Attraction "Pendulum". Such attractions were often installed as imaginary “training for future pilots and sailors.” The unusual design is driven by a wooden counterweight, which is blocked by a special limiter if the swing is too strong. The photo was taken in 1937, at the Central Park of Culture and Culture named after. Gorky, Moscow.
One of the most popular attractions was, of course, the parachute tower. The metal structure with a spiral rise rose 40 meters above the ground. With an open parachute, like Mary Poppins on a large umbrella, the jumper sank to the ground. A metal cable was used for insurance. TsKPiO im. Gorky, Moscow, 1930.
"Turning Planes" is the first attraction with a lifting spin. It consisted of two two-seater “planes” mounted on booms. Thanks to the traction force, the planes rotated around the column, while changing their flight altitude. 1964, state farm “Krasnoye”, Krasnodar region.
Complex rotation carousel “Spiral”. The original design made it possible to move the rods with cabins along the turns of ascending and descending spirals in a complex trajectory. Izmailovsky Park, Moscow, 1971.
And of course, the highlight of the program is the Ferris Wheel. Everyone knows the attraction in the form of a large vertical wheel, to the rim of which cabins for passengers are attached. In the photo - the Small Ferris Wheel (and then simply “Ferris Wheel”) in the Central Park of Culture and Culture named after. Gorky, 1934.
Have you always wanted to jump from a parachute, but were afraid to do it? How about testing your courage (and vestibular system) by swinging above the ground on a huge pendulum? Such attractions required, first of all, a fair amount of courage and adventurism, which, however, the Soviet people had in abundance. Now you can evaluate the five best Soviet attractions according to Popular Mechanics!
"The history of the development of production of Soviet attractions at the Yeisk Attraction Plant." continuation of part 2
1963 - the complex rotation carousel “Mushroom-32” appears. Participants in the attraction, sitting in single chairs, move spirally along the plane, while the chairs themselves also rotate.
In the famous Poddubny Park in Yeisk (we would seriously like for the Ivan Poddubny Park to be taken under UNESCO protection as a unique object world heritage) a version of this attraction has been preserved for more interesting name"Galaxy"
Yeisk, Ivan Poddubny Park 2013 Carousel Galaxy
There also existed and still exist different options, for example, “Rotating Cups” carousels, 
"" at http://m.park-riviera.ru/img/park-rivera-attraktsion-chashki?size=_original
And another version of this attraction in Soviet times: the Japanese attraction "Pearl Sleigh" Izmailovsky Park 1971
Initially the attraction was called "Pearl Chariot", but for Russia it was called "Pearl Sleigh" 
Izmailovsky Park, carousel "Pearl Sleigh" 1972
1962 The Runner attraction is developed for vacationers to ride along a complex trajectory: a shortened cyclide moved along the surface of a truncated cone. 
Runner in Sokolniki park 
A distant modification of this attraction is still popular in the parks: 
Attraction Kolobok in Sokolniki Park 2013
1962 The Zvezdochka children's Ferris wheel with a friction drive was developed. 
Asterisk 1963
Kuzminki, children's Ferris Wheel 1969
On the left - "Zvezdochka" of the late 90s, Poddubny Park, Yeisk 2013
On the right is a modern version of the Children's Ferris Wheel "Treasures of the Sea" from the catalog of JSC "Attraction" http://www.eaz.ru/index.php/shop/detskie/item/11-sokrovishcha-morya
1964 The Figurnaya carousel appears. It uses a friction drive to rotate the platform. The foundation is removed, and the animals are replaced with cute little cars.
Imported analogues of similar carousels in Soviet times 
This is exactly the kind of carousel that Elektronik repairs in the second episode of the film “The Adventure of Elektronik.” And by the way, I still feel sorry for the animals! =)))
1964 The Tsepnaya carousel is modernized: a two-row suspension of seats to the umbrella appears, power increases.
This option was shown in the first part, and here I will show again the popularly loved chain carousel Whirlwind
2008 Yeysk Nikolsky Park chain carousel "Whirlwind"
Sevastopol 2013 carousel Whirlwind, courtyard Kireev Andrey
1964 The 360-degree attraction is introduced. in the form of an openwork wheel with a diameter of 24 meters.
This is the most popular and widespread version of this attraction in the parks of the Soviet Union 
2013 Sokolniki Park, Ferris Wheel from USSR times
The Observation Wheel in Yeisk on the Yeisk Spit - restored and modified several years ago.
