Slip 'N Slide

One of the most popular summertime activities was “Slip 'N Slide”. It had a very basic design followed by the most common colors at the time, red and yellow.  The toy is a long sheet of thin plastic, flanked lengthwise on one side by a heat-sealed tubular fold. The tube can be attached to any ordinary garden hose. Water runs through the tube and out small perforations, spraying onto the sliding surface. The Slip 'n Slide then becomes very slippery, enabling users to jump onto the plastic and slide the length of the sheet.

For what I can remember, I was only kid in my neighbor with one of these and when it eventually bit the dust due to abuse.  My dad came home with a huge plastic sheet of plastic, rolled it out, coated it with dish liquid and drenched it with water. There was our new slip n slide and now a bunch of us could go at the same time and race, this was far better than waiting turns.

While researching this, I found a safety notice behind it and thought to post it. Both the manufacturer and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommend that only children use the toy due to the risk of back and neck injuries when teenagers and adults use it. Injuries occur because people heavier or taller than children might stop suddenly when diving onto the toy.

I will say this, there were times when we all got hurt at some point in time on the original Slip and Slide or our homemade own. But all in all, there were some good times with these, dangerous or not!