Reader Sarah has also gotten in touch, hoping someone can help her with the history of her vintage wooden slide. She acquired it from an antiques dealer in Venice, CA, and it took up residence first in the lobby of her marketing office and then in her home. It’s by the Hill-Standard Company of Anderson, IN, “Recreation Engineers” who were makers of the Fun-ful slides previously featured on the blog. Sarah’s slide was most likely made around the turn of the century, since it is wood with wrought iron hand guides and by 1915-1920 Hill-Standard’s trade ads show only metal slides. They seem to have gone under as a result of the Great Depression, though their gorgeous and long-lasting slides still stand at some playgrounds today (witness the Riverside Park playground in Independence Kansas).
So leave a comment if you can provide any information about Sarah’s slide, or Hill-Standard, OR if you know of a vintage Fun-ful slide that we need to record in order to help preserve it. I’ve heard of one of these being torn out just recently, for *safety* considerations of course. That’s just dumb. And historically ignorant.
Sarah is also looking for a museum who might give her wooden slide a new home! Leave a comment if you’re a candidate, and I’ll put you in touch.
The post A Vintage Playground Slide Mystery – can you help? appeared first on Playscapes.