1965 children's carousel "Plancing Horses"- the first attraction with wave-like motion. This is with a rocking mechanism that simulates riding a horse. 
Saratov Attraction at the Tekhstekla Palace of Culture by Sergey Boyarinov 1978-80
carousel of the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Culture 1975 by Pikalova
A modern version, from the product catalog of JSC "Attraction" http://www.eaz.ru/index.php/shop/detskie/item/7-karusel 
Carousel in the park named after Ivan Poddubny, Yeisk 2013
1965 The Crinoline attraction was developed for adults. with a landing platform reminiscent of the deck of a ship. This carousel makes undulating movements up and down.
There was also an imported analogue called Trabant (Sputnik) 
attraction Sputnik (Trabant) 1972 author Vitaly Titov
And very distant modern analogues =)))
"Disko" Sokolniik 2013, now produced by JSC "Attraction" http://www.eaz.ru/index.php/shop/ekstremalnye/item/40-disko 
1967 - production of the first roller coasters began. 
Attraction "Steep Hills" in Izmailovsky Park 1972 author Yuri Makeev
About roller coasters, which we call American coasters, but for the most part globe- With the roller coaster (Spanish Montaña rusa, French Montagnes russes, Italian Montagne russe) I would like to go into a little more detail.
There are several versions of when roller coasters with wheeled trolleys similar to miners' ones were first invented (as on modern roller coasters)
But it is a generally accepted fact that the first summer roller coasters were built in Russia.
...." The oldest mention of roller coasters is considered to be the hobby of sledding in winter time in Russia in the 17th century. The ice slides, built by order of Peter I near St. Petersburg, had a height of approximately 25 m and an inclination angle of about 50°..."
About ice slides I'll tell you more later.
Under Catherine the Great, summer slides appeared for the first time.
"..The folk winter sport of skating from ice mountains became widespread in the Russian court in the 18th century, as a result of which two unique architectural structures appeared - Katalnaya Mountain in Tsarskoe Selo, built in 1973-1957 for winter and SUMMER skating
And Skating hill in Oranienbaum, built ONLY FOR SKIDING IN SUMMER.
Both slides were created according to designs by Antonio Rinaldi and technical calculations by mechanic A.K. Nartova.
One part of these Katalny Mountains has survived to this day. This is the famous "Roller" pavilion in Oranienbaum.
The alley from the Rolling Hill pavilion, lined with fir trees, along which the descent chutes used to pass, is 532 meters long!
“The Rolling Hill pavilion on the territory of the garden and park ensemble “Own Dacha” represents part of a once huge entertainment structure
-summer skating....."
Diagram of the structure of the Katalnaya Mountain in Oranienbaum and the descent chariots.
The Katalny Mountains complex, in addition to the pavilion, included wooden slopes - one straight, three wavy and covered galleries of colonnades with a length of 532 meters!
The launch pad was located at a height of 20 meters.
The ride was carried out on carved gilded carriages specially designed by master Nartov in the form of “triumphal chariots, gondolas, and saddled animals”
In addition to the track for riding, there were two more side tracks for lifting chariots.
The surviving pavilion of the Rolling Hill is a 33-meter, three-story stone building, ending in a round drum, decorated with carved garlands, with a bell-shaped dome,
which was once crowned with a gilded wooden statue of Terpsichore, the muse of singing and dancing. 
Preserved stone pavilion from Katalnaya Gora
Here are some historical photographs.
St. Petersburg, Katalny Mountains on Tsaritsyn Meadow 1890-1895, photographer Karl Karlovich Bulla 
St. Petersburg, Luna Park on the street. Ofitserskaya, 39. (now Dekabristov Street) Gornaya Railway 1912-1914
It amazes with its scale, artificial slides and thoughtful composition. 
