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We now live in a world where the physical and emotional safety of a person is a top priority. It’s a far cry from previous generations, when toughing it out was pretty much the norm.
Take these photos of playgrounds from decades ago, for example. As you can see, these were designed without the child’s well-being in mind. It just goes to show that kids back then were built differently, as they constantly lived on the edge.
If you’re someone who grew up during these times, this list will likely bring a flood of memories. And if you’re a youngster of today, these images may shock you.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Kid’s Playground In Montreal, 1950s
FranSinclair 3 months ago (edited)
We should have these parks for adults. I know id be laughing my a*s off, bad hip in the air, tears in my eyes laughing with a middle aged woman telling me " 🤣 stop! Im gonna pee! Omg!!!🤣 " swinging on the other side. Work was hell today. Wanna go the playground and let loose, hunny?"
Uncle Panda 3 months ago
This was my era. We used to run across the top of the high structure in the background. Most of us survived.
Lila Allen 3 months ago
I have playground envy now.. this looks like so much fun.
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PenguinEmp 3 months ago
We had these until the mid 80s. Fun times. See we had a sense of our own limits. If you were scared, you did something else instead. We had a huge twenty foot long, ten foot high flat log. You used it to walk to the 'pirate ship' in the other side. It was the only way to get to the big metal slide and the monkey bars. Fell twice. Broke a tooth. Was back on it a week later, now with a better understanding of grip.
RELATED:
#2
Jungle Gyms Were Designed Without Safety Nets. Climbing Structures Were Built High, With No Regard For The Hard Ground Below
Heffalump 3 months ago
Those rubber mats tell me that this playground was for soft 70's kids. When I was using playgrounds in the 60's, we had concrete. I was never in a class where no kid was in a cast. Everything that has happened to playgrounds since has just served to breed decadence.:-)
Uncle Panda 3 months ago (edited)
"We had concrete and steel and we *liked* it!" This thread is bringing out my old man voice.
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 3 months ago
If you were lucky the school sprung for sawdust on the ground. Then of course you need to pay someone to keep the dog sh!t out of it. D@mn maricle anyone from my generation survived to adulthood.
Lila Allen 3 months ago
Ok definitely not on the sawdust. OUCH. In your eyes, your scrapes, unhygienic, and just plain ick. I'd rather the concrete.
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Kit Black 3 months ago
This was the climbing structure we had at my first elementary school - of course, it didn't have any rubber mats - it was directly on concrete. Oh yeah, and it was on the boys side of the playground. The girl's side didn't have any play equipment
nottheactualphoto 3 months ago
Same, but we didn't have a boys' side and a girls' side. It was just the playground.
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CartoonCasey 3 months ago
Like falling through a pin-ball machine. PING, PONG, PING, CRACK, BREAK, SPLAT - TILT! It most certainly taught us our limits. To this day, I can't pass scaffolding without the urge to climb up into it and swing like a monkey.
Abel 3 months ago
I remember those. If you were careless you could hurt your head.(talking from the experience..)
Min 3 months ago
Yes, I my head far more often than falling and hitting the ground. 😂
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Mi So 3 months ago
And somehow that pea gravel was always covered in white dust that sucked all the moisture out of our skin and cling to all of our clothes, no matter how long the pea gravel had been there and “washed” by repeated rain storms.
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Joshua David 3 months ago
My school playground had this exactly. We would all try for the wide openings on the left and right so we could hang upside down and if you didn't get that one you were a LOOOSER!
Nikki Spears Gross 3 months ago
Ours was concrete with gravel on top to help "soften" your fall. So, in addition to hurting yourself really bad, you had the additional joy of pulling little pieces of rock out of any wounds or breaks.
#3
The Old Spinning Merry-Go-Rounds Were Both Exhilarating And Terrifying. Those Who Lost Their Grip Were Flung Off Like Human Projectiles, While Others Staggered Away Nauseous
keyboardtek 3 months ago
And getting flung off into the air was the fun part!
