Kids At Play!
For today's "Anything Goes" installment, we will be playing with the neighborhood kids.
This undated photo (certainly from the 1950's) shows three kids aboard a sturdy toy Pony Tractor. The tractor is almost looks home-made to me. That thing has more sheet metal than a modern car! The slide was labeled, "Cynthia, Jim, and Mike". Cynthia doesn't appear to be peddling, and I don't see anything like a bicycle chain, is it possible that this tractor has some sort of small motor inside it? Or was it strictly "push and go"?
From January 1964 we have this picture of a boy and girl (?) enjoying a few moments of rocking back and forth at the coin-operated horsey. Using my incredible powers of deduction, this might have been taken at a service station. Little horses are great and all, but I prefer the space rocket that was in front of the supermarket near my grandparent's house in Minnesota.
Now it's November 1960, and two little girls are enjoying giant wads of cotton candy. The hand-written label says that the picture was taken at Pacific Ocean Park, but unfortunately there is not much evidence to prove that fact. I've looked for other pictures with one of those distinctive tree planters, and so far have had no luck. You might remember the girl on the right from this picture at Jungleland USA!
11 comments:
My favorite coin-op ride was a rocking steam locomotive in our local Safeway. Never did get a spaceship in our neighborhood...
I'm thinking "Dad" may have been responsible for this Pony Tractor. As it was a real tractor brand, this may have been his rather classy attempt to make a working 'toy tractor' for the kids. Kinda hard to tell with the shadows, but it sure looks as if one can spy the pull starter handle on what could be a Briggs & Stratton lawn mower engine. Which explains why Cynthia can focus so intently on merely steering the beast.
As for our two motley-attired gals in the last photo (I wonder how much they'd cringe if they could see how "stylishly" they were dressed back in the day), I don't have any color photos of POP, but I have a B&W photo that shows the very distinctive shape and coloring of the planter, with what might be the identical tree. Spooky-! It's located in the Fun Forest area, adjacent to the entrance to the Ocean Highway (sponsored by Union 76). Unlike Disneyland's Autopia vehicles, these models had both 'gas' & 'brake' pedals - just like Daddy's car-! Drive safely kids.
That tractor is definitely motorized. She's got her left hand on a throttle lever. Probably geared so the top end is barely walking speed, while very capable of hauling siblings. When's it my turn?!?!?
Bill in Denver
I love these. Just saying.
Cool tractor! I would have loved one of these as a kid.
Rich T, I don't know if I've ever seen a steam loco in front of a store. That would be cool!
Nanook, those were the days when men could build stuff! I've been looking at a lot of POP photos on a Facebook page, but can't quite place the photo of mine.
Bill, that just makes it so much cooler!
Debbie V, I'm glad you enjoy these!
Snow White Archive, what kid wouldn't love their own motorized tractor!
Kids! Don't eat that insulation!
Yep, that tractor looks frighteningly mechanized,either belt driven or (shudder) a chain. I mean a broken belt would leave a mark, but a broken chain could leave that young lady sans a foot.
More importantly, picture two. Now I was born in 1963, but, was there a time in the 50's when diapers were constructed entirely of duct tape? What the hell is that kid wearing?
Heya Dave - for sure that last one is P.O.P. At the top mid-right of the photo (just peeking out behind the tree) is the oval-shaped sign that announced show times and what-not, adjacent to the Sea Circus. You can also see the green, stylized cover of the Westinghouse exhibit, put up to cover the turn-of-the-century-esque roof tops of what was once the Ocean Park municipal auditorium. You can see some of what I am talking about clearer here: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4OuEfH0ftZM/ST1H7gdAIPI/AAAAAAAADGA/F84OByEz3lA/s400/fugitive08.jpg
Made by the pony tractor co.lincoln nebraska. It was not a toy, but make for larger gardens and small farm work.
http://www.antiquetractors.com/contents/tpic4490.htm
CoxPilot
i took the tractor image that Major Pepperidge posted and zoomed in and cranked the brightness up and yup there is a engine in there...can be seen here:
http://dldhistory.com/misc/tractor.jpg
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