What could be better in childhood than entertainment? In our provincial Soviet town, built around a mining complex, such an entertainment place was the only city park of culture and recreation with attractions built in it. This is what he became for us, Soviet children, for a while summer holidays from May to September. And even though the rides were not the same as in Disneyland, we didn’t know any others and therefore were very happy to stand in a long line at the ticket office on a hot afternoon and take a breeze on the “Whirlwind” or “Romashka”. And the bravest older children rode on the Ferris Ring and it was a real childhood!
Some of those Soviet attractions still operate in our city. Not to say that they are very successful, but they function. True, the Ferris Ring was dismantled several years ago, but its operation would no longer be safe. But you can still ride on “Romashka”, “Locomotive”, “Whirlwind” and “Russian Coaster”. My kids still ride them. But they don’t experience the same drive as we once did. They just ride and that’s it. They have a lot of other things, too much, that give them equally strong emotions. Therefore, we received many times more impressions from what we had.
It was not just joy for us, but a real holiday when, on a weekend or a holiday, my parents and I came to the park on our city attractions. Everyone rode on the carousel, from young to old. For adult men, huge metal “Power Swings” were installed, which swung mechanically using their own strength. Particularly powerful male skaters could even make “sunshine”, and more than once.
Adults also loved such attractions as “Whirlwind” and “Surprise,” which was installed later in the early 90s. “Russian Coaster” was also staged at the same time. Those who were more fearful rode on the “Romashka”. And only those over 12 years old were allowed on the Ferris Wheel without adults. For children there were “Locomotive” and “Small Daisy”, as well as children’s swings – “boats”. We were especially fond of “Autodrom”. A ticket for it cost 30 kopecks. In those cars you could feel like a real professional driver.
A cafe was installed in the amusement park where you could eat delicious ice cream and drink an unsurpassed milkshake. There was also a shooting range where my dad taught me how to shoot at a moving target. One bullet cost everything - exactly as much as it cost to make a phone call.
It cost 20 kopecks to ride on the rides for adults, the cooler and more extreme ones. Carousels for kids cost 15 kopecks. Quite affordable prices for any Soviet citizen.
In general, the park was organized and equipped superbly, with taste and love. Shady alleys were created for family walks with benches installed there. There were fountains and drinking fountains everywhere, and there was a stage in the park for performances by various artists on holidays. And we had such holidays that this is a separate issue altogether.
Outdated attractions fascinate with their specific beauty. They are filled with their own special energy. Looking at them, you can imagine how adults and children once rested on them. How they brought joy and good mood to people.
Now the Soviet-era attractions in the Country Park are in very poor condition. Almost abandoned. Rusted, with peeling paint, in places overgrown with grass and bushes. Small and partial cosmetic repairs only emphasize their depressing condition. I don’t know if they can be called abandoned, but they are clearly not being used for their intended purpose. All the rides are “classic”; these can be found in parks in almost any city.
1. Autodrom
“Cars”, “cars”, “electric cars” - whatever they were called. One of my favorite childhood attractions. Many people probably loved to ride small electric cars and feel the adrenaline rush from collisions with a neighboring electric car.
The canopy on the site was dismantled long ago.
It looks like the fence was painted not long ago.
2. Swing boats.
Attraction for the entertainment of adults and children. Two people needed to use it. 
If you tried hard, you could swing just above the horizontal plane. The feeling is simply unforgettable. 
The brake was a long bar that rose from below when the caretaker pressed the lever and the swing rubbed against it and gradually stopped. 
A tight rope - so that the swing is not used. 
The only attraction with a warning sign. 
3. "Cabin boy"
A small boat that can take kids on a ride as if on real sea waves. 
Mine last flight a “ship” was made around the lighthouse a long time ago. 
4. "Orbit" light version. If memory serves, it was called "Bell" 
Carousel for children from 3 to eight years old. 
When boarding, you had to fasten yourself with chains to your seats. When moving, the seats leaned back a little and swayed smoothly. 
5. "Orbit"
For adults and children over 10 years old. It was especially cool to ride on such a carousel - the rotation is accompanied by simultaneous rise and fall. This movement is ensured by an arrow that changes the angle of inclination up to 45 degrees. 
We sit down in the chairs, lower the protective hoop, the carousel disk spins, everything cracks and creaks. Go.) 
6. "Surprise"
A kind of centrifuge. Children from 16 years old and adults up to 50 could use it. 
