The Thunderbolt Kid and Memories of Riverview Amusement Park

There is nothing better to fill a silent room with than one’s own laughter.  

I didn’t grow up with the Dick Van Dyke family life, but Bill Bryson's memoir, Thunderbolt Kid,  helped me dust off some memories that can make any dysfunctional childhood recall several good times we all shared. 

I remember wishing I had a brother or sister who was an honest to goodness beatnik, not just some person I would hear adults whispering about.  

I recall occasionally going out for a fancy dinner and having to get all dressed up and being told that “if I was good I could order a Shirley Temple.” And of course, I wanted to be Shirley Temple on rainy days. 

I had forgotten about removing cork from bottle caps  and splitting popsicles in two to share with my best girlfriend. 

I loved scabs and skinned knees and I really loved stubbing my big toes because that meant I was barefoot and free. And so many summer days were filled with doing “nothin” except laying on our backs and watching clouds move along the sky. 

Forest preserves, bowling alleys, roller rinks, ice skating and neighborhood pools meant you didn’t have to plan any activity with anyone…those were places to meet up. 

And then there was Riverview: Riverview Park was located on Chicago's northwest side and one of the city's most popular amusement destinations. Spread across more than 140 acres of land bounded by Belmont Avenue on the south, Western Avenue on the east, and the north branch of the Chicago River on the west, the park offered inexpensive amusements to work-weary Chicagoans. 

Every summer, thousands flocked to the park to enjoy its combination of thrilling rides, fascinating exhibits, cheap eats, interesting people, and cool evening air.” I remember the thrill of going every year for my birthday until it was closed down in 1967. 

Built in 1926 at a cost of $80,000, the carefully designed coaster the BOBs, joustled,  its riders from beginning to end. Excessively sharp curves, shortened dips, low-riding cars, and clanking gears not only rattled riders' bones, but intensified the illusion of the ride's mechanical dangers and its seemingly life-threatening speeds. Other Riverview coasters included the Comet, the Blue Streak, the Pippen, the Jack Rabbit, and the Flying Turns, which was moved to Riverview in 1935 after Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition, its former home, came to an end. Riverview was complete with the  “jazzy Riverview Ballroom and the Riverview Roller Rink, where youthful roller-skating enthusiasts and members of the Riverview Roller Skating Club.”