I got the tail end of this glorious era - even in to the early 90s we had magnificent structures almost this big, with swings that made you feel like you could touch the stars because the chains were so long. The entire class sprinted to the playground every recess period. There was a broken arm every 4-5 years, but I sure felt like it was worth the risk. And still do. The late 90s brought about rapid change and by the time I graduated high-school in 2000 nobody used the “playground” because it was just boring after being ripped apart and replaced with safe alternatives like giant tic-tac-toe boards.
Same for me - I remember a giant "airplane" frame, made of steel pipes/tubing, it was maybe 5 meters wide, 10 meters long, and was at least two meters off the ground.
There were little ladders to enter the body, and monkey-bars along the wings.
I've often thought back and wished I had photographs of it, as it was in a giant field of grass, on a huge slab of concrete. When you fell, and you'd always fall, you remembered it.
Most of the UK parks were like that; concrete/tarmac islands with heavy/solid items on them.
Later there were token changes, removing the tarmac and putting in wood-chip. Eventually even that wasn't enough and all the "dangerous" items were removed and replaced with smaller ones, with rounded corners and less risk of falling.
The school my kids go to still has much of the same equipment it had when I went there in the 1980s. You know, the stuff just made from galvanized pipe, some of it hilariously awkward and unnecessarily tall. Even the newer swings are still plenty long.
Not every playground has been replaced with tic tac toe boards at ground level. That's just places that cheaped out. There are still plenty of playgrounds with equipment you can get seriously injured on. Though I don't know if I'd call that a metric to strive for, exactly.
I grew up in the 80's and the school in my town had a playground like this from when it was first built in the 60's (1960's, obv), but it didn't get much attention. In the mid-80's there was a "new" playground built that was mostly wooden with metal slides, poles, some tire pit thing and monkey bars that were 8' off the ground. Splinters were an every day occurrence, the slide would get hot enough to burn in spring and summer, and in the winter if you had a hole in your mittens, your hand would get stuck to anything metal.
But the thing that really terrifies me thinking back is the "cushion" they put down on the ground. These days it's all shredded foam rubber or wood chips so if you fall, you're not hitting anything sharp. This playground however had GRAVEL. And not just from when it was first installed, they trucked in fresh gravel every six months. Cut hands, torn pants and shirts with streaks of blood were common. God forbid if you got some in your shoe. And of course, kids would throw handfuls of rocks at each other, why not? The teachers on playground duty of course did nothing to discourage any of this. Probably why in a school of less than 200 kids, there were 3 nurses.
Agree... we had slides, swings, and jungle gyms that were 8+ feet tall in the 70s and most of the 80s.. They removed the last of the big 15ft diameter merry-go-rounds in the 90s.
" The entire class sprinted to the playground every recess period. There was a broken arm every 4-5 years, but I sure felt like it was worth the risk. And still do."
I'd be OK with it if a broken arm wasn't such a dire financial incident. I imagine it is very difficult to let kids do things like climbing trees, playing on monkey bars, or jumping on a trampoline if you are looking at a deductible that a fair chunk of your monthly income (if not all of it).
I'll also mention that in the 90's, the city I lived in was working on adding playgrounds to elementary schools because they didn't all have them. The existing playgrounds were put in by parents, which really meant that there weren't playgrounds in poor areas. They weren't building tic-tac-toe on the ground, either. They weren't necessarily metal, but still included slides and climbing and swings.
Maybe coincidence, but compared to the US where I grew up, the playgrounds here in the Netherlands are much less safety controlled. We also have universal health care coverage.
There is something of a resurgence of WW-II ruins like inspired structures. Less of the rounded corners and more things that resemble ad-hoc structures that might be found in ruins. Not to say sharp objects but things that contain some adventure and discovery... be it having multiple levels (earthen or otherwise) safe simulacra of vehicles, climbing, jumping, etc.
the one removal I agree most with is metal slides --hot, hot... though Glen park playground installed metal slides for some reason and so does yerba buena.
Things appear to be different in the UK. I went to a new playground (new as in weeks old) the other day. It has multiple metal slides, a sand pit, merry-go-rounds, towering wooden structures to climb on (perhaps 5+ metres), monkey bars, exposed concrete climbing wall/structure etc. Some photos here: https://www.brentcrosstown.co.uk/claremont-park-play
A recent realization I had is why Europe is less lawsuit prone and generally seems less concerned with liability – we don’t need to sue anyone to afford a broken bone.
It was absolutely shocking to me how many times my insurance claim form for a snowboarding accident in USA asked if I really don’t plan on suing anyone. The insurance company tries very very hard to not be the one who pays up … now imagine someone who doesn’t have good insurance.
I imagine the chance of getting sued for every playground injury makes you design things differently.
I don't know about either the US or health insurance but there is a concept called 'subrogation', which means that if the insurance company pays a claim then they have the right to sue the person who caused it.
There is a higher degree of self-responsibility here in Europe. You cannot sue someone for drinking too hot coffee or fall from a playground item. Or swallowing small LEGO pieces in a McDonalds meal.
Yes I think that stems largely from not having to find a scapegoat for your medical costs. They get paid largely without you noticing regardless of who’s at fault.
In USA admiting it was your mistake can be financially ruinous. So people don’t.
We had a huge adventure playground which had giant wooden poles, rope and wood walk/crawlways, tyre and rope swings, and was generally terrifying but fun.
Trying to remove all risk from play seems like a very bad idea.
for sure. we had a 20' tall rope swing (with a big knot at the bottom to put your feet on) at my middle school. we'd do tricks like taking all four limbs off the rope at the far apex and catching it again on the way down. we'd also do backflips out of the regular metal chain swings. none of us broke any bones, surprisingly.
They show up as small features on new playgrounds where I live. However, our nearest neighbourhood playground was recently revamped, and the council polled nearby residents so we could vote on what sort of elements we were hoping to see added. I thought that was quite positive.
Edit: added a sentence for clarity.