8 Dangerous Toys from the Past

[CommsNBombs]

When I was 16 we were using a bulldozer/front loader on a friends farm in franklin/triune to build a motocross course. Of course we hit a huge piece of limestone right where we wanted a mudpit, rather than alter the course layout we decided to move the rock. Off to the barn we went in search of chains and shovels but instead all we could find were sticks of dynamite. The friend had helped his dad blast rock to build the stables so he set it up ran the wires and we all took cover behind the equipment as instructed. Only problem is that he was apparently way off in both placement of the charge and in the amount of explosive to use. The rock moved all right, large chunks of stone and dirt rained down from the sky for what seemed like an eternity, somehow only one of us was hit by any and it only caused a gash on his arm. We didn't think much of it and went back to work on the course until it was close to dark at which point we put away the tools and loaded up to head out, as we approached the front gate we were surprised to find a deputy sitting at the locked front gate. He hassled us and lectured but we stood our ground that we had no clue what that loud noise was(it was a several hundred acre property and we were FAR from any roads or other properties where the track was being built) and somehow got away with it all, at least until his dad found the explosives inventory low a few weeks later. :rant:

This is why you need to manufacture your explosives on site [emoji56]

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[crossfire]

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger." - Friedrich Nietzsche

 

It's a wonder any of my generation got to be this old. :pleased:

[KahrMan]

They forgot a few I had like water rockets, lawn darts and the ever popular water wiggle.

 

These things were awesome!  I loved shooting these up at an angle and chasing them.

[K191145]

When I was 16 we were using a bulldozer/front loader on a friends farm in franklin/triune to build a motocross course. Of course we hit a huge piece of limestone right where we wanted a mudpit, rather than alter the course layout we decided to move the rock. Off to the barn we went in search of chains and shovels but instead all we could find were sticks of dynamite. The friend had helped his dad blast rock to build the stables so he set it up ran the wires and we all took cover behind the equipment as instructed. Only problem is that he was apparently way off in both placement of the charge and in the amount of explosive to use. The rock moved all right, large chunks of stone and dirt rained down from the sky for what seemed like an eternity, somehow only one of us was hit by any and it only caused a gash on his arm. We didn't think much of it and went back to work on the course until it was close to dark at which point we put away the tools and loaded up to head out, as we approached the front gate we were surprised to find a deputy sitting at the locked front gate. He hassled us and lectured but we stood our ground that we had no clue what that loud noise was(it was a several hundred acre property and we were FAR from any roads or other properties where the track was being built) and somehow got away with it all, at least until his dad found the explosives inventory low a few weeks later.  :rant:  

 

Had a friend who could find M-80's back in the 70's, those were dangerous enough for 14 year olds. Never had any dynamite and probably a good thing too.

[monkeylizard]

Or if you did get hurt you got treated with antiseptics that contained trace amounts of mercury.

 

I see you too are no stranger to the red terror known as mercurochrome.

[Raoul]

I see you too are no stranger to the red terror known as mercurochrome.

Nothing beat the healing power of mercurochrome or merthiolate.

[monkeylizard]

I think a main ingredient in that stuff had to be battery acid.

[NoBanStan]

My elementary school used to have this giant rectangle trampoline that you could fit at least 30 kids on. At least once every 10 minutes you'd have some kid fly off and hit the gym floor with a resounding thud. They just got back up and went for more.

[atlas3025]

Boys who played with those old toys could not be made to sit down to pee.  

[Johnny Rotten]

Had a friend who could find M-80's back in the 70's, those were dangerous enough for 14 year olds. Never had any dynamite and probably a good thing too.

How about a jerry can of gas and a estee's rocket motor, push the button at it goes boom..

[Jonnin]

this comes to mind

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q5BryXp6RY&feature=player_embedded

 

 

there are some limits and lines ... the radiation kit was a bit much, but the rest of it seems fine.   What people are missing is that back when, parents played with and supervised the kids.  

Edited July 30, 2015 by Jonnin

[otnman]

Nobody else have the civil war reenactor neighbor with tons of black powder? We packed the powder in a pill bottle as tight as we could then wrapped tightly in wire put in a fuse and boom! How nobody got a piece of wire embedded in them is beyond me...

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk Edited July 30, 2015 by otnman

[TrickyNicky]

My elementary school used to have this giant rectangle trampoline that you could fit at least 30 kids on. At least once every 10 minutes you'd have some kid fly off and hit the gym floor with a resounding thud. They just got back up and went for more.

