In
1906, the Playground Association of America formed to market ideas of
playgrounds to communities; including the benefits, construction, layout, design
and, additionally the conduct and activities that occur on playgrounds.
Contemporary literature dictated that an ideal, proper playground would have
separate play sections and athletic fields for girls and boys; could be
supervised; and would feature shelters and toilet/bathing facilities, shaded
spaces, garden plots, and swimming or wading pools.
Playgrounds
were not free-form during the early 1900s. Everyone was trained as instructors
to instruct and organize children’s play. Play could include equipment lessons,
parades, theater productions, and other activities.
Needless
to say, variations could possibly be found throughout cities and in rural
areas, determined by a community’s allotted space and finances. Soon,
manufacturing companies found home based business in playground apparatuses.
Early apparatuses were constructed with galvanized steel pipes, strikingly
vertical and horizontal elements, ladders, and chains, all of which are
considered dangerous by today’s standards based on the Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
As
they aged, apparatuses were replaced by newer designs and equipment. Materials
for playground construction changed to add earthen materials, concrete, wood
and plastics. The history of playground development is long and detailed, but
also for a well-sourced, well-researched article; look at Evolution of American
Playgrounds by Dr. Joe Frost associated with the University of Texas at Austin.
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