Monday, July 28, 2008

Photo Retro! - Playground Apocalypse

Space age playground equipment was quite the rage during the 1960s and 1970s. Slides and climbing gyms themed as retro-style rockets were especially popular and red always seemed to be the dominant color of such structures. Safety concerns ultimately grounded much of the era's imaginative designs and equipment. This particular playground rocket is located within an abandoned radar base far off the beaten path in rural North Carolina.

5 comments:

Amy said...

Sad photo. I loved playing on those rockets as a wee one in the 70's. They recently re-installed one at a park in Minneapolis, but as an art installation, not something kids could play on.

http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=280

Craig Wheeler said...

There was a park near where I grew up that had an old, red, spaceship-shaped play toy. It was removed more than a decade ago. A memory nearly lost has been resurrected by this post. Thanks, Jeff!

Unknown said...

These seem to have gone the way of the dodo before my time on the playgrounds but I would have loved one as a kid.

Anonymous said...

I dunno. A few weekends in the garage and a couple of hundred bucks for parts ... I think we could get it into the air.

JACLYN said...

What a cool find! Is that where a playground was or was that piece of equipment just abandoned there? Gosh I miss the playgrounds from years ago!