Farewell Mother Goose

Just when I thought I had seen the last of the Mother Goose Garden photos, up pops a few more on the Facebook page of one of my husband's friends. However these photos show the slow deterioration of the wonderful storybook characters. We climbed them, we sat on them, we took pictures by them. They look like they belong to the island of the misfit toys, patiently waiting for a new leg or arm.

Thanks to Gary Spears of Streator for allowing me to post these on my blog. There are a few more photos that I will post soon. Waiting for permission to use. And, if you are new to my blog there are two previous posts that will bring back memories to many. Enjoy.

Poor Old King Cole. Not to merry with his head off. I think that is Little Bo Peep in the background.

So sad... to see what was once a magical place to so many children fall to pieces.

What's nice about these photos is that they are in color. Most seem to be in black and white. This old shoe needs a shoemaker's loving touch!

Mother Goose Gardens - Part 2

I have some wonderful photos of Mother Goose Gardens to share with you. These were sent to me by a Facebook friend of my husbands. I was so touched to get her email. And, that she took the time to scan and share her photos with me. Thanks to Shelia for your memories. So many will enjoy these photos and the precious picture of the souvenir plate. What a treasure. Here is Shelia's letter to me:

Francie

My Dad brought me the article you wrote on Mother Goose Gardens...I really enjoyed reading it.  I live in Morris, and remember it from when I used to go there when I was a kid.  I went to school with your husband Mike and grew up in Grand Ridge.  I have a booklet of pics from there that I took with my Brownie color Kodachrome camera, that I got for my 8th birthday....I remember licking the flash bulbs before putting them in! I was born in 1952, and these pics show the date 1960, my sister Chris wasn't born yet....Kevin, myself, Jimmy and Karen are in the photos,. I even still have a little china plate from there....so I thought I would pass along these pics to you.....only someone who remembers it really appreciates what a great place it was...all about the imagination!

Starting from the top: Sleeping Beauty, Train Ride, and Three Little Kittens

Wow, I had forgotten some of these scenes, especially the "kind of creepy", Sleeping Beauty vignette. Hurry Prince Charming, please wake her up or else she may scare some of us away.

Starting from the top: Jack and Jill go down the hill, ticket booth and the famous corn dispenser that you would crank and crank to get a few morsels of feed.

Starting from the top: The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe,  the Bunny Hutch, and feeding the animals.

I've saved the best photo for last. The tiny little plate that hundreds of people must have purchased as a small memento of the Gardens. Wonder how many are still out there? Footnote...since posting this I have found out that three of my friends have this plate!

My blog about Mother Goose Gardens and other stories of the Starved Rock State Park area have been published in a special edition book to mark the 100th Anniversary. Lots of great articles on Starved Rock. Here is the link (http://mywebtimes.com/PDFs/TimesSTARVEDRk.pdf) to download this special edition. Friend, Kathy Casstevens-Jasek shot the cover photo featuring Conquering Bear playing his native flute beneath the waterfall in Ottawa Canyon. Kathy is a fantastic photographer as well as being the marketing director of Starved Rock Lodge. If you want to read all about Mother Goose Gardens Part 1 go here. Enjoy the memories.

Mother Goose Gardens

You might not be familiar with the area where I live. I am about 6 miles from Starved Rock State Park, Matheson State Park and a smaller treasure called Buffalo Rock. These are all beautiful areas and Starved Rock attracts thousands of visitors every year. Great trails...a lovely lodge...you can smell the burning campfires and marshmellows on a stick!

Last week I went to the Utica, Illinois Facebook page. Utica is the gateway to these parks. It's also been made famous by a tornado that ripped through the area in 2004, killing several people. The village has used social networks to its advantage and has a page loaded with all kinds of photos and wonderful information about people, places and things to do in the area.  One of the posts asked for pictures from a place out of my childhood that no longer exists called Mother Goose Gardens. It was right next to Starved Rock State Park and what a treat it was to go there as a kid. The amusement park opened in 1957 on nearly 50 acres near the south edge of Starved Rock...kiddie carnival rides and petting zoo, games, including a 30- reproduction of Mother Goose. So awesome. Good childhood memories.

The incredible Mother Goose. That's me of course, striking a pose. Love the little beanie hat. No girlie clothes for me. You can peddle the train cars faster in pants.

Magical...glorious...exciting...giant sized story book figures that you could touch and climb. Ohhhhh, there were ducks that you can feed and a train track with little cars that you had to peddle yourself around the track. Try bringing a kid to something like that today. No sensory overload here. Just the basics and we all loved it! There is nothing left of the amusement part. You would never know it was there. Not a trace. I would love to walk the area, over the brush and overgrowth to see if something is left...a part of the track...a piece of one of the giant figures. I'm sure it would feel like a Steven King movie...children's laughter faintly in the background...the sound of ponies walking in that giant circle...the old corn dispenser overflowing with feed! Ok, I have an overactive imagination.

Hey! Where's my porridge?

Little Bo Peep. I'm in my favorite pose.

After posting my photos, others responded with their memories and pictures. So cool to see and read. Here is what some of them said:

"Oh my gosh...my dad had a partial interest in Mother Goose Gardens and we went almost every weekend. plus his best friend did the landscaping. I can tell you the exact layout even now all these years later. the train...Santa's reindeer, the tractors, the self-propelled little train cars (I must have derailed 30 times), event the big milk can at the entrance!"


"The little dipper rollercoaster, the ferris wheel with CANVAS seats...the boat ride that went in a circle in a little round tank, of which I was convinced was 100 feet deep (my dad was such a kidder), Humpty Dumpty, the wishing well with Jack & Jill--and of course, Mother Goose herself on that island with the geese! i'm sad whenever i pass it."


"Great pic!! Wish i could find all mine!! As my parents were the last investors to run it!! i remember painting Peter Peter Pumpkin Eaters pumpkin!! AND i have a video of me riding the tractors! There were sulkey pony rides too. plus the real ponys! Gosh i could go on and on!! i practically lived there on the weekends!!!"


Do you have childhood memories of this park? I'd love for you to share them with me or send me photos that I will post on my blog. One last memory...it was of a place down the road from Mother Goose Gardens...next to Rt. 71. Trucks always whizzed by and stirred up the dust. I remember eating hot dogs there but the greatest part was going into a big tee pee and picking out a plastic toy from a large treasure chest. I think it was called the Wigwam. Glorious!