Kiddieland, Part 5

If you're at an amusement park--especially one facing imminent closure, as Kiddieland sadly is--you have to take a spin in the bumper cars. And so we did.
Tina ready to take a turn. (HI, TINA!)
Your humble correspondent, courtesy of Tina. (I'm the surly child on the right, not the one on the left.)
The hood of my ride--it was very green and sparkly.

Kiddieland, Part 4

Not far from the entrance to the park, we found the smallest Ferris wheel any of us had ever seen, with only six cars (or "cages," as Tina termed them) rising no more than 12 feet off the ground (and likely less). I guess that would be a "thrill ride" for a very small kid--but that's the whole point of a place called Kiddieland, isn't it?

Kiddieland, Part 3

A few faces from around the park: This guy is outside the men's room--reminds me of Buster Keaton, for some reason.
This clown is outside one of the other buildings--the video arcade, maybe?
The German Carousel has more than a dozen beautiful little paintings lining the top of it. My favorite? These iceskating foxes.

Kiddieland, Part 2

As Tina, Pete and stood in line just before Kiddieland opened (the line extended well behind us, snaking through the parking lot--glad we got there early), we saw a sign in the ticket booth window informing patrons that two of the park's attractions, the Polyp and Volcano Balls, were closed. Those aren't rides, I thought, Those are medical conditions. Once we were inside the park, though, we got a good look at the Poly and found it was a fish-themed ride. (I've seen versions of this called the Octopus.) The booth is charming, and the fishy faces on the cars are fun. Shame we didn't get to ride it.

Never found out what "Volcano Balls" was all about, though. Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

Kiddieland, Part 1

Kiddieland is the closest amusement park to Chicago (in the nearby suburb of Melrose Park) and one of the oldest in the country (it first opened with a pony-ride attraction in 1929), but on September 27 of this year, it closes for good, due to a family dispute. (The Chicago Tribune published an in-depth, excellent article on Kiddieland's last season and the details of the dispute. You can read it here.)

Last Sunday, I ventured out to Kiddieland (for what will likely be the last time) with my friends Tina and Pete, who happen to live within short driving distance of the park, and took dozens of pictures, many of which will pop up on this here bloggity this week. (Credit where it is due, though: the photo above, of your humble correspondent standing beneath the famous Kiddieland sign, was taken by Tina.)

Every Picture Tells a Story: 8/2/09

Every Picture Tells a Story: 8/1/09

An abandoned Sun-Times box on Western Avenue near the CTA Brown Line station.