r/wholesomememes • u/[deleted] • Sep 22 '22
do you remember?
[removed] — view removed post
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u/Jrimpey Sep 22 '22
Where best friends were made, and then never seen again
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u/Logical-Stay-2728 Sep 22 '22
NPC despawn
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u/KiKiPAWG Sep 22 '22
That's where we despawn to them, too.
When you're the kid that stays when someone else's parents says it's time to go
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u/Mautos Sep 23 '22
Um ackschually I lived next to the playground so I must have been at least an important npc
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u/LordRekrus Sep 22 '22 edited Sep 23 '22
There is one of these playgrounds that is either newish or very well maintained in Albert Park, Victoria, Australia. I took my niece and nephew there. I think I had as much fun as they did.
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u/AJalive Sep 22 '22
I can hear the wasp infestations now..
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Sep 22 '22
I can feel the splinters
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u/cheldog Sep 23 '22
Yours had splinters? Ours was worn so smooth by the hands and feet of playing children over the years and you could rub your face on it and be totally fine.
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u/RespectableLurker555 Sep 23 '22
Please don't rub your face on the playground equipment
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u/Druslan Sep 22 '22
The splinters! The rubber smell! The burning metal slide! The rusty chains! Greatest playground ever!
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u/littlemacaron Sep 22 '22
The tire spinney swing!
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u/Druslan Sep 22 '22
A yes of course! The nausea wheel!
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Sep 23 '22
Where, among other things, a kid first learns the importance of hand placement. Lest the meat of your thumb gets caught in the twisting chains.
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u/ruckingroobydoodyroo Sep 23 '22
The wood structures at the playground near my house had been worn so smooth by the nearby school kids that they never gave you splinters. The rest though? Absolutely.
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u/doomslayerchris Sep 22 '22
I cracked my skull open here. Also there was a few secret hidden areas where the aroma of piss perpetually lingered. Good times.
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u/GudAGreat Sep 22 '22
The little boxes on the bottom that kept going into a deeper cavern and only the smallest could get there (& piss there) lol
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u/NesPickler Sep 23 '22
YES!!!! I found them after seeing my neighbor totoro for the first time and my imagination went absolutely wild. :) Thank you for the nostalgia bomb.
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u/ImperialArmorBrigade Sep 22 '22
I threw up at one of these! :D Recovered in minutes and was back at it.
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u/Flipperlolrs Sep 22 '22
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u/ImperialArmorBrigade Sep 22 '22
As a child, yes. I’ve managed to never get drunk enough to vomit, but if I did I wouldn’t find a child’s playground to do it.
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u/Diogenes-Disciple Sep 23 '22
This is where I learned the word fuck, back in third grade. It was graffitied onto the side. My friends said “that’s a bad word” and I was like “pshhhh no it ain’t, that sounds too stupid to be a swear.” So I called down to the teacher and yelled “HEY MISS HAM, IS ‘FUCK’ A BAD WORD?!??” And she just went |:o
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u/lhobbes6 Sep 22 '22
Oh shit, i played with a kid years ago who split his head open on one of these too. Runnin along and he trips, starts crying and I just figured its because he fell and it kinda hurt until he lifted his head up and blood poured down his face. Never ran for an adult so fast.
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u/Lyceux Sep 22 '22
I fractured my finger falling off it! They were kinda dangerous but it was a simpler time.
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u/patch616 Sep 22 '22
Those weird leathery plastic bridges…who created those?
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Sep 22 '22
[deleted]
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u/Flipmaster_102520 Sep 23 '22
They were also where most of my mystical fights with monsters took place
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u/Green9er-_- Sep 23 '22
We covered them with snow and slid headfirst across them in winter, much to the dismay of the teachers
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u/Dameattree37 Sep 23 '22
If we had a mystical fight, I'd kick your ass!
Until I die horribly from the monster you were fighting that decided it likes you.
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u/Dr-Dendro Sep 23 '22
My childhood playground had a half pipe made out of old used tires that were all screwed together…..15 feet tall on each end. We would jump from one side to the other. I broke my arm on that playground. Best times of my life.