For proper operation, it was important that visitors were evenly distributed around the circle. 
The maximum boom lift angle is 65 degrees.
7. "Fun slides"
"Fun slides" is a family attraction for all ages. Reminiscent of a roller coaster, but with much less extremeness. 
Monorail system. 
Bushes are already sprouting in full swing on the site.
8. "Wheel of Review"
The Ferris Wheel appeared in the park in the late 80s and early 90s. Its height is about 25-27 meters. 
Now it is in a deplorable state. 
Some of the cabins have no roof, some lack seats. Seat absolutely terrible. 
It's amazing that the plant that produced these rides in the USSR is still in operation.
Every year, old park attractions from childhood disappear. They break down, are written off, dismantled for scrap, damaged by vandals and simply stop being serviced due to lack of spare parts.
In the park named after L.N. Tolstoy in the city of Khimki near Moscow in the early 80s there were about 30 park attractions for different age groups. In the 90s, not a single one remained, and only in this 2013, in the summer, the first and so far only attraction “Votor Wheel” was installed. Hooray!! Because there are more similar examples in parks in small towns, alas, we don’t know.
Therefore, I encourage everyone to take pictures of old attractions! Let them at least be preserved in photographs for memory and history.
One of the oldest attractions in the Soviet Union was built in 1931 in Moscow, the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Culture. Ferris wheel - height 14 meters. For the VI World Festival of Youth and Students in 1957, a new Ferris Wheel, 45 meters high, was built and put into operation - one of the tallest attractions in the USSR. Therefore, from that time on, the old attraction was called the “Small Ferris Wheel”. Both wheels were removed by 2009.
Thus, the Small Ferris Wheel existed for about 78 years.
B. Ignatovich, 1934 Small Ferris Wheel (then just a Ferris Wheel) in the Central Park of Culture and Culture named after. Gorky.
Small Ferris wheel in the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Culture 1952, photograph from the magazine "Smena" 1952 No. 16 
Small Ferris wheel in the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Culture 1956 Jacques Dupaquier
Jacques Dupaquier is a French academic and member of the French Communist Party.
Came to the USSR 3 times - 1956, 1964, 1975
The history of the first attractions goes back to fair booths, to Easter, Maslenitsa, Yuletide festivities, to the simplest inventions, to the first mechanisms initially driven by people and draft power, etc. More on this later.
In the USSR, until 1959, the production of attractions was carried out by cooperative fishing cooperatives and small workshops.
In the 1920-40s, the country was in dire need of metal, so, as a rule, all entertainment and sports facilities were built from wood, including attractions. And the pre-war attractions have practically not survived to this day.
It's a shame, because... among them were very original!!!
During this period of Soviet history, the heroic expeditions of the Main Northern Sea Route, the achievements of OSAVIAKHIM, the exploits of polar pilots, the discoveries of geologists and much more were widely covered in the press. The propaganda of that time tirelessly repeats: The country needs strong and healthy people! The widespread cult of heroism and physical health was reflected in the attractions. Almost every city has parachute towers, diving towers, simulator attractions for “future pilots and sailors,” and other all kinds of entertainment for the development of dexterity and strength. These attractions are given sonorous names: Test of Courage, Hill for Heroes, Flight to the North Pole, Levanevsky's Flight, etc., etc.
Here, for example, is a pendulum-type attraction to simulate flight.
Please note - the trusses are wooden. The attraction itself is also interesting due to its technical solution: when moving, the pendulum, probably with sufficient force, hits the limiter and this must be unpleasant. And what is the fence used for - for insurance or so that you can push off with your hands? I would like comments from more technically knowledgeable people about the principle of operation =)))
1937 Gorky Central Park of Culture and Culture, Moscow B. Ignatovich 
The most popular pre-war attraction, of course, was the parachute tower.
“To develop practical skills in leaving aircraft in the early thirties, the Grokhovsky Design Bureau developed the so-called parachute tower. It was a metal truss 20-25 meters high with a platform at the top. On an open parachute, like on a large umbrella held by a metal cable, the jumper fell to the ground The first such parachute tower was built on May 10, 1933 in the city of Pushkin (formerly Tsarskoe Selo)." http://desantura.ru/forum/forum45/topic17786/
Then parachute towers began to be built throughout the country.
