Go Out and Play

http://blog.preservationnation.org/2013/08/15/how-we-came-to-play-the-history-of-playgrounds/#.UhFGAmRVR91

Hello Everyone:

I thought today we could talk about something fun, playgrounds.  What could not be more fun than to go to the park and play on the swings or go down a slid, head first?  O.K. a trip to Disneyland beats that any day.  However, if you don't have the ninety-two dollar admission fee (ouch) for the Magic Kingdom, your local playground is a great alternative.  If you're a parent, you can let your children run around until they exhaust themselves.  Kaitlin O'Shea of the blog Preservation in Pink (preservationinpink.wordpress.com) recently posted a blog on the National Historic Preservation Trust website on the history of playgrounds.  My fondest recollections of the playground were the swings and the carousel, followed by a visit from the ice cream man.

Advertisement for Giant Stride Playground
preservationinpink.wordpress.com

As the summer slowly begins to fade, it's time to take a fond look at how playgrounds in America came into being.  Children in the nineteenth century didn't have a playgrounds as we know them today.  The concept of a playground originated in the "sand gardens" in Germany in 1885, where the nuclei of playgrounds first appeared.  The first conception of a playground in the United States showed up in Boston, Massachusetts in 1886.  It wasn't until the twentieth century that playgrounds became a common feature in public spaces.

The idea behind a place for children to play evolved out of the Industrial Revolution.  As cities and industries grew, so did the concern for public welfare.  Social humanitarians saw playgrounds as the best possible alternative to the cramped, dark, dank, squalid isolation of the tenements.  The goal was to keep children off dangerous streets and help them to develop good health and habits, social skills, and have a place to just enjoy being a child.  This still is quite true today.

Ashmead Park Playground
nycgovparks.org

In 1906, the Playground Association of America (http://www.pgpedia.com) was organized in order to promote the ideas of playgrounds to communities such as benefits, construction and design, conduct and appropriate activities.  Literature from the period directed that an ideal setting would be consist of  separate athletic and playing fields for boys and girls.  Each would be supervised and feature shelters and restroom/bathing facilities.  Hopefully they didn't look as disgusting as park bathrooms do today.  There would also be shaded gardens, gardening plots, and swimming or wading pools-again hopefully they were a lot nicer.  The early playgrounds were not the free-for-alls they are today.  There were trained instructors on the premises supervising activities for the children.  There were lessons and the activities could include equipment lessons, theatrical productions, parades, and other activities.

Swing Playground
untappedcities.com

 Obviously, there were variations in urban and rural areas, based on the communities' allotted space and finances.  Manufacturing companies soon tapped into the playground idea and began designing and making play equipment.  The early equipment was constructed out of galvanized steel pipes with rectilinear elements such as ladders and chains.  Hey who hasn't among us gotten their fingers caught in the links or all tangled up on a ladder?  Sad to say, these elements would be considered dangerous by today's hyper-safety standards, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (http://wwwcpsc.gov).  Buzz killers.  As the equipment aged they were replaced by newer designs.  Some of the material used for playground equipment included earthen material, concrete, wood, and plastics.  If you'd like a more detailed account of playground, Kaitlin O'Shea recommends The Evolution of American Playgrounds by Dr. Joe Frost of the University of Texas, Austin.

North Plateau Historic Web
mybroadsheet.com

Ms. O'Shea sketches out a brief chronology of the history of playgrounds with visual cues for the period:
1880s-1890s-Sand gardens (sandboxes in lots beside buildings, not wood chip piles)
1900s-1920s-Model Playgrounds (tall apparatuses with steel tubes, merry-go-rounds)
1930s-1940s-Development slowed or suspended due to World War II
1940s-1950s-Adventures of Junk Playgrounds (cave explorations, found object building elements, not a lot supervision)
1950s-1970s-Novelty Playgrounds (rocket ships, slides, and all sorts of fun shapes made from metal)
1970s-1980s-Playground standardization (rounded edges and actual concerns for safety)
1980s-present-Modern playgrounds (imaginative shapes with safe surfaces  different themes and materials)

Middle Playground
historiccitypark.com

So what's so historic about historic playgrounds today if they have none of the original equipment and have become sanitized and standardized play areas?  Hard to say.  Ms. O'Shea's go-to answer is a playground with its original equipment and layout.  This would, in her opinion, be a significant historic resource.  Unfortunately, an extant playground from the early days cannot be be preserved today because of safety regulations.  That's not to say that the rehabilitation, restoration, and preservation of historic playgrounds isn't possible.  Of course they do exist and can be found.  Ms. O'Shea concludes that while these historic playgrounds are available, the physical elements are fleeting, interchangeable.  Thus what makes them historic?  More than the equipment, what makes them historic is the location, design, and construction that are tailored to social welfare, school activities, community development and planning, offering a cultural connection to a neighborhood.

Playground montage
thelearninglandscape.blogspot.com

Thus, the greater historic significance of a playground is in situ.  From their start as a healthier alternative to the streets, playgrounds offered a safe place for children to run around and enjoy the day.  They soon grew to become healthy respites for their parents and other adults looking for a break from the crowded tenements and factories.  Playgrounds are places for everyone.  They are indeed an egalitarian place where everyone can come out and enjoy the day.  Personally speaking, I'm fortunate to live in a community where there is a playground within walking distance.  While I'm too big to slide head first into the sand, I do use the exercise equipment in the park.  Me and the people I've met there have formed a bond, we look out for each other.  It's a beautiful thing.  NOW GO OUT AND PLAY.

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