CHICAGO — A 1950s home movie shot at the long-gone Riverview Amusement Park, and uploaded to YouTube this week, shows some of the park's fun — and slightly terrifying-looking — attractions.
The six-minute-long, silent film is part of the collection of the Chicago Film Archives, 329 W. 18th St.
Riverview Amusement Park was open from 1904 to 1967 on the western edge of Roscoe Village, and in the home movie, you can spot rides like Shoot the Chutes log flume, a roller coaster, the Roll-o-Plane tilt-a-whirl, the Strat-o-Stat and Pair-o-Chutes parachute drop.
There is also the carnival game "Fool the Guesser," an atomic energy exhibit and a freak show called Spook Town.
The footage was donated by the nephew of Henry Wilczynski, a baker whose family lived on the South Side, according to the Chicago Film Archives.
The Wilczynski family's collection, which can be found here, includes19 reels of home movies.
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