Today's dangerous toys pale to those of past

Chicago Sun Times ^ | November 26, 2003 | MARK BROWN SUN

[Cultural Jihad]

[Vermonter]

My cousin and I were shooting at tin cans sitting on a plow

Plows! We've got to ban plows!

[Tennessee_Bob]

I used to jump a Stingray bike

Did it have the big ape-hanger handlebars and that hug slick back tire?

[Graybeard58]

I didn't put anyones eye out but when I was 9 years old and at the urging of my uncle who was two years older than me, I shot my sister in the back with my BB gun. (I had to do it - It was a double dog dare) I shot at her butt but hit her in the back. When the old man got home his aim was dead on!

50 years later my sister still brings it up from time to time. I remind her that my rear end stung a lot more than a BB in the back could have.

[chadwimc]

We used to buy black powder in the early 70's(pre-teens)at a neighborhood hardware store. I used to tape shotgun shells to the front of my BB gun. I used Estes rocket launcher fuses for all kinds of illegal pyrotechnic displays involving everything from gasoline to bootleg fireworks. Grocery carts could be modified into jitneys. The front forks on bikes could be extended. Fireplugs were made to be opened on 0 degree nights, so the street was a sheet of ice the next day... Darn! Its amazing that I made it this far...

[Tijeras_Slim]

Now Bob... yer showing yer age.

And yes the back tire was hugh!

[Cultural Jihad]

Then there's these modern office supplies:

[netmilsmom]

Crap. I wanted to buy one for Dad!

[Corin Stormhands]

You'll put your eye out...

Speaking of which, my brother shot me in the eye at point blank range with a plastic bullet from our "Secret Sam Secret Agent Kits." I got over it.

[Delta 21]

I love it! The "Midnight Camoflage" Haloween costume was great.

On a seperate note:
Santa came to town last night and threw the switch on teh downtown Christmas tree then gave away goodies to all the kids. You will never guess what he was handing out.

It was too funny and Im sure my kids are scarred for life, but to get over it we strolled over to the country courthouse lawn and admired the nativity scene they have set up there.

No Joke!

[Pharmboy]

[Delta 21]

With a banana seat and a sissy bar too!

[Interious]

Cheery Picker, Lemon Peeler, Apple crate--Schwinn.

I'd buy one now if I could find one.

[netmilsmom]

Jonny Human Torch

[Tijeras_Slim]

There out there, just be prepared to shell out the big bucks.

[Vermonter]

We didn't have access to black powder, but we learned that if you bought CO2 cartridges and punctured them to let that nasty CO2 out, you could then fill them with shaved off match heads.

Pound the match heads in with a large nail and then insert a firecracker fuse, l ight and run like h@ll

Those things would go a city block if you were lucky enough to find anything after the explosion

[RLK]

In the '40s we had firecrackers equal to quarter sticks of dynamite. We would take the powder out of several of them to make a big bomb. The noise would echo from the hills on the other side of the river three or more miles away.

[KneelBeforeZod]

I remember something from the early 80s called an "air blaster"

big goofy pistol that had a red tip and black body. mostly just made a pop noise, but blew a pretty good amount of air...

[Proud_texan]

Caps? Of course, we used to whack the whole roll with a hammer to get more of a bang when fireworks (!!) were out of season.

But forget the toys, think about the other stuff. No car seats, heck, no seat belts! No thingies over electrical outlets, open flame heaters (way cool when the cat caught it's tail on fire and went zipping around the house like the Tasmanian devil), no child proof caps, no child proof lighters, no hooks on kitchen doors so you couldn't guzzle down a quart of lye or snort some Comet cleanser.

Actually those weren't a problem, we got near that sort of stuff or acted up in the car we got whacked and learned pretty quick there were some things not to be messed with short of serious repercussions.

Ride a bike with a helmet? Even if they had been invented and I had worn it when I put wings on the bike and rode it off the barn everybody would have called me....a name.

Damn, I had fun.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I shot some CO2 cartridges with a .22 once. They peel open like demeted ninja throwing stars and fly all over the place. Nearly scalped myself.