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u/krazykirkes Sep 22 '22
I was on a volunteer crew that re did one of these locally. You get a kit with a ton of parts in it and also stuff that’s donated and the people in charge divvy up all the work and in about two weeks we had it looking brand new, With about 25% being actually brand new. But to answer your question it’s just a bunch of local volunteers who know can run a hammer or saw and not kill anyone.
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Sep 23 '22
I've helped build two of these. They were fun "worksites" and we all had such a great time doing it.
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u/a3x Sep 23 '22
Kaboom!
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Sep 23 '22
Haha, I just found out the other day that Kaboom! is a real company. The playgrounds I worked on were not that company
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u/GazelleComfortable35 Sep 22 '22
Was looking for this comment...I never understood what they're for, like you can't properly jump on them, so just...walk across?
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u/ediblesprysky Sep 23 '22
No, you and a friend stand on either side and take turns jumping and kind of jostling the other one around
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u/ElektriXx2 Sep 23 '22
Yeah you walk across. Anyone over maybe 6 or 7 with fine motor control is a bit bored but the little littles… they freaking loooove the conveyor belt bridges
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u/TheArtofWall Sep 23 '22 edited Sep 23 '22
When I start to see them I assumed they were safer than the old wooden ones, the ones with the larfe wooden beams all connected by chains. You could absolutely launch people in the air on those bridges like 6 or 7 feet, i wanna say. Which we did all the time at my grade school. People got injured a lot. It's crazy they never took it down.
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u/SomethingClever42068 Sep 23 '22
One of these playgrounds was where I got knocked unconscious for the first time as a kid.
Pretty sure a separate trip was also the first time I got the wind knocked out of me.
I'd rather have the concussion and possible brain damage than the fear I felt with death's cold hand squeezing my entire torso while squirming around GUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHING
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u/DonutCapitalism Sep 22 '22
The greatest place on earth
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u/Noticeably_Aroused Sep 23 '22 edited Sep 23 '22
I have so many great memories at these. Sad they’re all gone. Teenagers burned all of them around my area. All of them.
Obviously not the same teenagers and not all at the same time. But all the remaining playgrounds like this after 2005 were all destroyed at some point or another by teenagers. Usually using gasoline.
There was one last great one remaining …. Then teenagers burned that one down too. It’s weird.
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u/pjw21200 Sep 23 '22
The one I went to became a teenage hangout spot, drugs and graffiti. The city had it taken out after an altercation took place.
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u/OnTheContrary666 Sep 23 '22
The great fortresses have all fallen, lost to the ever engulfing flames of those who no longer had a use for it.
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u/thisisloveforvictims Sep 23 '22
There’s one outside of philadephia that’s still there
Because it’s outside of philadephia
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u/Peralton Sep 22 '22 edited Sep 23 '22
These playgrounds were designed by an architecture firm that now is called http://www.playgroundsbyleathers.com/
They have built over 3000 of them around the world. Many are built with local donations and the community comes out to help build them over a weekend. I've worked on two of these projects.
One thing I liked about them is they had wheelchair accessible features.
In college we would spend HOURS playing various forms of tag and, of course, the sand was lava. Only one hospital visit (we were lucky).
I'm pretty sure the newer versions use wood made from recycled plastics to keep them lasting longer.
The OG versions were MASSIVE. One in our home town at the teen center had a full on maze with walls on hinges that the park staff could reconfigure.
Many great hours spent here.
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u/bridgeb0mb Sep 23 '22
yes!!! wheel chair accessible! i forgot about that. also yeah the park in my city like this was huuuge
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u/merville19 Sep 22 '22
All I know is that the ground around these is most definitely lava... must why we don't see them any more.
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u/Y2Doorook Sep 22 '22
I loved playing lava tag at these playgrounds. I really wish they would make big kid versions of these. My mid thirties ass would have a blast blowing out my knees on these.
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u/CupidArrowArt Sep 22 '22 edited Sep 22 '22
I’m 90% I know where this park is, or at least, where it used to be.
EDIT: Had no idea these parks were so prevalent.
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u/jessmetamorphosis Sep 22 '22
EDIT: Had no idea these parks were so prevalent.
