Carousel
The beautiful
"Grand Carousel" has been a Kennywood centerpiece since 1926;
and another Kennywood classic, the "Auto Ride," was built
in 1930. It allows drivers to navigate brightly painted electric cars
on a wooden track. Kennywood's first train ride came to the park
in 1945, featuring train cars that were built for Gimble's Department
store and shown at their 1939 World's Fair exhibit.
Of course,
ask anyone who has attended Kennywood over the years and each one will
recall fond memories of a favorite ride. From the Silver Airplanes to
the Turnpike to the Old Mill water ride, Kennywood retains its old-time
charm by blending vintage and newer amusements. But some of the Kennywood
showpieces from earlier days have been retired to make room for modern
updates.
Collection of Rick Sebak
|
| Kennywood's
entertainment stages brought in many of the big name dance bands. |
One of those
showpieces was a large dancehall. In this era of roller coasters and
high-tech thrill rides, it's difficult to imagine an earlier time when
Kennywood was renowned as a hot night spot. KW18But in the mid 1900's,
the park's dancehall attracted couples in party dresses and dinner jackets!
(That's quite a contrast to the Kennywood "uniform" of shorts
and T-shirts worn to the park today!) Even though the dancehall closed
in 1953, it was a large part of the park's survival during the Great
Depression because it attracted Big Band performers.
 Related video stories:
Other musical
shows took the stage at Kennywood's great "Bandshell,"
but that burned in a fire in 1961. The "Bandshell" was replaced
by the "StarView Plaza," but by 1985, Kennywood faced the
challenge of keeping the park competitive as newer and more thrilling
rides were making their appearances in other theme parks around the
country. The "StarView Plaza," along with the "Little
Dipper" roller coaster in KW15"Kiddieland," were torn
down to make room for the Raging Rapids, a rough water ride meant to
call to mind the "raging rapids" of Western Pennsylvania rivers.
Today, the Garden Theatre offers a stage for original Kennywood musical
reviews, presented by teen performers hired for the summer, and a platform
stage at the park's central "lagoon" stages stunt shows
nightly.
Even without
the dancehall or the "Bandshell," many "informal"
musical events happen at Kennywood each summer. The park has been host
to countless ethnic groups, community groups, and schools over the years,
and its picnic pavilions frequently take on the air of a party hall!
One of the largest annual picnics is Italian Day, which has been a tradition
at Kennywood since 1935. The event includes plenty of traditional foods,
music, and invariably, a couple of spontaneous performances of the traditional
Italian dance tarantella.
Related video stories:
And for those
who prefer a different kind of entertainment, Kennywood sports a variety
of arcade games and mid-way attractions. For those with a roll of quarters
and a fear of roller coasters, there are games of chance and skill.
The Penny Arcade features Skee-Ball, a small arcade version of bowling,
mixed in with the more contemporary video games. Several antique movie
viewers still pepper the Penny Arcade, but there was a time earlier
in the century when rows of them filled the pavilion, along with antique
fortune-teller kiosks and photo booths offering souvenir Kennywood pictures.
Related video stories:
Like every
other public institution, though, Kennywood was not without controversy.
In 1925, the park added a giant swimming pool to its list of attractions.
For many years, it was the site of the Miss Pittsburgh Pageant, and
also hosted Baby Pageants from time to time. However, in the early 1950's,
when racial tensions and issues of discrimination confronted communities
across the country, Kennywood's pool became the centerpiece of a racial
battle. Faced with the challenge of desegregating the swimming pool, park officials chose to instead convert it to a water
ride, similar to bumper cars. By 1956, officials opened it once again
as a swimming pool – this time for all swimmers, regardless of
race. The pool operated that way until the 1973 season, when it closed
for good. Today, the route of the Turnpike ride covers the site that
was once the swimming pool.
Related video stories:
Why the enormous
popularity of Kennywood? Maybe because "leisure" is not necessarily
synonymous with "relaxing." If work is commonly thought of
as a "daily grind," then one may prefer to spend leisure time
in an environment like Kennywood, where "thrills and chills"
provide the exhilaration and stimulation a desk job lacks. The atmosphere
is cheerful and unique, making it a perfect location to mark special
gatherings, like a family reunion or community picnic. And because so
many adults in this region recall going there as a child, it has come
to hold a place in their hearts as a Pittsburgh tradition, one that
must be shared with their own families as they grow.
Whether your
pursuit of fun is a distraction from distasteful work, or your reward
for a job well done – or even your first priority in a life that
rushes by all too fast – it is certainly a far cry from the animals
who are blind to the concept of "leisure." Only the most social
and sophisticated of mammals has exhibited the desire to find joy and
satisfaction in their existence, and among them, only humans have the
tools and intelligence to pursue "fun" not just as a distraction
but an entitlement.
One particularly
popular bumper sticker graces many of the cars in America, and it asked
the question, "Are we having fun yet?" Perhaps we continue
to ask the question because the bar for "fun" continually
gets raised. How would an 18th century farmer view an Extreme Sport
such as skateboarding on a half-pipe? How does cable TV compare to Native
American storytelling? Do you think a keelboat operator would readily
volunteer for a ride on Kennywood's Thunderbolt?
From the
grandest pursuit to the simplest pleasure, what constitutes "fun"
is an intensely personal decision, one that could only be defined by
the individual engaging in the activity. And that just may explain the
popularity of another well-known American bumper sticker.
That one
says, "To each his own." |
Kennywood! 
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