Miscellaneous Amusements
Hooray for MISCELLANEOUS AMUSEMENTS! This first one is dated "August, 1964", and is from Dinosaur Park, in Rapid City, South Dakota. Dinosaur Park (was) dedicated on May 22, 1936, it contains seven dinosaur sculptures on a hill overlooking the city, created to capitalize on the tourists coming to the Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore. Constructed by the City of Rapid City and the Works Progress Administration, WPA Project #960's dinosaurs were designed by Emmet Sullivan. Sullivan also designed the Apatosaurus at Wall Drug nearby in Wall, South Dakota.
The park is located at 940 Skyline Drive and is maintained by the City of Rapid City. Admission is free. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 1990. I'm so glad that Dinosaur Park is still with us!
From August, 1961 comes this photo of two sisters (?) at the wheels of a pretty nice little car ride - much fancier than the ones on steel track set on boards in a worn grass field. I have no idea where this was located, however, if you do, please chime in!
And finally, from August, 1965 we see this view of a fair from a very faded, filthy, and damaged slide. It doesn't look that great now, and I spent quite a while trying to restore it before I lost patience and stopped. Anyway, the fair looks like the kind of thing you'd find in 1965 in a nicer town. Signs helpfully identify rides such as "Tip Top" and the "Twister", can you ID any others?
8 comments:
Major-
I'm thinking Mother and Daughter or maybe Aunt and Niece on that 2nd image. Those are pretty tight quarters, too - definitely designed for the 'younger set'.
Thanks, Major.
Wow, dinosaurs looked a lot different in 1936! T-rexes were still dragging their tails then. And dinos were green and white in coloration. Joking aside, these are actually quite good for 1936. Only a few decades earlier people thought dinosaur bones were proof that dragons existed.
I'm trying to figure out the control box to the left of the autos. The push-buttons at the top are most likely for 'start' and 'stop', plus indicator lights. But what are the hinged things under them? In the background, it looks likwe the cars go through a 'tunnel', like a model railroad; or maybe it's a castle?
In the carnival pic, I think there is a Trabant on the extreme right, and some sort of Fun House on the left. There is also a chairlift type of sky ride in the background. Not sure what the Twister is; do they mean the Rock-O-Plane? I love vintage carnival pics.
A fun and varied selection for this Saturday. Thanks, Major.
I'd guess that car ride is part of some kind of permanent installation, like Coney Island or the Atlantic City Boardwalk on the East coast or one of the amusement piers on the West Coast. Any clues from other slides in the batch?
Dinosaur Park eventually grew so popular that they added Valet service and Wheelchair accessible spaces.
The drive tracks on the little car ride look like those on Alice in Wonderland. The box hanging from the pedestal on the right is the line voltage cutoff, I’m not sure about the buttons, other than start and stop. The fittings to the left probably carry the cabling “out” to the actual ride apparatus. There’s a hazardous appearing light bulb subject to breakage that might be an indicator or a warning, and the operator’s sunglasses laying out on the top of the pedestal. I’ll guess that the green box with slots is for collecting tickets and the metal former lubricant bucket is for trash and cigarette butts. Looks like Mom and Daughter are set for a fun ride!
I love the county fair picture, Major! Thanks for all the hard work you put into it. It’s sparse on identifiable details, but could be any one of the three different county fairs I remember from my youth. It’s really great.
Thanks for this post Major!
JG
@ JB-
"But what are the hinged things under them?"
You're looking at weatherproof electrical device covers for a single-gang enclosure. The one on the left is protecting a standard toggle switch. The raised, oval portion protrudes over the switch itself, and the actuator is the V-shaped 'lever' sticking out the right side - the bottom portion of the 'V' facing forward. The cover on the right is for a single electrical receptacle, possibly a Twist-Lok device, such as a NEMA L5-30, etc. - or something similar. Or the device cover is being used for an entirely different purpose.
@ JG-
"... and the operator’s sunglasses laying out on the top of the pedestal."
Do you really think in 1961 a 'guy' would be caught dead wearing a pair of sunglasses with orange frames-? Me neither. Suspect those beauties were lost somewhere on the ride, or left in one of the 'cars' by a child... but you never know, of course.
Nanook, ha, you’re probably right - even though the person to the right looks youthful, she’s wearing a wedding ring!
JB, I love old depictions of dinosaurs, when they were lumbering beasts that dragged their tails. Some photos of old museum displays are downright funny these days. I have no clue about the ride controls, maybe the hinged things are just for servicing the machine? For fuses or something? Yes, there are definitely castle-type rocks. Hopefully it’s a HAUNTED castle. Boy, it seems like we see Trabant rides at every carnival, those things were popular. I’m glad you liked these!
Dean Finder, I agree, I was thinking that the car ride could be Atlantic City or Asbury Park, or Rye’s Playland. This was a standalone slide, so I have nothing else for context.
JG, I’m sure that the car ride ran on the standard track (with a busbar) that so many dark rides used for decades. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! I guess that lightbulb is endangered, but it’s on the employee side, and hopefully they know to avoid messing with it. Good eye on the sunglasses! Reminds me of “Lillian’s glasses” in Walt’s apartment (so silly). That green box is definitely for ticket stubs. I wish they’d saved all those vintage cigarette butts, think of their collector value! I’m glad you liked the county fair photo, it really is kind of generic, but I’m sure it was a lot of fun.
Nanook, thank you for the info about the thingamajiggy! Can you just tell what those things are by looking at them, or do you have experience with similar devices? I need to pull more levers, my life has been a joke without them. I thought that the sunglasses might have “tortoise shell” frames, but you’re theory that they could have been lost by a guest is a good one.
Major-
"Can you just tell what those things are by looking at them, or do you have experience with similar devices?"
Yes and yes and I've worked with them, too.
Nanook, sometimes it feels like you know *everything*!
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