Playland Park on South Main

I've searched YouTube and found some home movies of Playland Park. There's a surprising number of videos. This first one is a 27 second clip of the roller-coaster shot in 1955. The cameraman was obviously sitting in the stands at the race track and decided to shoot the roller-coaster as it went by.





Here's another clip (3 minutes 17 seconds) that a young Hispanic couple shot in 1963 of their two toddler-aged daughters as they rode the rides at the park.





Here's clip (4 minutes 39 seconds) shot at the races in 1952. As I said there are several clips of races at Playland Park. I chose this one because the poster put music to it. (I'm not sure if the Beach Boys are really appropriate for 1952, but I enjoyed the video.)




I never made it to Playland Park, so this is as close as I'll get. My brother and I hounded our parents to stop at Kiddie Wonderland on trips into Houston. Kiddie Wonderland was located on South Main between Kirby and South Braeswood. My parents always tried to distract us when we passed that stretch of South Main, but it never worked. We knew where the pony rides were located and never forgot. If my mother had been smart, she would have carried some throw-down cookies in her purse. When we got near Kiddie Wonderland, she should have tossed them on the back-seat floor boards. We would have dived for the cookies and forgot about the ponies. Well, maybe not.

There are video clips of races at Meyer Speedway on YouTube if you're interested.