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Russell Bowman 3 months ago
centripetal force or centrifugal force ... always get those confused
The first playgrounds came about in the early 1900s out of necessity. According to Pennsylvania-based law firm Edgar Snyder & Associates, cities like Pittsburgh installed municipal playgrounds to try to curb the growing number of car accidents involving children under 9 years old.
However, playground safety wasn’t much of a priority during the early days. Most equipment back then was made of galvanized steel and stood on hard surfaces like asphalt.
#4
Corkscrew Slides Made Entirely Of Metal, They Could Heat Up To Unbearable Temperatures Under The Sun, Leaving Riders With Seared Skin
Abel 3 months ago
Did you mean burn? You could fry an egg during a hot summer afternoon...
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Sam Trudeau 3 months ago
There's still metal slides now, but slides like those are usually plastic. Aka "God of fire vs God of electricity"
Russell Bowman 3 months ago
buff up those plastic slides with car wax ... and yahoo
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Son of Philosoraptor 3 months ago
The top box of the slide was the secret make out place when we were 14.
JayWantsACat 3 months ago
The big playground near where I grew up had a literal three story high metal rocket that you could climb all the way up in. It was made of metal and during the SoCal summers, it would turn into an oven. And of course the metal slide turned into a frying pan. It was fun but if I had kids I would not let them climb it. So many kids fell from one floor to the other, straight onto metal. It was fun putting sand down the slides to make them extra fast.
BrunoVI 3 months ago
As an American, I only learned as an adult that these are what are called "helter skelters" (at least sort of; "helter skelters" are usually depicted showing an internal slide up the middle.)
Huddo's sister 3 months ago
There are still some of the old Maccas (Mc Donalds) slides around in Australia. There is one in a heritage park near me. They were so fun.
#5
Kids Playground In Mexico City, 1960s
Strings 3 months ago
Reminds me of a slide in Mundeline, IL. Was usable when I was a kid (late 70s): looked like a giant robot you climbed inside, with chutes for the arms and legs. Was still standing when I went through in the early 2000s, but was safety-roped off
nicholas nolan 3 months ago
It was still working in the mid 80s! Fantastic fun! We should all be dead, but it was fantastic fun.
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Lila Allen 3 months ago
Our local park has one but there's an upper and lower stage of the rocket for higher and lower slides
Load More Replies... #6
My Grade School's Playground In The 70s
We had this insane jungle gym that we called "the bars". A big fountain and a little creek that ran through the park under the bars and into a brick lined pond. It was the best playground ever. Bar tag was the top activity. There were spots you could make a leap of faith to avoid getting tagged. Knocked the wind out of myself several times when I missed the grab.
Uncle Panda 3 months ago
They got running water! We didn't get running water!
Load More Replies... FranSinclair 3 months ago
My kids school has a playground and stuff but this year they did something i think is so cool and the kids love. They made a mulched area between two parts of the school. They put like a tree stump and a big wooden wire spool. The other things in there are from nature the kids collected themselves, like big rocks, big sticks ect. Then they do what they want. They move tthe stuff around, climb on it, obstacle courses...they just let them be creative on their own with nature. I love it
Of course, injuries like broken arms began to pile up due to the lack of safety. According to Edgar Snyder, it wasn’t until 1938 that the National Recreation Association acknowledged the need for safer surface materials.
However, none of them offered workable solutions. Despite the publication of recommendations for safer playgrounds, structures were still built on either asphalt or concrete in the succeeding decades.
#7
Slide In Holland, 1972
BeesEelsAndPups 3 months ago
We had a wooden slide at my neighborhood. It would give you splinters on your butt.
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Virgil Blue 3 months ago
Can anyone tell me where this is? I think I slid down it when it was still up near where I live. Could be that it was a very similar one. The one I slid down was demolished after finally hurting someone. Crazy it hadn't happened earlier.
