History Of Trampolining

In amongst the stories of the great leaps and bounds in the history of trampoline usage and development are some less known adaptations and attempts to use trampolines in slightly more creative – if bizarre – ways.  In 1958 Arkansas apple farmer John James Williamson invested in 24 trampolines especially adapted with large wheels for easy manoeuvre around the orchard.  It was his intention to use them in place of ladders, his logic being that it would be impossible to fall and hurt yourself as the trampoline would always be there to break your fall.  The large trampolines, he also reasoned, would allow the picker a horizontal picking range as well as a vertical range, therefore using a trampoline would mean less time wasted descending and re-positioning ladders.

The trampolines didn’t work well as a method of reaching apples for picking.  John James Williamson went bankrupt in 1961, perhaps partly due to his ill-advised trampoline investment, perhaps mostly due to his lack of insight and business sense generally.

Other interesting uses for trampolines include sole trader John Mortimer-Stuart, in the removals business in Stoke-on-Trent, England, using a trampoline to receive furniture and other large items from an upstairs window in 1981.  The use of a trampoline would clearly render moving large bulky items down awkward staircases unnecessary.  So committed was Mr Mortimer-Stuart to his trampolines idea that five bulky items including a bed and a wardrobe with clothes still inside were broken beyond repair before he saw the flaw in his cunning trampoline plan.   Not exactly a turning point in trampoline history, but if you’re interested in trampolines then you may enjoy believing that this tale is true.

Of course developments of superb trampolines like the Jumpking and Jumpking OvalPod tend to really clarify the purpose of trampolines.  They shout out ‘garden fun, fitness, sport, let’s just bounce on this trampoline because it looks like a cracking laugh’.  You’re hardly likely to look at a sleek new Jumpking Ovalpod trampoline and say to yourself ‘Arrr, that thar trampoline be just the right look for me cider orchard.  Arrr.’

Joking aside, it is an interesting point to note that throughout the history of trampolines and their development into high tech, finely tuned trampolines of excellence like the jumpking 8ft trampolines and jumpking 12ft trampolines, what we have essentially ended up with is something that is meant for fun.  Trampolines, through all their various incarnations and trampoline stories have had their purpose narrowed down through trial and many a trampolining error into an article designed for the pursuit of happiness and fun.  Simply put, bouncing on a trampoline is a great laugh.

Joseph Cheetham-Wilkinson once said ‘Trampolines have their ups and downs, but one thing’s for sure, bang some tunes on the stereo and with a 14ft or 12ft or even an 8ft jumpking trampoline from mytrampolines, you’ll be laughing it up as you get on down.  Having said that, we would be interested to hear any trampoline jokes you may have.  If you do have a trampoline joke you’d like to share with us then by all means e-mail it to us.  It’s bound to make its way around the office and you can be sure we’ll give you due credit if your trampoline joke makes us laugh.  

Another example of trampolines being put to a less than traditional use is the story of a group of factory pickers and packers who’s conveyor belt was out of order.  So that their throwing distance could be increased on larger items for packing a system of trampolines was arranged around the warehouse floor so that machine parts could be dropped from the mezzanine.  The trampolines were angled in such a way that when an item was dropped onto it, the trampoline bounced it to the approximate original destination of the conveyor belt, where there was a packer waiting to catch it.  Under these specific circumstances, given the robust nature of the parts and the relative infrequency of the drops, the trampolines were found to be surprisingly effective and remained in use for several months until the conveyor system was restored.  Needless to say using trampolines to catapult heavy metal objects around a warehouse would be flouting modern health and safety laws and trampoline conveying would be stopped before it started.

On a slightly more personal note, my daughter’s first ever joke was trampoline related.  Upon discovering the delights of the whoopee cushion at two years old she decided to rename it: trumpoline.  

In 1952 Andrea Brenenstein of Somerset, England, was granted council permission to install two trampolines in Swanlake Borstal, for the purposes of capitol punishment.  The principal was that instead of the blatant cruelty of the cane, children would undertake trampoline sessions as punishment for bad behaviour.  Interestingly, Ms. Brenenstein sought to enhance the sense of the trampoline being used as punishment by subjecting the children to a number of jumps, much as a sailor might be subject to a number of lashes, or a child might be subjected to a number of strokes of the cane.  In her own words: ‘I wish that the children should understand that the trampoline is an instrument of punishment.  The trampoline will be understood as such by means of the severity of the crime being in direct relation to the quantity of jumps administered, as with strokes of the cane.’  The system of trampoline punishment administration was three tiered, with 100-300 trampoline jumps being issued for bad behaviour levels 1-3.  Any trampoline enthusiast today will immediately see the glaringly obvious problem with her plan.  Although it seems discipline was tight enough at Swanlake that children are not recorded as deliberately misbehaving in order to gain access to the trampoline, it instantly became clear that the trampolines were by no means a deterrent, and trampolining was certainly no punishment.  Almost as soon as the trampoline punishment was instituted the system was abandoned and the trampolines were moved to the gymnasium.

 Trampoline history may seem remarkably brief in the grand scheme of things, but when we look at some of the ridiculous uses we are pretending people have put trampolines to over this period, it seems incredible how long it takes us to learn!  Trampolines are for bouncing on and having fun!