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July 1941. "Ride at the carnival which was part of the Fourth of July celebration at Vale, Oregon." Medium format negative by Russell Lee. View full size.
I’ve studied these photos taken by Russell Lee in Vale that summer of 1941. My parents were young marrieds living in Vale, with an 18-month old baby daughter, my oldest sister. I keep thinking if I look hard enough I’ll see my mom or dad enjoying the summertime activities... I’ll keep looking!
As noted, this type of swing ride is still common and popular.
Our beloved Frontier Village in San Jose used to have a variant, with small airplane cockpits instead, each with a large vertical rudder that let the rider propel the seat higher and lower as it sailed around. Supposedly, Great America bought the ride when FV closed, but as far as I know, has never installed it.
Still a popular (and safe) ride at many amusement parks today.
Looks like the Yo-Yo, a ride I ran as a teen at the now defunct Rocky Point Park in Rhode Island.
Something tells me that rides of this sort have been hard to find for the last, oh, 60 years or so. Ever since safety standards started to become popular.
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