Posted on 10/25/2011 6:38:17 PM PDT by OL Hickory
These days, if a stuffed animal's plastic eye so much as wiggles, that toy is recalled faster than you can say "class action lawsuit." Back in the day, though, child safety consisted of just getting out of the way and letting natural selection do its thing. If a kid was too dumb to play with a toy the right way, well, he'd just have to learn to get along with one less eye.
That meant molten glass, molten metal, hazardous chemicals -- all were included in toys back then ... on purpose.
(Excerpt) Read more at cracked.com ...
Awesome that Jarts didn’t even make the list!
And I thought the gas powered pogo stick I saw on TV the other day was bad.
I concocted all sorts of neat stuff with my chemistry set.
Remember Vac-U-Form? That was kind of crazy. I damn near passed out from the fumes once and burned myself quite a few times. Great fun though!
Matel had the creepy crawlers. little hotplates that would burn the crap out of you and little molds to melt the plastic.
The really irresponsible ones were the insane legislators that have given us the nanny state.
Down with the nanny state! Bring back freedom. Eliminate stupid national “safety” standards!
I wandered alone in near wilderness with a rifle and a dog when I was 12. I spent more time in a canoe and on snowshoes growing up than I did on a bicycle. I started reloading ammunition at 13 and worked in the woods peeling pulp wood logs by hand when I was 14.
We have created a world where we dare not give children responsibility, then expect them to exercise it immediately and fully when they turn 18.
It is an insane expectation.
I’m glad they post lists of the 10 most dangerous toys every year so I know what to get the neighbor kids.
Although there is an Obama button, it looks like Perry.
shrinky dinks?
Good ole’ Gilbert. Keeping Doctors busy for decades.
Hilarious article! Thanks for posting.
popper knockers were cool too.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Clackers-Dark-Yellow-Acrylic-Balls-Popper-Knockers-/150683705569?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231572e0e1
More here.
I had completely forgotten about Jarts, they were great. What a shame little boys can’t be trusted with bb guns and Barlow knives anymore.
Maybe the kid then were smarter. When I was 10 I went hunting with a 12 ga shotgun after school. Back then no one thought a thing about it!
Our favorite thing to play with was the mercury when we broke a thermometer!
Damn, I was just gonna mention that!
Halloween’s just around the corner.
I look forward to Mr Mainway touting his “Invisible Pedestrian” costume again this season.
I think it’s Blagojevich.
Back in the day, most of us carried radium samples on our wrists.
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