I loved being a kid in the late 50's and early 1960's. Occasionally, when we had been good for a few weeks, our parents would take us to a local amusement park or a traveling carnival as a treat. My brothers and I would ride as many of the various attractions as we could, depending on the amount of tickets we could afford and how much bad food we had consumed prior to the rides.

One place I remember was called "Kiddieland". It was a small park along a highway, and I remember going there mostly at night. Everything was all lit up and exciting for me because it was a nightime visit. For me, nightime at an amusement park was more special than in daytime. The music seemed louder, the rides seemed to go faster, and the popcorn tasted better.

Here are the page images from the 1958 November 24th issue of Billboard Magazine showing many of the carnival and amusement rides that were available at that time in American parks (may take a while to load all of them). You can scroll through the images: Many of these old rides were responsible for childhood puking. I especilly remember the "Tilt-A-Whirl" and the "Whirl-A-Rama" type rides.. Anything that turned or spinned was basically designed to induce vomiting. Just replace "whirl" with "hurl", and you get the picture..

Hope you enjoyed your trip back in time to the carnival rides of yesteryear. Today, the amusement parks are filled with rides that are scientifically designed to get the same hurling responses from those who dare to ride them.

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