Ring Around the Roses
The Roeding kids and friends play "Ring around the Roses" at 2:30 in the film.
The life-cycle of the spring show in 1935
Watch the full movie to see the gardens getting ready for the bulb show and then the gardens with visitors in March.
Or skip to 2:30 to see the game played on the lawn.
A film like this could have been shown at garden club meetings and other community meetings.
The Roeding kids and friends played on the lawn with a hilarious game that you may have played as a child - “Ring a Ring o’ Roses.”
There has been much speculation about the connection of this game with pandemics. Start with Wikipedia for some jumping off points for further explanations.
The gardens: The footprint of the display gardens is very well preserved, but what has changed that may confuse you?
The old windmill was at the edge of the gardens, not in the center.
There were more garden display beds. When the apartments were built, they truncated the display beds. The road was re-routed through a portion of the display gardens and truncated the left side of the bell-shaped curve. This portion is now under ivy.
The lawn: The children play on the lawn that is basically the same shape as today. However, when Niles Boulevard was widened and a sidewalk added, the lawn was shorted by the new fence. The cork oak was inside the fence in those days.
The weeping sequoia has been replanted. It was quite a sight back then!