Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight: Six Flags Over Georgia 1985

It's been a while since I dipped into my '80s brochures, so this week's SBS feature is long overdue! I hesitated to apply the title "Six Flags Over Georgia" to this particular brochure, as that name is never actually used in any of my early SFOG brochures. The name appears in some places as "Six Flags Atlanta", but in most cases they seem to avoid the matter altogether and simply call the park "Six Flags".

This practice may seem quite odd by today's standards, but you have to remember that the opening of SFOG in 1967 signified the beginning of the "chain park" era. Up until that point, no single company operated multiple parks in the United States. So it's no wonder their marketing department was confused--They were sailing uncharted waters! ...Of course, this brochure was printed nearly 20 years after that happened, so you'd think they would have it all figured out by this point!

Mind Bender sure did look drab back in the day, but I would take this color scheme ANY day over the great NASCAR advertising fiasco of 2008. (In case you missed it, Mind Bender's trains were briefly covered from head to toe in horrifyingly tacky promotional material.) Note to Six Flags: ROLLER COASTERS ARE NOT BILLBOARDS! I understand that you've gotta pay your bills and all, but there are some lines that were never meant to be crossed! And to victimize a classic coaster to boot...Shame on you! But as usual, it appears I have gone waaaaaaay off topic, so let's get back to this exceedingly brief walk down memory lane!

Ah, the ever popular Wheelie. It's nice to see a park that's willing to preserve a dying breed such as this, and to know that this classic ride continues to thrill patrons to this day. Too bad the same can't be said for the Freefall. First generation free fall rides seem rather archaic by today's standards, but there was a certain charm about them. Perhaps it was the novelty!

The Great American Scream Machine (not to be confused with its newer, loopier cousin in New Jersey) also makes a cameo appearance in this brochure. It was SFOG's third coaster, and preceded Mind Bender by five years.

Wow, the marketing team was [still] so confused by the whole "chain park" thing that they put their new ride announcement at the END of the brochure instead of on the cover! Could this have been Six Flags' first foray into the Bizarro world?? We may never know... But what we do know (finally) is that SFOG welcomed a Looping Starship in 1985.

In addition to Looney Tunes paraphernalia and miscellaneous other park swag, apparently SFOG also sold gasoline and diesel fuel "at competitive prices". Huh? That's just weird!

And finally, we get a glimpse of how the Six Flags chain of properties was shaping up by the mid-80s. Funny how all of the parks listed in this brochure have specific names with the exception of the park that's actually being advertised! Bizarro fo' sho.