View of the tower through the famous Girl with an Oar 
Parachute tower at the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Culture. Photo by H. Foreman, 1939.
Since in small towns there were no funds for the construction of parachute towers, they used...
church bell towers.
Unfortunately, there is no information in which city this photograph was taken or who is depicted in it. Apparently, the liberation of a settlement during the Second World War,
The source of the photo has been lost.
But looking at this mockery is painful and difficult. 
Kalyazin, the bell tower, which will then be flooded and rise as a silent monument from the bottom of the reservoir. 
“The popularity of parachute towers was very great; in the Soviet Union, a special parachute tower was developed for preschool children.
It was an ordinary slide that ended at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground, behind which there was an arrow to which a parachute was attached. At the top, a harness was attached to the child, he rolled down the chute, and from 1.5 m he softly landed under the dome.
There is a newsreel about this and reports in foreign newspapers. 
source http://desantura.ru/forum/forum45/topic17786/
text under the photo
" Air-minded soviet children are provided with thrills of parachute jumping trough use of special towers erected in many city parks. Equipped with small parachute, the youngsters slide down a chute atop the 14-foot towers and settle slowly to the ground. Metal guide rings keep the parachutes open..."
"Soviet children can get a taste of parachute jumping by descending from special towers installed in many city parks. Wearing a special parachute, children slide down a chute from the top of a 14-foot tower and then slowly descend to ground on a parachute. Special metal rings keep the parachute open."
After the war, towers were also built in parks as attractions until the 70s. 
Leningrad. The parachute tower in Primorsky Victory Park, installed in 1957.
And then they remained mainly attributes of sports and military bases, as ground-based simulators for preparing for parachute jumps.
The skeletons of the destroyed towers were preserved in parks for a long time; they still exist in Sokolniki Park to this day.
2013 remains of a parachute tower in Sokolniki Park
In 2006, in Kyiv, the diving tower in the Spetsnaz Base Amusement Park on Trukhanov Island was restored and opened for jumping.
The jump costs 100 hryvnia, which is about 390 rubles.
To jump from a tower, a person’s weight must be no less than 45 and no more than 100 kg, otherwise the counterweight will not work. The landing is quite hard and there is a risk of injury. But now there are ways to eliminate this drawback - to make a coating with partial depreciation.
According to experienced skydivers, jumping from a tower is scarier than jumping from an airplane, because... the ground is very close.
Given that there are now a huge number of people who want to jump from a parachute, it is not clear why not revive this attraction in the parks?
In the USA, there was also a legendary parachute tower at the Coney Island amusement park in Brooklyn with an interesting history.
The height of this tower reached almost 80 meters, 12 parachutes, an elevator. It was brought from New York after the 1939 World's Fair and installed in the amusement park at Coney Island in Brooklyn. Since then, the tower has been wildly popular. It was called Brooklyn's Eiffel Tower.
Once they even had a wedding on the tower. The bride and groom, guests and correspondents descended simultaneously on all twelve parachutes. In the morning, the young woman filed for divorce, but this is not relevant.
The tower brought its owners a solid income until 1968, when the business had to be stopped due to a lawsuit. It so happened that a black boy got stuck in the air during a jump, became entangled in the lines and hung upside down for about half an hour. The child, of course, was scared, but remained unharmed. The parents decided to get money for moral damage and turned to a black lawyer. The lawyer was not lazy and looked up the state law NY 1843. Of course, no one remembers the reasons for the adoption of this law, but it “prohibits the hanging upside down of black boys under 12 years of age, from a height of more than three feet, and for a period not exceeding 20 minutes.” The victim was 11 years old at the time of the incident and, as it turned out during the hearing, he was hanging at a height of 120 feet for 35 minutes. The lawyer received for his clients a fantastic sum of $700,000 at that time, the owners of the tower went bankrupt, and Brooklynites lost one of their favorite entertainments.
http://d-awards.ru/246-chernyjj_parashjutist.html
In 2004, the authorities decided to restore it, simply as an architectural structure, without parachute jumping. Now the tower serves as a decoration of the landscape with interesting, complex lighting. 