Nicole Weymann 3 months ago
According to one of the original commenters on Reddit it might be ""Het Uilenbos" near Lunteren"
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Brian Droste 3 months ago (edited)
I wouldn't be worried about getting wood slivers in my butt, but would be worried about falling off the side of the slide how high the kid is in the air.
#8
Gravity Was As Unforgiving Then As It Is Today. A Simple Misstep Could Lead To An Abrupt Drop, Often Resulting In Cuts, Bruises, Or Even A Trip To The ER
BrunoVI 3 months ago (edited)
No. The axes make it look like it might, but that ladder gives away that it can't turn.
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#9
Metal Slides In The 1970s Offered A Thrilling, High-Speed, But Under The Blazing Summer Sun, They Turned Into Searing Hot Surfaces
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 3 months ago (edited)
I'm thinking back to all the slides from when I was a kid and they were all surrounded by trees. Then I remembered I'm from Oregon and it's not like that everywhere else.
Grumpy old man 3 months ago
We use those plastic woven screens in Texas. They dont last long
Load More Replies... Boopsie 3 months ago
We used to use wax paper for the first run down the slides. Then you really flew!
Wat Tyler's Revenge 3 months ago
That’s obviously somewhere in Britain. Zero chance of sun induced burns on that slide.
Lila Allen 3 months ago
It's the short pants...dead giveaway it's Britain.
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Lee Gilliland 3 months ago
We knew better than to go one them. You learn after one good sear, trust me.
By the late '70s, governing bodies began recognizing the need for more precautions. It likely happened after the National Electronic Injury Survey System found that 59% of playground injuries resulted from falls to hard surfaces.
Around this time, citizen groups and professionals alike began clamoring for increased safety standards and regulations. By 1981, the Consumer Product Safety Commission published extensive guidelines.
#10
This Playground Was Located Just South Of Kepner Hall. Playgrounds Were An Innovation In Education In The Early 20th Century
Uncle Panda 3 months ago
The three on the left have slack chains at the top. That was a goal for some reason. It was higher than reaching the same height with the chains taut, and you got a heartbeat of freefall.
FranSinclair 3 months ago
I wonder how often they got hurt. I voulenteer at the school here alot and have seen a whole lot of "boo boos" but idt ive seen someone get hurt with the playground equipment being the culprit. Its things like accidentally smacking their head off the fence, tripping on their own feet, bee stings. Wouldnt it be nuts if it was still the case back then. Moms just got nervous 😆
#11
Modernist Playground, 1971
Jrog 3 months ago (edited)
Edit: Nevermind, not the Brunel Estate: Likely same architect but different location. That said: It's is NOT MODERNIST in the proper definition -nor for style, nor for time of construction-. The correct identification would be in the subgenre of "brick brutalism".
BrunoVI 3 months ago
I disagree: the bricks are laid out in a rather organic-looking manner, as if there's a natural mound underlying most of it. (The slide's peak and the stairs behind it are highly doubtful.)
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#12
Playground In 1924 May
In 1995, the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS) launched National Playground Safety Week. It was a small initiative that began at the University of Iowa, which eventually garnered international recognition.
“While the strategies, research, and initiatives have evolved, our mission remains the same – to raise awareness about playground safety and the necessity for appropriate, healthy spaces to support child development and well-being,” NPPS director Hannah Jaros said.
#13
Monash Playground In The Early 1980s
Huddo's sister 3 months ago (edited)
I think this is in Australia. We have a lot of places named after General Sir John Monash, an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the First World War. The flag looks Australian too. I wonder where specifically? Edit: It's near the Victorian/South Australian border. I wish it was still around when I was growing up.http://au.news.yahoo.com/aussies-in-awe-of-incredible-nostalgic-playground-photo-wouldnt-be-allowed-these-days-071218596.html There is a replacement playground now, which looks pretty good, I will have to visit sometime. https://southaustralia.com/products/riverland/attraction/monash-adventure-park
Mi So 3 months ago
There is some real height to that tilting spinning (I assume) thing in the foreground. I can just see kids crawling under there & getting squished. I wonder what that cement mixer looking thing is on the left. But I know where I’d have spent all my time at this playground — that huge spiral slide at the back. I loved a good slide.
