Since the sinking of the Titanic more than 100 years ago, the maritime tragedy has been etched into our collective memory, in large part thanks to a mid-90s blockbuster movie that turned the ill-fated voyage into a thrilling epic of romance and disaster.
These days, kids in Chicago apparently have another way to remember the Titanic: a giant inflatable slide that keeps showing up at local street fairs, including one that happened last weekend in Roscoe Village.
why does my street fest have a sinking titanic kids’ slide pic.twitter.com/g0mEgtILdN
— annie bananie (@annacatkopsky) September 6, 2021
This is just downright insensitive child entertainment pic.twitter.com/UFOuat1f2c
— Barstool Carl (@barstoolcarl) September 5, 2021
Now, you might think, hey, that’s kind of bizarre that there’s a fun, bouncy slide shaped like an ocean liner that sank in one of the worst maritime disasters in history.
But from even some cursory online research, it turns out the slide that’s shaped like the sinking Titanic — which, again, looks like a ship that sank in a disaster that killed over 1,500 people — isn’t anything new.
Here’s a 2016 post from a street fair in Chinatown, where people lined up to slide down the Titanic:
Went to a street fair in Chicago's Chinatown today; they had a "sinking Titanic" inflatable slide. pic.twitter.com/UvBrCzZyd2
— Craig Stern (Sinister Design) (@sinisterdesign) July 18, 2016
And a year later, here’s someone posting the Titanic slide from a hot dog festival:
@JessRMcKenna @ComedyBangBang The Titanic slide at the Chicago Hotdog fest in August. pic.twitter.com/qLFAqi888o
— Adam Altman (@chaoskid) November 1, 2017
If the hot dog fest got the Titanic slide, apparently the taco fest had to get it, too:
It reminds me of the inflatable Titanic Slide I saw at Chicago's Taco Fest a few years ago...who approves these things??? pic.twitter.com/2VA7UaQofz
— erin alyce (@herooine) August 29, 2021
So the slide is very real, and people must like it because it keeps showing up. This is certainly one way to keep the memory of the Titanic alive.
