Fifty Plus (50+) - I'm surprised you all survived your childhoods...

Catch the complete lack of safety gear (or even shoes) worn by these kids...not to mention the stunts themselves.

I don't think you'd see this ad on TV today...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWDprSdH2xQ&feature=player_embedded#at=45

I remember that commercial. Cool fo sho

hah...that was probably the safest thing whammo came out with back then....what with slip n slides on the sidewalk and the glass balls held on by rope "clackers"....oh and Lawn Darts...

Don't forget the Whammo slingshots.

The little old lady driving the Landy Dodge brought back memories. I remember a friend looking under Dick Landy's car at a drag strip. He felt the aluminum fender to see how thiick it was and put a bend in it at the well.

I loved the Wham-O superball. And I mean the real ones, not those little hard rubber balls they sell in supermarket vending machines. The superball was one of those items that was frequently imitated, but never duplicated.

Heh, can you just imagine anyone marketing such a product today? Oh, the lawsuits...
I had a hi-riser bike back then. Everyone did. And of course, we did wheelies with them. Moving the riders weight so far back made is so easy.. :eek:

Wham-O is still among the living. (http://www.wham-o.com/index.html)

I wonder if I can make one of those.......................................

Also don't forge the Whammo boomarang - the heavy plastic one with a sharp edge.

Of course, that's before all the liberals wanting to sue everytime somebody got a scratch.

I wonder if I can make one of those.......................................

I was wondering if Dave Kirk would build a Stingray...

I doubt if I'll survive my childhood since I have no intention of ever growing up.:D

That kicks big ass.

dave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaMBt1z3Bj8&feature=related

I think i had every one of those. Loved the Lawn Darts, Clackers, sling shots(launched M-80s), and the Boomarang. Cap Pistols, rifles, Firecrackers, cherry bombs, M-80s and half sticks of Dynomite. No seat belts, 5 people in the front, kids laying flat on the rear deck next to the rear window, standing up in moving pick up trucks, just how did we survive all of this? Oh, playing with tubes of Mercury, rolling it around with your hands.

The wonder for me is not kids surviving childhood back then, but the rocker musicians who were way, way into drugs and alcohol and have survived into their 60s and 70s... and are dong comeback concerts, for heaven's sake!!

Don't forget the Whammo slingshots.

And then the wrist rockets. I still have a couple of those.

I loved the Wham-O superball. And I mean the real ones, not those little hard rubber balls they sell in supermarket vending machines. The superball was one of those items that was frequently imitated, but never duplicated.

I think that's because of the superball's tendency to shatter. I do feel privileged to have owned one though.

The wonder for me is not kids surviving childhood back then, but the rocker musicians who were way, way into drugs and alcohol and have survived into their 60s and 70s... and are dong comeback concerts, for heaven's sake!!

I guess they weren't as dangerous as your parents made out. ;)

Hey, who says my childhood is over yet?!? Nobody told me I was done doing foolish things in the name of fun. ;)

I especially love the kids riding barefoot. Yikes.

Also don't forge the Whammo boomarang - the heavy plastic one with a sharp edge.

Of course, that's before all the liberals wanting to sue everytime somebody got a scratch.

All lawyers are liberals? I didn't know that.

I remember playing baseball with those original, dark blue superballs. Every one could be the first Mickey Mantle on their block. How we survived those line drives is beyond belief. I do recall how many times we broke windows, hit cars and sent them into unknown hedges and backyards.

I remember playing baseball with those original, dark blue superballs. Every one could be the first Mickey Mantle on their block. How we survived those line drives is beyond belief. I do recall how many times we broke windows, hit cars and sent them into unknown hedges and backyards.

My Dad used to play squash when I was ~5 or 6 years old, & I would often go up to the indoor courts at the University of Pittsburgh field house to watch him play.

Now, in case you've never played squash, this is an important detail: A squash ball does not bounce for schidt. It has no rebound whatsoever. It's the "anti-SuperBall", so you have to smack the living hell out of it in order to get any kind of volley going. As such, the balls tend to break periodically.

