What date in the early nineteen fifties or very late forties did Life
Magazine print a article
about the new amusement park ride from Germany called the Flying Cars,
opening at the (now closed) Riverview Amusement Park in Chicago,
Illinois?

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Request for Question Clarification by hummer-ga on 17 Jun 2003 08:48 PDT

Hi bigd13,

After an extensive search, the closest I've come is a 1947 Life
article about flying cars invented by people trying to make real
flying cars.

Are you positive about the article being in "Life"?  How about another
magazine, such as "Look"? Are you positive about the name "Flying
Cars"? Was it a roller coaster-type ride? Where did you hear about it?

Thanks,
hummer

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 17 Jun 2003 12:54 PDT

Bigd --

Alas: I moved to Chicago too late to experience Riverview but I used
to shop at the Jewel on the site of the old amusement park :=)

Researchers often find that people are mistaken about publications.  I
have checked the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, an old print
index that's an excellent source for magazines pre-Internet
(pre-1995).

In the process I checked these topics between May, 1945 and March,
1953:
* amusement parks
* Chicago -- general
* Chicago -- recreation
* Riverview

I found 8 potential articles (well, really 9 but somehow I don't think
that Nelson Algren would be writing about the Flying Cars for the
Saturday Review of Literature).  I'd be glad to post the topics, dates
and publications if you're interested in further research.

I was able to check two of the 8 articles to make sure that they
weren't what you were seeking.  One called "Ride 'Em and Weep" in the
June 9, 1945 Saturday Evening Post has some great pictures from East
Coast amusement parks -- but alas, not Riverview.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Clarification of Question by bigd13-ga on 19 Jun 2003 14:28 PDT

Universal Newsreel did a thing at the same time as the magazine.The
newsreel showed in all the theatres at the time. I rode in the Flying
Cars for this shoot. It was a wheel shape with tracks and on each
track there was a car, when the wheel rotated a person would step on
the brake of the car and that would hold the car in place and it would
go upside down as the wheel went around. I am not positive if it was
Life magazine.

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Request for Question Clarification by hummer-ga on 19 Jun 2003 16:29 PDT

Hi bigd13,

Thank you for the clarification. Unless I've missed something or
you're mistaken about your dates, I think you can rule out Life
Magazine. I've checked myself plus made several enquiries with no
luck. However, the researchers haven't forgotten about you and one of
us may come up with it yet. Fingers crossed, hummer

It appears that you have correctly remembered the name of this ride; I
have found some information about it.  Also, I have contacted an
expert on Riverview Park.  I will let you know if I receive useful
information in reply.

I have received a response to my email.  The expert does not recall an
article in Life or Look about the Flying Cars.  However, there was an
article from a later year in another publication, and he assumes that
this is what you were thinking of.  He does not know the exact date
that the article was published, because his research notes are not
available to him right now.  I may have found the correct issue, and
have contacted him again for confirmation.

The expert has also told me that there are additional details on the
ride included in a book that his organization has published.

I will report back to you -- or post an answer, if appropriate -- when
I obtain more information.

Universal Newsreel showed news about the Flying Cars in all the
theatres at the same time. I rode on this ride for the photo shoot. It
was a circle and when you held the brake the car would go upside down.
I think it was life magazine but I am not positive.