What kind of dangerous toys did you have?

[Chuck52]

I had a pogo stick with just a foam rubber ball in the top of the tube. I remember one kid who took a good sized chunk out of his chin with one of those. I made a little money in grade school by selling blow guns I made from river cane segments. They were just pea shooter sized, but we quickly learned how to make nice darts with straight pins and a little cotton.

Chuck

 

[Tig]

After watching Ben Hur at the movies, some of us thought it was smart to put extra long axles on our bikes and have contests trying to knock each others spokes out.

If only you had cell phone cams back then.

I made my son a compressed air potato cannon that had a range of 150 yards or so. I discussed design limitations, safety issues and appropriate use with him then it was his to use as he saw fit. Had some fun and never had any problems.

 

[SkyPup]

Good Afternoon Skypup,
Think about the ramifications of that happening now !

It was my Uncle's U.S. Navy Pilots standard issue switchblade from WWII. Unfortunately for me, it had the release button which stuck out externally from the handle and the lock switch did not function at all as it was broken, so it was prone to automatically opening up unexpectantly.

Fortunately for me, my dad was President of the Local Kiwanis Club of which my principal was a member and good ole dad was able to talk him out of kicking me out of school.....

 

[2manyrocks]

I was starting to think you attended a really, really tough school to carry a switchblade in the third grade.

 

[jinman]

I used to have lots of pennies the size of 50 cent pieces after I put them on the railroad tracks that ran by my house. One long freight train would do the trick. It's funny, but we never even considered putting anything on the track like a discarded railroad spike. We knew that could cause severe damage to a car or a derailment. Somehow, we instinctively knew what was okay and what would do real damage. I used to shoot rocks and marbles with my slingshot into the sides of boxcars, but as soon as a load of new cars or trucks came along, I just stood and looked at all those pretty vehicles. I never had the impulse to vandalize anything. I don't know why. In those days, they actually hauled vehicles in open cars, and we would strain our eyes to try and make out the shape of new vehicles being delivered to dealers prior to the new model year. The new ones were always covered in tarps. That was before shrink-wrap was invented.

 

[LBrown59]

?

I had forgotten all the fun things we used to do with kitchen matches. The "rich" kids would use them as grenades and throw a whole box at a time and watch them explode. To make it more interesting they would empty the powder out of some firecrackers and put it in the box too.

My homemade bows and arrows were definitely not safe. And the inventor of frisbees probably got the idea from watching us kids playing flying saucer with 78 rpm records.
I had a cox .049 airplane too but the one that tore up my fingers was when I got a Fox 35.
quote]
Me and my cousin made bows and arrows out of umbrella ribs .
Used fshing cord for the bow string.
They weren't very big but they were nasty.
We used to hide them under out waist length jackets while we strolled down the halls of high school.

 

[/pine]

living in FL I grew up among citrus groves...we had lots of fruit fights...we always used garbage can lids for shields (viking style)

We use nitrate of soda, sugar and charcoal dust to make black powder if we couldn't get potassium nitrate (saltpeter) we blew up a lot of stuff...!

When it got cool we would make these contraptions with kite sticks and dry cleaner bags and candles...they were baically hot air baloons...luckily we never started any big fires...but they would go up pretty high before crashing...

the best thing we made from chemistry sets was contact explosive...using iodine crystals and ammonia...we would make a paste and smear it all over the sidewalk in front of the local grocery...whenever anyone would scuff their feet it would crack and pop like crazy...it was a riot...!

not really dangerous unless we got caught...!
but sometimes we would "stick horns"...most people back then did not lock their cars when they went into the grocery...we would take a flexible stick and weave it in between the steering wheel and the horn rim...then lock all the doors and run off leaving the horn blaring...

 

[RobertN]

I want a "Johnny Seven" gun setup. There is usually one on ebay

Vintage Johnny Seven O.M.A. Capgun Toy 1964 Topper EX! - eBay (item 380147413233 end time Aug-13-09 19:37:52 PDT)

 

[QRTRHRS]

We used to make bow and arrows from just about anything. Spears too. My buddy took an old fishing pole and made a dandy spear. Used to gig frogs and stuff. One day he got me in the arm right to the bone. I managed to keep it hidden from mom while it healed.

We spent hours exploring the woods. Also, there was interstate highway worksites to check out on the weekend when the workers were off. Those dragline buckets were hugh to a kid!

The other big "exploration" was in the fall when the new Chevies came out. The new model year was kept under a veil of secrecy. They used to cover the cars while transporting them. The local dealer would keep them in a barn. We would sneak in for a sneak peek. Never broke or vandalized anything.

 

[wjoerob]

We Survived
Every time I read about some kind of political correctness psycho-babble, I think of the Good Ole days?
To all the kids who survived the 50's, 60's, and 70's
We survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
Our Mom took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no child-proof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets
When we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.
We rode in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE died from it.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, and we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day, and we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, only 12 channels on television, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cellphones WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthday, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
This is pretty much how I grew up. It's a different world today.