 

 

One of the neighbor kids had a big ass trampoline in their backyard juuuuust far enough away from the shallow end of the pool to discourage and water landings for our arial combat casualties. 

 

One time my brother gashed his head open but good on the railing and when an adult came to get him he was already jumping again spraying blood everywhere.  Those were the days.

 

We used to pick the oranges off the trees in the yard and have wars with them and bbguns being the primary weapons. An unripened orange WILL put out your neighbors skylight and you WILL catch an ass chewing despite not being involved in the particular battle. Those were the days.

 

We found a smoke/flare signal in the garage in all the camping equipment. The smoke stained my moms lawn red in at least a 15' diameter pattern, we almost burned down the nursery down the street with the flare. In the rain. Those were the days.

 

Same nursery was located on a huge hill and we used to ride down at reckless speeds and build ramps and little dips and stuff. One day we went to the top of the hill and start racing back down. I get about 1/2 way down when I see the chain link fence at the bottom has been shut and get the single coolest idea I've ever had to date and immediately set out to put it in action. I brace down and pedal faster and faster, gaining precious momentum and about 10 feet before the fence I pull up into the most epic wheelie I have ever pulled off and proceed to crash the gate open and land back down on my front wheel before turning to look at my stunned friend, silent in awe at what he has just witnessed. 

 

At least thats what might have happened with out the foot and a half of chain strung through the fence and padlocked. I woke up in a heap tangled with my bike 5 feet away from the fence with my buddy in absolute stitches and our mailman yelling at us to get out of there before we hurt ourselves. Those were the days. 

[Chris]

We took one of those big metal tonka trucks and filled the cab with gasoline... light it up and rolled it down the hill. Waited for the flames to die down and did it again. Three times down the hill before the tires melted. Looking back I'm horrified, but at the time it was truly awesome.

[Caster]

We need a contest about who did the dumbest things when they were kids.
 I'll go first. How many of us shot practice arrows straight up with a kids bow, watched them 180 after stalling and trying to figure which way to run?

When I was about 13, I boiled some H2O2 down to less than a third of its volume. Mixed appropriately with acetone in an ice/rock salt bath to keep it cool. I don't remember and don't want to remember the exact proportions.
Given time a white cyrstaline substance forms that's commonly known as TATP. A CO2 cartridge full of FFFg, a steel pipe with threaded caps and a length of cannon fuse; Inserted into the hollow of a fallen beech tree......well uhhhmmmmm. Goddang that was stupid.

I was about 50 yards away when and it jarred the ground I stood on. Wood debris fell like rain.
Granny heard/felt it at her house about 1500 yards away. Thank god dad was still at work.

I got really bored spending summers alone. It's a million wonders I'm here.

[MacGyver]

We had one of these in our basement as a kid.  To my knowledge, it's probably still there.  How you can have a 'Most Dangerous Toys" list without including this thing, I have no idea.

 

That's a Flexy Racer.  A sled on wheels - with bearings and all.  As close as I can tell, it killed just about every other kid who ever so much as touched it.  My sister and I were under strict orders that if we got on that thing and it didn't kill us, our mother would certainly finish the job.  

 

I only ever saw one kid ride it.  When I was 6 or 7 an older kid in the neighborhood got on it and proceeded down the hill on our street.  He was likely going about 40 when he suffered a rollover crash on the curb - and that was actually a far sight better than the 64 Buick he would have hit otherwise.  It returned to the wall of our basement only to be spoken about in whispers by the children of the neighborhood after that.

[KahrMan]

We had one of these in our basement as a kid.  To my knowledge, it's probably still there.  How you can have a 'Most Dangerous Toys" list without including this thing, I have no idea.

 

That's a Flexy Racer.  A sled on wheels - with bearings and all.  As close as I can tell, it killed just about every other kid who ever so much as touched it.  My sister and I were under strict orders that if we got on that thing and it didn't kill us, our mother would certainly finish the job.  

 

I only ever saw one kid ride it.  When I was 6 or 7 an older kid in the neighborhood got on it and proceeded down the hill on our street.  He was likely going about 40 when he suffered a rollover crash on the curb - and that was actually a far sight better than the 64 Buick he would have hit otherwise.  It returned to the wall of our basement only to be spoken about in whispers by the children of the neighborhood after that.

 

That is awesome. I have never seen one of those.  My buddy and I would have had a lot of fun on that growing up.

[MacGyver]

Can you imagine the lawsuits you'd suffer today by even so much as designing something like that.  They'd be sued out of existence.