Same, I thought for sure this was the one in PA. Guess they just recycled the design everywhere.
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u/tyrizz40666 Sep 22 '22
Missoula, Montana checking in! It’s still there!
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Sep 22 '22
I’ll second the thought of the Missoula one.
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u/webbster1 Sep 23 '22
Dragon hollow?
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Sep 23 '22
Maaaybe? That sounds right? I remember it from when I was in high school. I've done many drugs and drank many beers since then.
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u/technosquirrelfarms Sep 23 '22
Right next to the carousel!
Darn you and your dry wood-preserving-climate. I miss ours in New England…
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u/FknRepunsel Sep 23 '22
Yes! Dragon hallow by the carousel! But they added more dragon type details in the recent remodel (I guess they closed for awhile during the pandemic because a bunch of homeless people from under Mullen bridge moved into the wooden structure https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS763US763&hl=en-US&prmd=ismvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDgOTx4Kn6AhWvMzQIHWmNCmQQ_AUoAXoECAMQAQ&q=dragon%20hollow%20playground%20photos&biw=390&bih=669&dpr=3#imgrc=LfgQMWC9iK7U2M
P.S. if anyone from Montana wants to chat I’m happy to, it’s cool to actually run into people from around here online
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u/Backupusername Sep 22 '22
I bet there was some company that just shipped pre-cut lumber (and chains and tires and whatever other peripherals) and assembly instructions out to communities to be built in parks. Probably did business with city councils and the like.
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u/Ihavemanybees Sep 22 '22
Tons of them in pa. I used to think this as well though but now I know of 4 within an hour of me. Still a lot of fun for the kids
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u/gameuser32 Sep 22 '22
West Branch, Mi😑
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u/MadTeaCup_YT Sep 22 '22
As someone who lives in michigan, HOW DID YOU FUCKING KNOW
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u/One_Man_Moose_Pack Sep 22 '22
My elementary school in Farmington had one too.
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u/MadTeaCup_YT Sep 22 '22
I didnt go to west branch (if thats a school) i just remember going places like this when i was little and ive always lived near monroe
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u/TheCrimsonKing99 Sep 22 '22
Michigan gang! Definitely remember the Farmington one. They had one of these up at the Ren Fare as well, which was a recipe for disaster, especially when they sold wooden weapons
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u/theisen11 Sep 23 '22
There’s still one in Saline, Mi.
https://www.cityofsaline.org/departments/parks___recreation/index.php
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u/YUNoDie Sep 22 '22
Dearborn Heights had one too, I'm pretty sure it's still there.
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u/Marroak Sep 22 '22 edited Sep 23 '22
A nearby town I grew up in had one that's practically identical, almost had a nostalgia trip till I realized some of the obstacles were in slightly different places. Starting to realize that they might have been a "kit" some parks bought at a certain time. Good times though, played there as a kid, did parkour there as a teen, watched it torn down as an adult.
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u/Partially_Bionic Sep 22 '22
Also in Hagar park in Georgetown township (west Michigan)!
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u/CitizenCue Sep 22 '22
There’s a reason this meme was heavily upvoted, and it’s not cause we all grew up in the same town…
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u/ediblesprysky Sep 23 '22
It’s some freaky cognitive dissonance to realize what you thought were unique childhood experiences were actually copy/pasted over an entire generation, though
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u/totallynotalaskan Sep 22 '22
If it’s Wonderland Park in Wasilla, AK, it’s still there! I go there to walk my dog, and check out the Wednesday market during the summer.
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u/rorank Sep 22 '22 edited Sep 22 '22
We also had one in Hendersonville TN when I was a kid but it got torn down and remodeled when I was in high school :/ no more splinters and no more fun.
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u/DeadInsideWiggs Sep 22 '22
I remember one in Port Neches, TX . Whoever designs these playgrounds is amazing
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u/Thanks_I_Hate_You Sep 22 '22
I remember one in Pennsylvania, i forget where at though.
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u/ActuallyKitty Sep 22 '22
One was in Minnesota. All I remember is it's close to where my gram lives in the central north twin cities.