#14
Hiawatha Playfield, 1912
Steep ladders were very common. One overconfident move or a moment of hesitation could send a child tumbling backward.
#15
Zurich, Playground Aussersihl, "Rope Circus" 1978
Alexandra 3 months ago
We still have those where I live and they are used extensively. Not just by kids but also by teens who go all the way to the top and then sit, vape and stare vacantly in the distance......
Giles McArdell 3 months ago
Yup, still see these in some places in the UK. Being rope it's hard for kids to get hurt , the shape means it's not possible to fall to the ground without having another rope break their fall, so pretty safe.
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Today, playgrounds are a far cry from their rustic predecessors. In Queensland, these recreational areas come with a tin roof as a way to protect the structures from the elements.
As Park Planning Coordinator Tracie Harvison tells ABC Australia, the goal isn’t only to provide shade, but also to keep the equipment functional and in top condition.
#16
Armstrong Academy, Oklahoma - Homemade Playground Apparatus. 1912
#17
My Young Family Visited The Monash Playground In The Early 1980's
lenka 3 months ago (edited)
I think they are referring to a playground in a town called Monash in South Australia. We lived down the road from here when I was kid and this is exactly what it looked like. It also had this great big metal thing that spun around and launched you out of it onto the hard ground. You can see one slide in background, but it had another one much higher that was like a wave and you rode down on it old potato sacks with so much speed that you almost broke your tail bone landing on the ground at the end. The whole playground was the most awesome death trap. We loved it.
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#18
The First (Somewhat Dangerous) Playground Slide In Britain (1922)
Mi So 3 months ago
First came wood slides with splinters, then metal slides with burns, then plastic slides with static shocks. Fun times all ‘round!
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Harvison also revealed a shift in their approach to building playground structures. From merely catering to physical, strength-based activities, she says, they are also planning ways to make playgrounds about the “whole range of developmental needs for children.”
"There are also other aspects they’ve realised are really important, such as imaginative play and socialising aspects, so kids develop their social skills,” she said.
#19
Play Structure, Photographed At Earth Rebirth Day Rally, Berkeley, California, 1970
CartoonCasey 3 months ago
Instead of welding the pipes into place, crimp them and bend them. Efficient and economical. Of course, the structural integrity will be compromised. And the bends will instantly rust and become sharp and jagged. But totally worth it to get the kids out of the house.
#20
Columbus Ave Playground. Boys Exercising
Littlemiss 3 months ago
You put one leg over each bar, lean back and wrap your arms over the bar behind you. It's a slide, had a small one at a kindy I worked at. Kids loved it.
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#21
Teeter-Totters Were Trust Exercises. If One Child Decided To Jump Off, The Other Would Come Crashing Down With Enough Force To Leave Them Bruised
Uncle Panda 3 months ago (edited)
This was also the heavier kids' revenge. If you didn't have similar mass, they could keep you up there until the end of recess. I did eventually learn to drop off.
Strings 3 months ago
You almost can't find a teeter-totter in the US anymore. And yet, that's the universal sign for "playground"
Brandi Delph 3 months ago
I fell off one, my play partner fell off her end, then my end slammed back down on my head. My teacher's response? "Quit your crying, you aren't hurt." Late 1970s
Huddo's sister 3 months ago
I have a video of my sister arguing with us on a family trip, because she wanted to go on the seesaw, but didn't trust my brother or stepdad to not get off while she was in the air.
#22
Outdoor Gymnasium And Playground, Chicago, Il (1903)
keyboardtek 3 months ago
I wonder how many broke their necks to produce the one that was skilled enough to go on to working on sky scrapers?
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Mi So 3 months ago
It’s all the girls, upset that it’s for boys only, & they don’t get to climb.