So I smuggled my SuperBall into the field house one day and eagarly waited for Dad & his partner to break their first squash ball. And upon their doing so I dutifully tossed down the SuperBall into Dad's awaiting hand.

I will never know whether he was in on the joke or truly didn't notice, but he served that SuperBall with the sort of power typically required to get a squash ball to barely rebound off the front wall...

It must've taken a good 3 or 4 minutes for the SuperBall to finally stop caroming off the 4 walls & ceiling!

All lawyers are liberals? I didn't know that.

The do support liberals so they can sue, sue, sue.

There has to be some significance that nearly all the kids in the wheelie bar ad were barefoot. I wonder if the company owners were doctors and podiatrist.

In addition to the 93% recovery bounce Superballs possess there was the added uncanny phenomenon to find glass panes.

There has to be some significance that nearly all the kids in the wheelie bar ad were barefoot. I wonder if the company owners were doctors and podiatrist.

In addition to the 93% recovery bounce Superballs possess there was the added uncanny phenomenon to find glass panes.

I whipped one at a kid's back, missed him but hit the tree to his right, zinged off the tree and smashed the kitchen window next to it. Now, that's what really makes me wonder how I survived childhood. I'd rather have hit the kid smack in the back.

Hell, gas and a match was all I needed to have fun but skiing towed behind a car on a snowy night [on public roads] was a blast.

If I had a kid today I wouldn't stop him/her from doing anything I did as a kid.

All we hear is the numerators today....never the denominators.

Hell, gas and a match was all I needed to have fun but skiing towed behind a car on a snowy night [on public roads] was a blast.

If I had a kid today I wouldn't stop him/her from doing anything I did as a kid.

All we hear is the numerators today....never the denominators.

I'm of the same bend. However, I would have advised my boys to tie the 12' Army-Navy store surplus cargo parachute to the rider/backpack and not the loop at the top of the Sting Ray's banana seat.;)

Clackers! We had a Clacker craze going one summer. My sister could get those going and keep them clacking forever it seemed. You didn't want to get your fingers anywhere near them.
Ours never did shatter, but we heard all the stories about the shrapnel that lodged in kids eyes from the ones that did.

I'm of the same bend. However, I would have advised my boys to tie the 12' Army-Navy store surplus cargo parachute to the rider/backpack and not the loop at the top of the Sting Ray's banana seat.;)

My general advice would be: "get ready, it is going to hurt."

My clackers chipped at the top but I always wore safety glasses...........Oh wait, no I didn't.

I tracked down a set of jarts a couple years back on a non-ebay ebay. Nothing says redneck summer in Vermont like a cookout/adult beverages and jarts. Oops, my bad, we have guns too.

Hell, gas and a match was all I needed to have fun but skiing towed behind a car on a snowy night [on public roads] was a blast.

If I had a kid today I wouldn't stop him/her from doing anything I did as a kid.

All we hear is the numerators today....never the denominators.

Bumper hitching.....every time we had an ice storm we'd head out behind my buddy's van and see who could stay on the longest.

Lawn darts were responsible for a few injuries . . .and deaths. I just found this on the CPSC web site:

"Effective December 19, 1988, all lawn darts are banned from sale in the United States. Lawn darts, used in an outdoor game, have been responsible for the deaths of 3 children."

Lawn darts were responsible for a few injuries . . .and deaths. I just found this on the CPSC web site:

"Effective December 19, 1988, all lawn darts are banned from sale in the United States. Lawn darts, used in an outdoor game, have been responsible for the deaths of 3 children."

The CPSC should also take a look at swimming pools, bicycles and parents who smoke.

Lawn darts were responsible for a few injuries . . .and deaths. I just found this on the CPSC web site:

"Effective December 19, 1988, all lawn darts are banned from sale in the United States. Lawn darts, used in an outdoor game, have been responsible for the deaths of 3 children."

There's the numerator, now what's the denominator.

