Backyard roller coaster (1960, + modern photos)
It appears these were sold in the 1950s and 60s.
Photo of real ones.
Youtube video which shows a few shots of them in action, but it's not the exclusive focus of the video.
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44 replies
Why did I not find out about these until now? My friends and I would have gone nuts over something like this. It couldn't have been more dangerous than some of the things we played on back then.
I'm sorry did you just say lawn darts?
they're darts... for your lawn...
There was that urban legend about some teenagers who got the idea to play lawn darts over the roof of the house and killed a woman.
I'm old enough to have had lawn darts for a little while back in the day. I never injured anyone nor got injured, but only by sheer luck. It didn't take long to figure out the most "fun" was to throw them up as high high up as possible (i.e. straight up) so they would land and stick more in the ground.
.........yeah
I get the impression they were not very popular even in their day. Much less so than backyard jungle gyms or swing sets.
I normally try to summarize interesting info about ads, but I did not succeed in finding a good page dishing details about these, like how many were ever sold, and any accident history there might've been.
All I can see is a finger remover...
I think crushing is more likely, builds character.
I fear for their hands.
Indeed! The little girl in the ad is one careless grab away from some mangled fingers.
...and their tailbones. The end of the track appears to be about the height of a sidewalk curb/kerb. It's going to hurt a little when you land.
I can also imagine the front wheels immediately digging into the grass, yeeting the kid right into the family dog. 😂
It wasn't a proper tobogganing day if at least two of us didn't land on our coccyx¹ and agonize in the snow, incapable of breath for an absolute eternity of 30 seconds of recovery.
From atop the hill you'd watch your mate take a hard landing on his back or hind after hitting the hump that you all tried to steer away from, and see him writhe, gasping soundlessly, knowing exactly what he was feeling, thinking, and praying, "not me, this time, please, not me." And then you'd take a running start with your Crazy Carpet down the exact same path.
I just chuckled at that mental image
lol so I watched the video. It looks like there is supposed to be an additional piece at the end of the track that's not in the pictures. It appears to smoothly guide you to the ground, which makes a whole lot more sense than simply dumping you down a six inch drop...
That seems so fun. Obviously some potential danger, but not worse than a trampoline
I was looking for a "still legal in 15 states!" notice.
Unfortunately, that does not narrow things down very much...
Probably safer than a trampoline.
That would have been about $150 in today's money and $70 for the extension track!
Not bad for the amount of materials maybe, but yeesh, that thing looks like it would fall over in a heartbeat.
While this does come off as "we have rollercoaster at home" I will say that does look like a lot of fun
A similar, smaller one is still sold, obviously made from plastic now:
https://www.step2.com/products/extreme-coaster
That's so much worse
And much more expensive, even after adjusting for inflation.
Really? I think it looks reasonably safe. Not gonna fall over, a lot fewer opportunities to lose fingers, a smoother ride, more sturdy looking materials…
Safer for sure... but no hang time. It needs some undulations, like the oldschool one has got.
Yeah our toy library has something like this. Toddlers love it.
So it's like a slide but with extra steps
Same amount of steps. More track!
How much can I get in the class action?
When i was a kid I had a treehouse with a plastic slidet hat accomplished basically that, but without having to lug a vehicle uphill every time I wanted to play on it.
I've been subscribed to this guy, Paul Gregg, on YT for like ten years. He builds roller coasters in his backyard for his grandkids and goes over all the physics and design of them. They actually loop back around to the start unlike the one in this post where it seems like you need to haul the cart back up to the top. Very cool stuff
Nice. When I saw this ad I was thinking that for sure there has got to be a backyard coaster community today, exchanging track plans and techniques!
Back in my day, we didn’t need no safety regulations.
*gestures showing all missing fingers
That l thing looks like it can break legs
How does it stay on the track? Is it just wheels with grooves
The wheels have a larger and a smaller diameter part. That keeps the car from moving laterally off the track, and it probably wouldn't get up enough speed to get air. But, I wonder if some rocking effort would be enough to tip it off to one side. Kids that age are not famous for their self preservation instincts.
Here's a closeup of the wheels.
Back before the pussification
Ah, yes. Back in the good old days when only the strong and the lucky children survived.
Yeah cuz kids in masses were dying on these and old school wooden playgrounds…., millions on millions. Pussification of parents finding out they can sue
Who said anything about wooden playgrounds? I thought we were talking about janky steel backyard roller-coasters.
Anyway, maybe 'pussification' isn't quite the best word to describe what you're trying to talk about. People and organizations are more concerned about civil liability now than they were in the days of these roller-coasters, and maybe a discussion could be had about whether that has gone too far. Maybe we could talk about whether our society is overly litigious. Maybe we could talk about the high cost of defending yourself in a lawsuit -- even if you win -- which is a large part of this motivation to avoid lawsuits. Maybe we could talk about health insurance companies subrogating claims -- if, say, a child was injured on this toy and their health insurance paid to treat their injuries, the insurance company could then sue the toy maker to try and recoup the costs, regardless of whether the parents really thought the toy maker was at fault ... and situations like that mean a large part of the blame falls onto health insurance companies, not parents ... and then there's the issue of how expensive medical care is in the first place. Maybe we could talk about whether the toy maker should be liable, or whether it's the parent's responsibility to make sure their children don't play with unsafe toys... But none of that discussion should involve anything about female genitalia.
First off, fuck off with your misogyny. Second of all, your attitude is why kids grew up with lifelong injuries.
Shit take.
hey, those are good mushrooms
but the person to whom you replied is a twit, yes :)