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
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!
A very well-written and entertaining post Deb. No occ. health and safety in those days:)
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the lack of oversight (health and safety -- OSHA); it's a wonder we all survived our childhoods, right?
DeleteYou have set my nostalgia hormones racing. A lovely blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words! Watch out for the hormones, though; they can really lead to long trips down Memory Lane...
DeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteGreat fun, Joan; it's amazing, though, that we all survived some of the things we played on/with/in during our childhoods!
DeleteDeb1 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!
ReplyDeleteTony, 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!
DeleteYou'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.
ReplyDeleteYou'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!
DeleteHow 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.
ReplyDeleteDid 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...
DeleteIt sounds like that wheel was a lot of fun, even if not very safe.
ReplyDeleteFunny 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?
DeleteYou 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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...
DeleteA simple contraption and all the better for that. Hours and hours of endless fun I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteThe operative term, Bob, is "endless" (the other one being "mindless").
DeleteWe rode that wheel morning, noon and night.
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.
ReplyDeleteA 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.
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?
DeleteOh yeah, that looks like it was fun, the highlight of the summer.
ReplyDeleteIt 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!
DeleteThat was something different, a contraption indeed but what fun you all had and still here to tell about it.
ReplyDeleteMeant 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!
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ReplyDeleteOh WOW. Your post reminded me of something long forgotten. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteIn 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.
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?
DeleteDeb, 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.
DeleteWe 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.
My Nanna genes are going OMG, those kids will get hurt. Yes we were much more lackadaisical in those days. Good fun.
ReplyDeleteMy Nanna genes are going OMG, those kids will get hurt. Yes we were much more lackadaisical in those days. Good fun.
ReplyDeleteThe things we did back then...
ReplyDeleteAnd kids nowadays think they're so hot!!!
:D~
HUGZ