 

I've got to imagine they use this thing as a case study in law school.

[Glenn]

My next door neighbor had a model battleship that was about 3 feet long. We packed it full of plastic bags of gasoline and dropped a m-80 down the stack. It was an epic explosion.

Another time we gathered up all the old dried out christmas trees in the neighborhood, piled them as high as we could, added 5 gallons of gas for good measure and lit it. It really was an amazing fire until it spread to the woods and required 3 fire engines to bring under control. As you can see I was quite the fire bug and if it would explode and then burn, that was better.

[OldHat63]

We had one of these in our basement as a kid.  To my knowledge, it's probably still there.  How you can have a 'Most Dangerous Toys" list without including this thing, I have no idea.

 

 

Hmm.... head-first riding position, ball-bearing wheels, no suspension to speak of, primitive, limited steering system.... and no brakes.

 

What's not to like?

 

.... if you're Charles Darwin, that is. :devil:

Edited July 31, 2015 by OldHat63

[KahrMan]

We had one of these in our basement as a kid.  To my knowledge, it's probably still there.  How you can have a 'Most Dangerous Toys" list without including this thing, I have no idea.

 

That's a Flexy Racer.  A sled on wheels - with bearings and all.  As close as I can tell, it killed just about every other kid who ever so much as touched it.  My sister and I were under strict orders that if we got on that thing and it didn't kill us, our mother would certainly finish the job.  

 

I only ever saw one kid ride it.  When I was 6 or 7 an older kid in the neighborhood got on it and proceeded down the hill on our street.  He was likely going about 40 when he suffered a rollover crash on the curb - and that was actually a far sight better than the 64 Buick he would have hit otherwise.  It returned to the wall of our basement only to be spoken about in whispers by the children of the neighborhood after that.

 

I wonder which came first, this or the flexibly flyer sled?

 

I did have one of the sleds.  The wheeled version would have gotten a lot more use in my neighborhood though.

Edited July 31, 2015 by KahrMan

[MacGyver]

To his credit, even in a time where none of us even knew what a helmet was - much less owned one - the kid did put on an old Army issued M1 helmet that somebody had for his inaugural trip down the hill.

 

The funny part of this story was that someone played a joke on him and put a pair of underwear around the headliner on the inside.  So, after the wreck he was left lying in a neighbors yard bleeding and hurt.  The helmet had of course gone flying in the crash, but he was left with a pair of underwear on his head.  So, all us kids came running up to see how bad he was hurt, only to find him lying semi-conscious with a pair of underwear on his head.

 

I haven't thought about that in years.  People are looking at me like I'm nuts as a sit here laughing as I type it.

[Glenn]

The water rocket also came in a two stage model.

[Omega]

We had one of these in our basement as a kid.  To my knowledge, it's probably still there.  How you can have a 'Most Dangerous Toys" list without including this thing, I have no idea.

 

That's a Flexy Racer.  A sled on wheels - with bearings and all.  As close as I can tell, it killed just about every other kid who ever so much as touched it.  My sister and I were under strict orders that if we got on that thing and it didn't kill us, our mother would certainly finish the job.  

 

I only ever saw one kid ride it.  When I was 6 or 7 an older kid in the neighborhood got on it and proceeded down the hill on our street.  He was likely going about 40 when he suffered a rollover crash on the curb - and that was actually a far sight better than the 64 Buick he would have hit otherwise.  It returned to the wall of our basement only to be spoken about in whispers by the children of the neighborhood after that.

Awesome, imagine the YouTube hits you would be getting with that video. 

 

Hmm.... head-first riding position, ball-bearing wheels, no suspension to speak of, primitive, limited steering system.... and no brakes.

 

What's not to like?

 

.... if you're Charles Darwin, that is. :devil:

It had brakes, you were supposed to drag your toes to slow down. I messed up quite a few steel toe boots that way.  We had a hill with a slope that was just right for this, except once you leveled out at the bottom you needed to stop or roll off so you would not enter the street.  That hill was used both in summer and winter with the same stopping technique, many a bruise and banged up cars I tell you. 

[OldHat63]

 

 

It had brakes, you were supposed to drag your toes to slow down.

 

Only you and Fred Flintstone would make the claim that human feet are a viable mechanical braking system... :shake:

 

Y'know, the funny thing is, put a roof and some doors on it, and that thing is a pretty close approximation of at least a couple of my first cars. Certainly no more dangerous, I'm thinking. :-\