I bet they'd be safer if you used them indoors........................


Hahahahahahahahaha... http://for-sale.yakaz.com/used-jarts

After high school in the sixties and college in the seventies,I feel fortunate that I can read this!

Marc

Also don't forge the Whammo boomarang - the heavy plastic one with a sharp edge.

Of course, that's before all the liberals wanting to sue everytime somebody got a scratch.

Yup, good ol' tough conservatives never sue :rolleyes:

After high school in the sixties and college in the seventies,I feel fortunate that I can comprehend this!

Marc

I fixed that for you.

Nothing says redneck summer in Vermont like a cookout/adult beverages and jarts. Oops, my bad, we have guns too.

I still have the scar in my calf from mingling a beer with a pellet gun. It didn't tear the cloth of my pants, nor did it break the skin, but it left a permenant scar. :crash:

I think I learned my lesson.

I still have the scar in my calf from mingling a beer with a pellet gun. It didn't tear the cloth of my pants, nor did it break the skin, but it left a permenant scar. :crash:

I think I learned my lesson.

A buddy and I were chasing each other through the woods shooting BB guns at each other. Since we we're running we figured we couldn't hit each other...uh, no...I hit him in the head. Luckily, it didn't hurt him and we stopped. We were both 18. We didn't even have to be drinking to be that dumb.

We never went camping without "Scout Water"(Kerosine) as a scout in the mid 50s. Two sticks? Ha, a cup of Scout water and a match would do the trick. Also going down into abandoned mines in Calico, California. I Think they are blocked off now, can't imagine why.

Besides the things already mentioned when I was a kid, it was fun to use those little red plastic skis. They were around 20" long and meant to be strapped to your boots with a complicate tangle of nylon webbing. Since this took too long to remove at the bottom of the hill, and put back on at the top, we used to simply stand on the skis, and head down the biggest hill we could find. Usually packed from hundreds of trips up and down by kids on sleds, crazy carpets, and inner tubes, the goal was to see who could stay on his feet the longest.

Man, what fun, I could post "dangerous" childhood adventures all day. Look back almost everything we did was considered unsafe by today's [imo] lame standards. No one died and we all learned from it.

FIREWORKS!!!! Most of todays kids think that's something the town light off on July 4th.

I still have the scar in my calf from mingling a beer with a pellet gun. It didn't tear the cloth of my pants, nor did it break the skin, but it left a permenant scar. :crash:

I think I learned my lesson.

Boy, this brings back memories. Wasn't old enough to drink beer yet, but we used to have BB gun battles. We wore eye protection, but that's pretty much it. Breaking the skin didn't happen often, but it felt like a bee sting every time you got hit. I don't think I have any physical scars, but psychological scars.... well, that's up for debate.

I still have a set of lawn darts I bought in 1986. I'm sorry that three children were killed and I would be very careful using them around any small children. However, they made them illegal because "three" children were killed? More kids are killed each year on bikes or choking on candy. Perhaps more parental supervision and less government?

Growing up in suburban Boston in the 60s, there were several places where we rode our hi-riser bikes.
A favorite spot was a place we called "the sand pit". Not sure what this place was, a sand and gravel company I guess. Anyway, we would just ride in, and have a swell time in those enormous sand piles. No one ever threw us out. I cannot imagine this happening today. Any such place would be fenced off and guarded.

And riding our bikes well after dusk? By streetlight? When it's warm and humid out? Who ever heard of such a thing?

But, sometimes, fun could be had with something very simple. My older sister and me used to signal our friends who lived on the next dead end street over. We used flashlights. No fancy codes or anything, but I do remember three quick flashes meaning "See you tomorrow!" Apparently, kids all have smart phones today.

Different world I guess. And no, the Nanny state mentality is not making things better. :innocent:

Endless power slides and 360's the the school parking lot the night of the first snow. Poor kids would be in jail today...

How the hell are you supposed to learn how to handle a car in bad conditions. On the road? WTF is wrong with people today?