Posted on 03/04/2016 10:06:31 AM PST by PROCON
If you grew up in the 1960s or 1970s, then you know how relaxed everything used to be. Our parents never forced us to wear seatbelts, we pretty much at whatever we wanted, and were given way more responsibiity than we should have been given. It's a little sad kids today won't get to experience half the things we did, but looking back, there's a good reason why they won't.
Were these 12 things we did as kids kind of dangerous? Yeah, maybe some of it was.
(Excerpt) Read more at metv.com ...
Remember the tooth past or mouthwash commercial from the 1960s? It was better.....”Cause it’s got Hexa-Hexa-hexacloraphine!”
***I was worried about using “regular” soap ***
Even Lifebouy no longer has carbolic acid in it.
I still make my own with pig lard and lye. Lye is becoming hard to find.
WE used gasoline on the red ant beds. Made a grand light, then the surviving ants would open a new tunnel a few feet away and start building the nest again.
So we used Chlordane.
Gasoline works wonders on hornet nests! Better than any spray you can buy.
Propane torch is the sporting way to attack a nest.
At about 8 I held a .45 over the gas range burner with a pair of pliers. Somewhere in the pantry a slug is in the wall. I didn’t do that again either.
I once tried to bend a nail in a board by stomping on it. The whole city probably heard a kid screaming with a board nailed to the sole of his foot. My dad grabbed me, and a stranger ran up, pulled out some pliers and pulled the nail out of the sole of my foot. I limped for several weeks and learned my lesson.
Then there was the time I missed getting my left eye put out with a home made arrow when it hit 1/2 inch low.
Did I mention playing with matches and setting the hay stack on fire?
My specialty was voc issues and the return to work of the client-the company I worked for did not deal in medical issues-our services were contracted and paid for by employers and comp insurance carriers-part of my job was to expose and report those slackers you mentioned-I was also required to have a comp adjustors license.
I have worked in construction since about 2003-I got of tired of clients who lied and tried to scam to get undeserved taxpayer supported SSDI and never work again-nearly 35% of clients were like that-it was frustrating...
I do remember that commercial...
None of that stuff has anything that is a germicide any more-I’ve made soap on several occasions-I have a neighbor who does, too-I usually barter with her for some-it actually smells cleaner than some of that body wash. I tried to find old fashioned lye to clean out an outdoor drain, and it was difficult, even out here where people still use old stuff-finally found it at the hardware store in the nearest “town”, of all places...
No doubt!
My dad told of a kid in Colorado who was chopping kindling for the stove. Another kid came up and said...”Betcha can’t hit this!” Then he put his finger on the chopping block.
But he did.
When we were young, many of the school toughs played football in school to impress the girls. Other toughs went hunting.
Several years later when they got the letter, “Greetings from the President of the United States”, they suddenly came down with back problems or had shot themselves in the foot.
I remember that ad!
Some say it can be overdone, but it sure saved a lot of lives and fingers, toes, and limbs during this last oil boom up here.
Either way, do what you love, and sleep well at night.
Gulp
I’m a subcontractor/contract labor-I work for myself, part of a crew of subs-we do only small jobs in this rural area and safety is one of the things I do-body mechanics, safe working conditions, accommodations, if needed etc. I’m already past well 60, and I’m still doing the physical stuff by choice-I like working outdoors. I have had no injuries since 40-I follow my own recommendations...
I knew a few guys like that-they are the same type I encountered as a comp case manager-tough guys leaning on a cane-until they think no one is watching-whining for an 80% disability rating-and money, of course-for a bulging disc or two that is only rated at 17%-some tough guys...
Came here for the Big Wheel Pic, goes away happy.
Playing in the back yard next to a farm field watching crop dusters work the fields...
Climbing up pine trees
Going to the river in the back of a pickup truck all sweaty and hot after our chores, diving off the overpass into the water, coming back to our place in the back of the truck, cold and wet.
Ice skating on local ponds on the rare occasions the ice got thick enough in St. Louis to skate on. Having flaming marshmallow fights around the bonfire.
Polock cannons made from pop cans.
Pine cone fights, cowpie fights and toadstool fights. Toadstyools were cool, when they hit they made a big ugly cloud of yellow-green spores that looked like we imagined mustard gas would look like.
Sliding downhill on sharp and rusty sheet metal in the summer.
Sliding downhill on sleds and inner tubes in winter, dodging trees. Getting towed on a homemade sled by a pickup truck.
Blocking the school bus route with 7 foot diameter snowballs encased in ice.
Riding my cousins’ Shetland ponies from hell... one of them was a notorious kneecapper.
Squirrel hunting all day so our folks could have alone time.
For some reason Mom and Dad always had way more tick and chigger problems than we did.
Playing with snakes.
Chasing steers with buckets of medicated water, trying to hit them in the eyes with it to prevent pinkeye ... we had purplefaced herefords.
Catching snapping turtles.
Crawdad fights.
Chemistry sets.
Having full access to every power tool in Dad’s garage as soon as Ii was big enough to drive a nail.
You can make lye from wood ashes and water.
And the *dust* was DDT, right?
The only thing I would add to your wonderful list is *Jarts* ...and surviving mumblypeg
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