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 3 months ago
This one reminds me of the 'vertical playground' we had at a school camp in the Grampians, Australia. Except it was about double the height and we had to wear safety harnesses. There was also a 'pamper pole' (no idea why it was called that) which was like a telephone pole, with large horseshoe nails all the way up that you climbed. At the top, you stood up and balanced, then jumped off and tried to reach a trapeze bar suspended nearby.
#23
Summer - On A Children's City Playground 1926
Uncle Panda 3 months ago
Many of the slides are weird because the angle is too flat to 'slide.' This one looks more like a 'scootch.' It's like somebody saw a picture of a slide and made one, but left out the verb that provided the fun. Those kids are sitting still.
alchemilla vulgaris 3 months ago
believe you me, you COULD slide, and slide (at speed!) we did
Load More Replies... #24
Playground At Blågårds Plads, 1953
Lina Bisgaard 3 months ago
I'm not sure but I think I played there as a kid in the early 90's. Today it's a playground for drunk people (and also for Events) and that's quite sad as well.
Abel 3 months ago
And the drunk people are the same kids that played there. Just to keep the tradition...
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 3 months ago
We had similar wooden structures in our playground at primary school in the 90s, but they were replaced with modern equipment in the early 2000s.
#25
A Home Made Ferris Wheel. Erected On The American Red Cross Playground At Elbasan. 1920
The picture shows American Nurses who took a trip to prove its safety to the children. The children in Albania never knew how to play or work either until the Red Cross came.
Eastendbird 3 months ago
"The children in Albania never knew how to play or work either until the Red Cross came"... I call BS on this weird statement,
Dragon mama 3 months ago
Right? As though all they did was sit and stare at the walls before that. Ha!
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#26
Playground Scene. Irwinville School, Georgia, 1938 May
Kelly H. Wilder 3 months ago
1 pig roaming the playground and hardly any shoes for the kiddos. Too young to remember WWI and WWII was not envisioned yet...these are the kids whose childhood was "the good old days".
Mi So 3 months ago
Or have they just tucked their skirts between their legs, so the skirt doesn’t flip up too much?
Load More Replies... #27
N.Y. Playground 1910
#28
Girls' Playground, Harriet Island, St. Paul, Minn. 1905
Uncle Panda 3 months ago (edited)
We had climbing ropes to the top of the gymnasium, three stories up. Luckily, I was good at the ropes (unlike everything else in gym class) but I remember seeing kids come down hard, sliding out of control and splatting at the bottom of the rope with evil looking friction burns. Even in 2nd grade, I was asking "what happens if a kid falls from the top?" It had to happen.
Teri Jo 3 months ago
The ropes in gym class were the only thing that I could do. I was always amazed at how easily some of the other students (mostly boys) could go up and down them. Our school only had two stories; so ours were lower than yours; but still pretty intimidating for me, had I ever been able to climb one!
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#30
Playground Between 1918 And 1920
James016 3 months ago
Get your friends to spin it as fast as possible hold on to the vertical bar while stretching out. You will fly off.
Uncle Panda 3 months ago
We had one made for launching kids. Landing hurt! And then we'd run back and get in line.
Load More Replies... Uncle Panda 3 months ago
I see enough angular momentum to keep it still spinning after the scabs have dried.
#31
1913 Playground
#32
Bad Lausick. Bethlehemstift, Playground
Grumpy old man 3 months ago
FYI: Anything "BAD" is really Bath. The D is a Thorn, TH. Any town in Europe with BAD just means it had a Roman Bath.
BrunoVI 3 months ago
I always presumed "Badwater" meant it was salty or stale or something. I still do, given its in a desert. But "Bathwater" makes it so less tough-guy sounding. Maybe they were hoping for a refreshingly cool dip and were displeased when the water was "warm as bathwater."
