The Grocery Store Penny Horse

Penny Horse
Taken by Melanie Sidwell and used with permission. Please check out her blog have fun don’t die at http://melsidwell.com/

Does anyone out there remember the penny horse ride at the grocery store? This was a relatively large horse for a kid’s ride. Well, it seemed large as a kid and perhaps if I saw the same ride today, it would pale in comparison.

I write this article today because stores no longer have these penny rides. Well, there are none in the stores I frequent anyway. I can remember the City Market in Greenriver Wyoming clearly. When you walked through the door, you were greeted by the sweet mixed aroma of fresh donuts and bread. The little store seemed so friendly and the thing that stood out above all else was the big metal horse ride located strategically at the front of the store. The ride was a penny and once started, it seemed the ride would go on indefinitely. In fact it lasted so long you were usually taken off of it with a resolute “Come on it’s time to go” before the ride actually ended. This horse had music as well and played the more well-known part of William Tell’s Overture again and again.

I guess perhaps in this day of sue happy individuals who lack accountability of any kind, they had to remove the horses. There were no seat belts or any restraint of any kind — Just some faux leather reigns (two if you were lucky) and stirrups (again two if you were lucky). As I think of it, this must have been a great way to keep kids entertained by one parent as the other completed the shopping.

I know every generation echoes the sentiment of “I can remember when” and each generation views their own with the sort of nostalgia that longs for anything physical or emotional that appears lost in the current day and age. I am of the mindset that my generation of 70’s born/80’s growing up individuals enjoyed some of the last bits of simplicity. I say this because instant entertainment now dominates today and it seems this will only get worse as time goes by. I am not too fond of the current trends. Do we honestly need to have instant communication via cell phones or instant “entertainment” via hand held computer games, iPods and tablets? As a kid, we had four terrestrial television channels and no remote control to change said channels, no video game consoles, phones were connected to the wall and had a cord and the list goes on. Okay, by the time I was 18, we had an Atari and cable was installed but for most of my childhood, we had none of these conveniences we all take for granted today.

I digress.

Perhaps with the disappearance of the penny horse something else much more important disappeared as well and I personally would like it to reappear. I realize that some of you reading this who most likely live in small towns across the country are shouting “We have a penny horse in our store!”. If you are, please leave a comment. While you are at it, send along a photo of the horse.

Thank you kindly for reading. I look forward to your comments and perhaps photos. Until next time, take care.

I have to share how I came across the photo being used for this entry. I needed a photo reminiscent of the horse I used to ride as a kid and during my Google image search, I was very pleased to discover Melanie’s blog: have fun don’t die. It is an absolutely wonderful read and I encourage anyone reading this entry to check it out. She has very kindly allowed me to use her image found in this post. To quote her words I am so happy to find a kindred soul out there who appreciates such things.

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