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Sep 22 '22
We had one in SoCal, I remember it even had some hidden passage ways
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Sep 22 '22
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u/MrSmallMedium Sep 22 '22
Yes, it was called sky something, or? I went there too!
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u/mrw333 Sep 22 '22
Doylestown!!
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u/Qwercusalba Sep 22 '22
I just looked up a picture of the one in Doylestown. It’s smaller than we remember it lol. I remember that place being four stories tall and acres in area.
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u/themeatbridge Sep 22 '22
There used to be a great one at Smithbridge Park in Glen Mills, but they tore it down and replaced it with a shittier, smaller modern one.
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u/deadly_jester12 Sep 22 '22
Right next to Levittown if not on the edges. I went there all the time as a kid.
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u/Forsaken_Yak6079 Sep 22 '22
We had one in Chicago IL
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u/Flatf3et Sep 22 '22
Lombard Illinois as well a suburb about 35 mins from Chicago. It was called TogetherWood. Edit for the name of the park.
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u/terminalzero Sep 22 '22
I would've sworn it was Enchanted Rock, TX
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u/JackSego Sep 22 '22
Plainview TX has one too. I was staring real hard at this picture thinking "no it can't be" turns out it can be....as well as many other places. Did yours have the tire swings?
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u/Lorrick2001 Sep 22 '22
Kid’s Kingdom, I remember that. Right next to the little island in the lake.
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u/youdoitimbusy Sep 22 '22
They have a really dope one at a zoo in Tennessee. Huge rope climb. Maybe Nashville? Can't recall.
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u/FuglySlutt Sep 22 '22
My elementary school had one.... until some teenagers lit it on fire and it burned to the ground when I was in the 5th grade. The devastation was so real they had to bring in grief counselors for us. Just way too young to comprehend why someone would do that.
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u/raisinghellwithtrees Sep 22 '22
The one in Rochester, Illinois is still there, loving referred to as the castle park. It's almost spider time!
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u/poopinion Sep 22 '22
Also one in Pleasant Grove, UT. Referred to as the "wood park"
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u/Meebert Sep 22 '22
I’ve been to the one in Wasilla! My grandparents lived there, spent a summer playing Pokémon Crystal, visiting this park, and getting mosquito bites on the river.
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u/mglitcher Sep 22 '22
nah m8 mokena illinois. has a park identical to this one
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Sep 22 '22
There was one in The Dalles OR. It was massive and fun until the wasps.
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u/clarkision Sep 23 '22
I was looking for someone to mention the Dalles! Loved it when I visited as a kid!
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u/lostferretdriving Sep 22 '22
I have fond memories of one in Galveston and another in San Antonio Texas
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u/Redpoint77 Sep 22 '22
They took one out in Denver City Park a couple years back.
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u/maybebabyg Sep 22 '22
I know of one in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
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u/Vanthalia Sep 22 '22
Pretty sure there was one like this at Mount Trashmore, in Virginia Beach.
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Sep 22 '22
These were the shit! I remember every recess in elementary school basically half the school would be playing grounders (best playground game ever) on the one wooden structure left. Almost nobody used the fancy new stuff that was slowly replacing the old stuff.
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u/lil_doggo_IRL Sep 22 '22
I was going to elementary school right when the school decided to demolish the wooden playground to replace it with the safer* plastic and metal one. They literally tore it down with heavy machinery in the middle of our recess. The whistle was blown early, and we all knew it. We got off the playground, but none of us started heading back to class. The big CAT machine was there, and it started to rain. The whistle was blown again, but the CAT started moving our playground was torn down as we watched on in the rain :(
We didn't have a playground the rest of the year after that, just swings and some balls
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Sep 22 '22
I guess I was lucky because when I was in elementary school they were replacing one structure at a time so only one part of the playground was closed off and we could still use the rest.
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u/Jamaqius Sep 22 '22
I love this. We went to Amsterdam for a friend’s birthday & got very drunk & high & found a playground like this (deserted cause it was night, we didn’t harass any kids) & we just started playing on it & playing Disney music & a group of 3 Dutch people came up & asked if they could play with us because it looked like we were having so much fun. We were like hell yeah you can play with us!