Load More Replies... Rali Meyer 3 months ago
we had one of those to stand on, without seats and quickly learned that you could spin them with the help of your motorbike's rear wheel
#33
Children In A Nice Playground The Tel Aviv Municipality Built Near The Hayarkon River
JoNo 3 months ago
A friend of mine learnt the hard way that sand underneath a playground can feel like rocks when falling back first from a height. She was winded, threw up and not good for a couple of days.
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What do you think ?
Gertrude VonSpitzbart 3 months ago
It wasn't that it made kids tougher. It made them better at judging risk, making risk based decisions, and being responsible for their own safety. Important skills. These days its always someone else's fault....
David 3 months ago
yup, and you see how bored little kids get at the parks today as well bc the things are boring bc they are super safe. We need a balance between the two
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AtMostAFabulist 3 months ago (edited)
In grade school we had a metal jungle gym ish thing. It was like a dome with 4 sides and open on the top. Height was about 5 feet. The big challenge was to walk up one side, over the top and down the other. Preferably with a partner so you could hold hands. Of course this was over cement.
Jayne Turner 3 months ago
Them you get these nostalgia sites where people go on about kids didn't come home for hours, played in the park, went to the swimming baths. I had two friends who had serious accidents, from similar play ground equipment, not to mention lots of broken limbs.
joseph legatt 3 months ago
These playgrounds also helped to teach that there were consequences for actions. If you got careless and/or stupid you paid the price.
Eliza Osenbaugh-Stewart 3 months ago
There are far scarier modern playgrounds in my area. This one always terrifies me - I don't know what I'd do if my kids got stuck at the top because I couldn't get up there, I'd be shaking like a leaf! But they are like let's do it again! https://tripbucket.com/dreams/dream/take-the-kids-to-artists-at-play-seattle-washington/
BarfyCat 3 months ago
Reminds me of City Museum in St. Louis. It's super fun, but do NOT bring toddlers! https://citymuseum.org/
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Japa Solitario 3 months ago
We were wild! I remember climbing trees 15-20 meters high! I could see all around from the top! The wind would make the tree swing! And I survived!
Lee Gilliland 3 months ago
You learned not to go on slides after your first scortch, and to keep your legs down on the seesaw. I guess experience counted a lot earlier in those days.
Gertrude VonSpitzbart 3 months ago
It wasn't that it made kids tougher. It made them better at judging risk, making risk based decisions, and being responsible for their own safety. Important skills. These days its always someone else's fault....
David 3 months ago
yup, and you see how bored little kids get at the parks today as well bc the things are boring bc they are super safe. We need a balance between the two
Load More Replies... AtMostAFabulist 3 months ago (edited)
In grade school we had a metal jungle gym ish thing. It was like a dome with 4 sides and open on the top. Height was about 5 feet. The big challenge was to walk up one side, over the top and down the other. Preferably with a partner so you could hold hands. Of course this was over cement.
Jayne Turner 3 months ago
Them you get these nostalgia sites where people go on about kids didn't come home for hours, played in the park, went to the swimming baths. I had two friends who had serious accidents, from similar play ground equipment, not to mention lots of broken limbs.
joseph legatt 3 months ago
These playgrounds also helped to teach that there were consequences for actions. If you got careless and/or stupid you paid the price.
Eliza Osenbaugh-Stewart 3 months ago
There are far scarier modern playgrounds in my area. This one always terrifies me - I don't know what I'd do if my kids got stuck at the top because I couldn't get up there, I'd be shaking like a leaf! But they are like let's do it again! https://tripbucket.com/dreams/dream/take-the-kids-to-artists-at-play-seattle-washington/
BarfyCat 3 months ago
Reminds me of City Museum in St. Louis. It's super fun, but do NOT bring toddlers! https://citymuseum.org/
Load More Replies... Japa Solitario 3 months ago
We were wild! I remember climbing trees 15-20 meters high! I could see all around from the top! The wind would make the tree swing! And I survived!
Lee Gilliland 3 months ago
You learned not to go on slides after your first scortch, and to keep your legs down on the seesaw. I guess experience counted a lot earlier in those days.
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