Friday, August 9, 2013

CONTRAPTION!


 This week, Alan’s Sepia Saturday post called for contraptions – those oddball devices, usually hand-made by eccentric but well-meaning tinkerers in barns or workshops.
We’ve all seen them, even used them. Some of us even still have them, stored in the attic or cellar, maybe, or out in the garage.

 This contraption, knocked together by my grandfather, was known affectionately as The Wheel, and was out in the yard in front of our summer home in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It was, simply, an old wooden wagon wheel, tipped on its side and secured to an old axle pounded into the ground; every summer, after it was mounted properly and greased, it would spin around that post like a merry-go-round.
You stepped into the wheel – your legs on either side of a single spoke – and then sat down on the rim, facing the hub. When we were all aboard, we kicked the ground with our feet, hung on for dear life as we went ‘round and ‘round.
We defied common sense and centrifugal force on The Wheel – I remember (when I was older) my hair flinging out behind me as we went around; we’d get going fast, then hook our feet into the spokes, let go and lean out backwards – our parents would shriek in horror! I have a vague memory of my brother standing up on it, although I have no idea if it’s real or imagined!
Amazingly enough, nobody ever got hurt on this thing: you’d need a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads and some kind of body armor to ride it today, and some Federal Safety Office would declare it unsafe, dismantle it, toss it away.

This picture was taken in the late 1940s, when I was three or so. I’m the smallest one, the youngest cousin, that worried-looking blonde girl (front left) with the bare legs hanging down (see those Redball Jet sneakers?); from there, clockwise around The Wheel: our neighbor Peter, my cousin Martha, and a little bit of my brother John, all of whom will grin if they log onto my blog this week.

If I got on The Wheel today, I know I’d last about four revolutions before falling off...or throwing up -- guaranteed!

NOTE: Be sure to take a spin over to http://www.sepiasaturday.blogspot.com to see what other Sepians have found!
  

31 comments:

  1. A very well-written and entertaining post Deb. No occ. health and safety in those days:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right about the lack of oversight (health and safety -- OSHA); it's a wonder we all survived our childhoods, right?

      Delete
  2. You have set my nostalgia hormones racing. A lovely blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words! Watch out for the hormones, though; they can really lead to long trips down Memory Lane...

      Delete
  3. I'd put this contraption in the playground of my dreams -- right along with the "giant strikes" and the high-bar sets. What good old memories -- and fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great fun, Joan; it's amazing, though, that we all survived some of the things we played on/with/in during our childhoods!

      Delete
  4. Deb1 Your post here reminds me of something I had forgotten for years.When did I last recall it? As a wee child Me (& if they were gullible enough ,my friends)Would have "falling down contests".justs spinning around& around on our feet/arms out wide/etes closed /etc,as fast as we could, until the last one was left standing (lots of scope for cheating,but that's another story!).We could have really used your Wheel, it would have taken much of the labour out of the process!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tony, we in the States had this game we called "Statues," which involved being twirled around by another person, then flung aside--you were supposed to freeze in position, making a statue; the most oddball pose was the winner! I like your game better; EVERYBODY spinning around...yikes!

      Delete
  5. You're so right about the health and safety people spoiling all the fun. The Wheel seems to have been a magical part of your childhood, and what wonderful memories it has evoked.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've hit the nail on the head, I think: parts of my childhood WERE magical (the parts at my grandparents' house in New Hampshire); I'll do a whole blog about it sometime!

      Delete
  6. How lucky to have a photo of that device that evoked such great memories. I'm trying to remember what we had growing up that might have been similar but all I can think of is the proverbial tyre hanging on a bit of a rope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did your rope/tire swing go out over the water? Such great splashes, belly-flops, etc. Did you ever just roll inside a tire -- all scrunched up inside the thing, then an older brother would just roll you along...

      Delete
  7. It sounds like that wheel was a lot of fun, even if not very safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny how things have become so "safe" nowadays (is that a word?). Nothing is left to chance anymore...and chance was half the fun of it, right?

      Delete
  8. You get under the skin of that photo so well, your description is perfect. As I read it I am sure I could actually hear the screams of delight of the children as they spun around on the wheel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish the photo were clearer, Alan...and not quite so light-struck. But it certainly was a fun way to spend a summer evening. When I look at that photo, I can almost smell the pine needles...

      Delete
  9. A simple contraption and all the better for that. Hours and hours of endless fun I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The operative term, Bob, is "endless" (the other one being "mindless").
      We rode that wheel morning, noon and night.

      Delete
  10. Isn't it amazing how we all managed to survive having fun and not getting killed without wearing helmets and padding? By todays standards none of us should even ve alive.

    A neighbors father managed to get a HUGE inner tube from a very large military plane that we used as a trampoline. We'd get four kids on it holding hands and jump until we fell off. Nobody broke anything and whatever we sprained healed and we were right back on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, boy -- I would've LOVED to have that airplane tire -- it would have been great in the lake, too -- do kids even invent stuff to do like we did?

      Delete
  11. Oh yeah, that looks like it was fun, the highlight of the summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It certainly was a Big Deal to us, Wendy...all of us have such sharp memories of being on The Wheel -- my youngest cousin (who was not yet born when that photo was taken) learned to walk in The Wheel -- my aunt stood her up inbetween the spokes and she just staggered around until she got the hang of it!

      Delete
  12. That was something different, a contraption indeed but what fun you all had and still here to tell about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meant to reply to you, Diane...not as an outside comment! Anyway, we certainly did have fun with The Wheel, but it would have been better if we could have figured out how to motorize it...your family was light-years ahead of mine in terms of technology!

      Delete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh WOW. Your post reminded me of something long forgotten. Thank you very much.

    In grade 6 we were on a train trip and stopped at Ballarat (to go to Sovereign Hill). There was a playground round-about in a park (like your wheel). I remember the Eureka Flag was flying in the park. The boys wanted the round-about to themselves but had to get all the girls off it first. They spun it so hard and fast that most girls got or fell off. I was the last one remaining and the teachers called us back and the boys missed out. They were not happy. I felt totally dizzy and ill but wouldn't let them know it.

    Thank you for triggering memories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm smiling, Sharon! Isn't it funny how we Sepians are triggered by others' posts? I'm always remembering oddball memories whenever I read through my Sepia Saturday listings. I'm not sure what a Eureka Flag is (I'm not sure where you are on the globe...) -- will you let me know?

      Delete
    2. Deb, I am in Australia. The Eureka stockade was an historical event in the 1850s - the miners rebelled against authorities due to the cost of licences and taxes. Many people were killed.

      We were in Ballarat, learning about the Eureka stockade and Australian history. Now I am remembering many things about the trip. Think I will need to write it all down.

      Delete
  15. My Nanna genes are going OMG, those kids will get hurt. Yes we were much more lackadaisical in those days. Good fun.

    ReplyDelete
  16. My Nanna genes are going OMG, those kids will get hurt. Yes we were much more lackadaisical in those days. Good fun.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The things we did back then...
    And kids nowadays think they're so hot!!!
    :D~
    HUGZ

    ReplyDelete