Tales of the Legendary Kiddieland Sign

As a child, many a family car trip included driving past the corner of North and First Ave in Melrose Park, Il. It was one of those intersections where you always with out a doubt, caught the red light. The stoplight must have a sensor that detected cars with children, because located at that corner was Kiddieland! We would get so excited just looking at that place! I'd yell out, "I wanna ride the ferris wheel ", my brothers wanted to go on the Bumper cars. We sat in the car (no safty belts restricting us in the late 60's, early 70's), drooling over the rides and begged our parents to take us there. At that very moment the light would turn green and off we'd go. My dad putting his foot to the gas so quickly we very nearly hit the car in front of us dozens of times.


As I got older, and older and older I have had to pass Kiddieland many times on my daily travels. My focus shifted from dreams of riding the ferris wheel to the giant monstocity of a sign in front of the amusement park. It's huge! It's colorful! It lights up at night! Some may find it adorable, but I just find it downright creepy. The sign consists of 2 children twirling merrily around a large red and white striped pole. The boy is dressed innocently enough, or so you think! His outfit consists of a blue tee shirt with a yellow star, brown shorts and a colorful beany atop a pile of messy blond hair. If you are like most people you drive by the sign and think, "Oh what a nice, innocent little boy he must be". The girl, well shes just the picture of sweetness in a pink polka dot dress and a neat little blond ponytail atop her head. Innocent enough, right? I think not! If you really look at the sign you will notice some very bad things about it. First, that innocent young boy has a holster and gun (something that was pointed out to me by my husband on our first date)! Second, the girl's dress is so short you can see her bloomers. Third, these kids have been out in the sun for at least 40 years and they are ghostly white. No tan whatsoever!
What are they wearing SPF 1 Million? Did they even have SPF back in the olden days?


Surely, you must think I'm nuts for devoting so much time and energy to this creepy, horrific tribute to childhood. Well this is only the tip of the iceburg, Mr. and Mrs. Titanic! My fascination and theories about that horrible sign and scary kids twirling on that pole go much further than what you have just read! Maybe someday, you'll see it my way, but until that day, consider this a warning................Don't mess with the Kiddieland Kids!



Stay tuned for my next installment of "Tales of the Legendary Kiddie Land Sign"!