where electronic playthings are the norm now-but made more fun without prompting us in the early 60s...
Carlotta, the little spring truck is so CUTE.
Oops, the slide is too high. Someone might fall down after sliding.
Ang Paus (Sweet Red Buns)
Happy RT!
Oh wow..... do these photos take me back.....
I feel seven again!
Great shots. Great memories.
Glad to see such a place survives...
Your descriptions are great too!
Great shots...brings back so many memories.
My son used to love those springy toys at the park. That was my favorite photo as it made me smile with those memories. I enjoyed all the photos you shared.
your photos make me nostalgic. i miss those days in the playground, no worries, just fun and more fun.:P
That slide has a short ride and a long drop!!! I hope it was never a fast one! I'm thinking broken tail-bones rather than broken arms!
The school looks lonely without the children playing around. I find the spring toy in the playground sad too.
My Ruby Tue is up, cya there;)
Thanks for all the memories. It sounds as if the playground you found was like the playground at my two-room elementary school. That school has been converted into a private residence and is still standing.
I had a similar dress problem when I was in 2nd grade. I was running along a sidewalk which was next to parked cars, and my dress got caught on a car bumper. It ripped off the skirt from the bodice, too. I ran into the school and hid behind the teacher's desk until someone called my mother. Ha! I'm glad little girls don't have to wear dresses anymore.
You've reminded me of my childhood..:-) how sweet those were the days...
Happy Tuesday & have a nice day
Lots of luv,
Ita
What a cute little school ! and so many things to play with. When I was little there were no toys in a school.
What a lovely set of pictures, Carletta!! a lovely place, glad it has been kept well.
Happy RT!!
Congratulations on winning David McMahon's Post of the Day Award! :-)
Wonderful memories and images.
The slide under the old tree is so endearingly attractive even today, as is the swing set. I still see them being used around here in Austria!
This looks exactly like my elementary school playground many years ago - minus the little car.
We didn't have those growing up.
Thanks for the memories!
Very nice collection of photos and memories. I do remember a few of those playground toys. Like you, I typically avoided the merry-go-round.
Congrats on POTD!!
Your photos are fantastic and the subjects could have come directly from my childhood past in southern Georgia.
What a lovely post! No wonder David made you POTD!! Congratulations Carletta!! I remember getting hurt on the merry go round too as a child. Scary!
Very nice journey back in time. Loved the story and the photos. Congrats on POTD!
Craig Glenn
What a fun post ... and congrats to you on sharing top honors on David's POTD!
These photos certainly take me back in time! I remember playgrounds like that. I wonder what health & safety would say about them now!
Congratulations on POTD mention.
Wonderful post, bringing back memories of when playgrounds could hurt, and that was what made them so exciting. Nowadays people are so afraid of being sued that their kids are wrapped up in cotton wool.
Here from post of the day at authorblog. Well done.
Wow you can just tell these are old playground toys I would love to photograph them! You did a great job with this story!
These trigger memories for me as well. Unfortunately, I experienced quite a different social standing in my youth, and the only playground equipment I really used was the swing. Trees. That was what I liked best, because there was no interaction with the other children. I could climb high above the rest of my world and find a peaceful solace. The hurt from racism and cruelty did not seem to go that high.
There are scars (so to speak) in my memory, but not fresh wounds. I thank God for the healing that has come in my life since then.
love the pics of the old playground. brought back great memories. burned many a time by the metal slides myself. congrats on POTD!
Revisiting, Carletta. I took another look at the schoolhouse and it reminded me of a red schoolhouse I saw this past weekend that had been converted into a private residence. The old school sign was still up on the side of the house and the bell was still in the bell tower. The property and entire restoration was beautiful. Sadly, I could stop to take pictures. Alas.
It is so sad that the safety weenies have banned that kind of merry-go-round. We LOVED them! Thanks for the great memories and great photos!
Ah, those merry-go-rounds.... was it Bill Cosby who did a sketch about them... that playgrounds were built by adults who wanted to get rid of children..."No child will tell you they want a thing that will spin them round and round and round so fast so that when they stop they stumble off and throw up." I remember laying on them with feet towards the outside and holding on the the rails and then looking up at the sky as we turned... but turned slowly. Wouldn't a digital camera have been great then?
I LOVED the merry-go-round when I was a kid. Now, what does that say about me? I enjoyed these photos very much, they really brought me back. Congrats on the POTD!
LOL ~ oh the dangers of a playground, Carletta. We didn't think about the hazards back then, did we?
We always had fun playing outside, sans the electronic toys of today, as Ralph mentioned. ;-)
* the good old days *
thanks for the memory filled post!
Happened by today, only by accident. May I come back a enjoy your great photos..thankx, glenn
great pictures brings back lots of memories as we lived down the street from our old school before it was closed down. So many memories were created in those old school yards
I can almost see the children playing...
Congrat on POTD!
hi carletta,
whenever i visit mr. jim, i always, after i comment read his other friends comments.
i saw you there and was so glad that you appreciated that family picture he posted.
things are nice but there is nothing in the whole wide world better than family!
i am glad i came here now,
this is such a delightful post.
it brings back so many happy schoolhood memories for me.
you are so right!
there were very few kids that got hurt in the play ground and boy! all the cement ground all over the place!
you know what though...i think that kids have a whole army of guardian angels looking after them.
i think adults do too.
my husband and i drove out west five times by motorcycle and one of the men at our church said that those times that the guardian angels were surely working overtime!
i love a swing still.
i am old but i am always tempted to when i see a swing to just get on and swing just as high as i can!
one of the guys at our church had lots of kids and so he used to put up a tire swing and one time when i went calling on them, there was nobody home and so i just got into that tire swing and had a good old time....white hair and all..!
well, i will say so long for now and maybe read a few more of your
carletta's captures before it gets too late...maybe one or two..ha!
love terry
great post and congrats on your mention at david's blog
Oh, to be a child again and have nothing to do but play. :-)
I am not surprised that David took notice of this wonderful post. I was thinking about our swing set at home today for some reason and I don't remember anyone ever getting more than a bump or bruise from it.... Now everything is so scary and dangerous...
Wonderful post, Carletta! (I'm slowly trying to catch up...Lorelei was supposed to be here early but it isn't happening today!)
Wonderful photos and recollections. There is always such warmth and love of life in your posts. I never saw one of those spring toy things before. What a sheltered life I have lived. Sigh.
You brought back such wonderful memories. Our slide (like yours) was taller. But I remember the merry go round the most. But it was the one at the library. Older brother and I played at it while our Mother was in the library.
This one brought back a lot of fond memories for me, too. I didn't know they stopped making swings. That's just plain sad.
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