2008
The Zipper Ride
When I was a kid we could hardly wait to go to the annual fall fair. We would usually sneak through a hole in the fence somewhere at the back so we could save the extra money for the midway. Well there was this amusement ride that all kids were really freaked out about called “The Zipper“. Of course we all wanted to ride it and brag about how we lived to survive it despite the rumors about people being launched out of the cages and crashing to a brutal death. (I later learned those weren’t rumors.)
After coming off with green faces we discovered that if we hung around the Zipper we could pick up the money that fell out of peoples pockets. This was a great way to make some extra cash until the nasty Carni man with the stick chased us away – but that’s another story. This past weekend while strolling around the Bracebridge fall fair I discovered my old friend the Zipper
In: in and around muskoka ontario, tripin around towns, uncategorized
Hello Ed…great shot!! It would make a fabulous poster!
I loved the midways when I was a kid…not for the rides as I have motion sickness but for the hustle and bustle of the whole thing…
yo
like yo ride man it’s a.j 😛 iight nice ride:P
Great story and your photo really potrays a the ‘essence’of the ride.
I run a site dedicated to this marvellous machine…
http://www.ride-extravaganza.com/thrill/zipper/
great work,
David.
Anyone have a video or film of the first Zippers at their orginal speed? I saw one when I was a kid and in early 70’s. In my mind I always had this image of a to fast to be true Zipper and souvenirs of my older sisters and her firends talking about how dangerous it was. Now I learned that the first 14 ZIppers where about twice as fast as the ones that were built after. I would like to see a video or film of it to see if it match my memory of it.