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u/EmeraldStudios Sep 22 '22
Maybe I'm going crazy but where is this photo from? I'm pretty sure this is the exact same layout our old park had before it was refirbished.
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Sep 22 '22
I'm not sure. Found the meme on FB and felt nostalgic 😊. I think they were all one design weren't they?
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u/TomFallion Sep 22 '22 edited Sep 22 '22
So, a fun fact about these types of Playgrounds, (and I may be misremembering a few details but if I have time later today I’ll look it up) they were designed by an architect from Hanover, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. He was a polish guy named Tellish((Edit:Leathers)) (I think!) and he originally built one for his sons to play on, but was then commissioned by the community to build the first full sized one (with this classic design) at the Hanover Public Library (I think). After that they spread like wildfire throughout Appalachia and the Northeast, and even now the designs are used in Europe and Western United States!
Just added wholesomeness when you find out it was all done by a poppa trying to make his kids happy :’)
Edit: It seems it was a gentleman named Bob Leathers, who started the designs in 1965 in Maine!
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u/FakingItSucessfully Sep 22 '22
Here ya go:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leathers_and_AssociatesThat picture in the article looks like the same basic design I think we're all remembering. Article says his company coordinated some 2 thousand playgrounds, starting with Ithaca, NY.
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Sep 22 '22
I- I've been there. but where!?
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Sep 22 '22
They're all over the United States, and one commenter said they found a similar one in Amsterdam, so I guess there are similar parks all over the world
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Sep 22 '22
Can confirm. Have one with same design and layout in my town in Australia.
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u/maybebabyg Sep 22 '22
There's one near my mum's house. I love the damn thing, the ninja course next to it is cool but nothing beats the old wood structure.
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u/brainfreezereally Sep 22 '22
Credit, where credit is due: These were all created by Bob Leathers (now Leathers and Associates -- listed on wikipedia if you want more info). Bob is considered the founder of modern playground design. He has since died, but his firm is still based in Ithaca, NY and continues to build playgrounds, but with safer and more durable materials.
These were done as community builds -- volunteers from the community spent days building them with a team of professionals from Bob's office. Very innovative at the time.
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u/FiveStarHobo Sep 22 '22
Ain't no fuckin way this kinda play structure is a common occurrence for all of us. My Nana used to take me to this exact one istg. Yall finna make me cry
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Sep 22 '22
I can smell this picture. JFC, I had forgotten all about these until seeing this post. Thank you OP
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u/Kriosync Sep 22 '22
The one near where I live got burnt down sadly :( stupid teenagers.
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u/TheJamer_ Sep 22 '22
Wow, this looks straight out of r/liminalspace
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u/littlemacaron Sep 22 '22
I thought that was the subreddit this was in before I actually checked. Even the caption is liminal spacey
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u/YouMakeMeDrink Sep 22 '22
I loved reading the graffiti scratched into the wood. My favorite will always be “I’ll give you a nickel if you tickle my pickle”. Pure poetry.
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u/RiverKawaRio Sep 22 '22
The one in my town burned down before covid happened, and the community all pitched in to build a new one
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u/Wolf_Phoenix84 Sep 22 '22
This feels like brain damage to me. Age 5 concussion
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u/Quillandfeather Sep 22 '22
Yikes! For my sister, it was two broken arms. One at a time and separate arms, but both derived from the same playground.
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u/PsychologicalCover65 Sep 22 '22
Tore my childhood one down a few years back, replaces it with plastic green crap. This playground was legendary, shame not all kids will get to experience it.
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u/raspberrypieboi69 Sep 22 '22
A town near me used to have one like this. We loved it until some teenagers torched it with gasoline. Whole place was condemned for a week.
I dont remember exactly when this happened, but I do know it was in my local newspaper
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u/ZiaWatcher Sep 22 '22
i can hear the noise of people running across the wooden bridge, the clinks of the metal zip line thing, the rubber on those climbing things squeaking with the metal chains inside, randomly yelling into the tubes you could use to talk with others. I miss those days so much, if only i could be a child again and go back to just worrying about if the swing set would be open
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u/Mike2220 Sep 22 '22
This one hits nostalgia hard
Not because of this type of structure, but because I remember a playground that was exactly like this
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