June 20, 2010: Helter Skelter

[xoxoxoBruce]

When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and turn
and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Catchy, but what the hell are they talking about?

An almost exclusively British term for a spiral fairground slide, helter skelter is known in the US from songs by the Beatles, Oasis and Genesis, and from the association with Charles Manson. In the UK its one of those things that every child can recognize, but which when you really look at, becomes strangely unfamiliar and weird - an architectural naked lunch. The taste of this naked lunch combines hints of jousting, medieval pageants and overtones of Paganesque Englishness, from Morris Dancing to the Wicker Man. Its principal flavor, however, is of the English seaside: damp and Victorian.

OK, building towers where tourists will pay to climb up for a better view, is a long standing tradition... look at the Eiffel Tower. One of the things I've noticed climbing things like The Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument and the Empire State Building, is when people get up to the top, they want to stay there. That tends to slow down the traffic (revenue flow).
These Helter Skelter builders found an ingenious way to entice people to keep moving... and peek at petticoats.

link