This brings back some childhood memories :)
LiteBrite (http://www.sfpg.com/animation/liteBrite.html#)
It brings back memories of spending time with my daughter. Was not around in my youth.
Gee Cat...you are a youngin'!! How about colourforms? Ot the busy buzz buzz pen...?
Huh? ??? That must of been after my time as well. :P ;D
I do remember the annoying LiteBrite TV commercial, but I don't recall the ones LQ was talking about. It must have been around the time when I was pouring lighter fluid on my GI Joes and setting them on fire. And trying to think of something to tell my mom about why my eyebrows suddenly vanished. ::)
I wasn't allowed to have a GI joe. Parents wouldn't let me play with dolls. They were afraid I may turn funny.
I snuck played with a GI joe and space capsule set tho. Don't tell anyone.
My Dad remembers when we would create images together. Now he can do that also with my kids ;D
Wow I AM OLD, ;D
Hey
pull my finger :o game ;D
nepas
ok...so I'm old too...but what about Rockem' Sockum' Robots?
Quote from: La Quinta on March 26, 2008, 10:21:47 PM
ok...so I'm old too...but what about Rockem' Sockum' Robots?
I think you are fairly young. ;) Although I was in elementary school, I was around when my folks still had the old Ice Box and the Ice Truck delivered blocks of ice door to door, milk was delivered door to door, color television was being invented, but nobody had one, and the military was experimenting with jet aircraft. ;D
Yep-- I remember Lite Brite (my sister had it) and Rock Em/Sock Em Robots (neighbor kid had it)--
but I agree with nepas-- one of the most fun games for a group of boys to play was always "Pull My Finger"... ha! ;D
This thread reminds me of this song:
Saw Star Wars at least eight times
Had the Pac-Man pattern memorized
And I've seen the stuff they put inside
Stretch Armstrong (yeah)
I was Roger Staubach in my backyard
Had a shoebox full of baseball cards
And a couple of Evil Knievel scars
On my right arm
I was a kid when Elvis died
And my momma cried
It was nineteen seventy somethin'
And the world that I grew up in
Farrah Fawcett hairdo days
Bell bottoms and eight track tapes
Lookin' back now I can see me
Oh man, did I look cheesy
But I wouldn't trade those days for nothin'
Oh it was nineteen seventy-somethin'
It was the dawning of a new decade
We got our first microwave
Dad broke down and
Finally shaved them old sideburns off
I took the stickers off of my Rubik's Cube
Watched MTV all afternoon
My first love was Daisy Duke
And them cut-off jeans.
Space Shuttle fell out of the sky
And the whole world cried
It was nineteen eighty-somethin'
And the world that I grew up in
Skatin' rinks and black Trans-Ams
Big hair and parachute pants
And lookin' back now I can see me
Oh man, did I look cheesy
I wouldn't trade those days for nothin'
Oh it was nineteen eighty-somethin'.
Now I've got a mortgage and an SUV
But all this responsibility
Makes me wish
Sometimes
That it was nineteen eighty-something
And the world that I grew up in
Skatin' rinks and black Trans-Ams
Big hair and parachute pants
And lookin' back now I can see me
Oh man, did I look cheesy
I wouldn't trade those days for nothin'
Oh it was nineteen eighty-something
Nineteen seventy-something
Oh, it was nineteen somethin'.
Pretty much my life right there, although I never saw "Star Wars" and don't know who Stretch Armstrong was. Oh yeah, and the rubiks cube....I pried that sucker apart instead of takin' the stickers off. :D
Quote from: La Quinta on March 26, 2008, 10:21:47 PM
ok...so I'm old too...but what about Rockem' Sockum' Robots?
LQ
I still have mt rockem and all my gi joes toys
nepas
Battling tops, bing-bang-boing, going to the "Arcade", playing pinball machines that were 100% mechanical.
Quote from: Wildcat on March 27, 2008, 05:54:33 AM
....milk was delivered door to door....
My dad was a milkman that delivered door to door. I'm supposed to be an only child, but there sure were a lot of kids on his milk route that looked exactly like me... :-\ ::)
Battling tops rocked.
(http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s293/consiglieri655/toys/battletops.jpg)
Rockem sockem Robots rocked.
SST racers (including the smashup derby version) and hot wheels rocked.
TTP pump up motorcycles rocked.
Whizzer tops rocked.
(http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s293/consiglieri655/toys/wizzer.jpg)
Water rockets obviously rocked.
And those v-shaped helicopter wings you shot up high into the air (which twirled back down to earth) also rocked.
There was also some bowling game where you swung a ball on a string to knock down pins. That rocked too.
But then there were the delinquent activities too:
The lighter fluid games ontrack mentions.
lawn dart "chicken". I have physical evidence on my left shin proving that I won the only match I played.
Any number of special games involving bottlerockets, roman candles, and firecrackers. Or the contents of same packed into much larger containers.
Surgical tubing water weenies and water balloon slingshots.
And we're still here (against all odds). At least I know where the landmines are buried; hopefully I can help steer the son away from all but the really fun ones. ;)
LOL Surgical tubing water weenies! I had one bust and wrap around my arm! Did that ever hurt!
I only need to say one thing:
Estes Rockets
Quote from: Gizmo on March 27, 2008, 08:35:53 PM
I only need to say one thing:
Estes Rockets
Yeah, we did some experiments with those too. I think one of my friends nearly won a Darwin Award. He was one of those scary smart guys, one that would have become a super villain if he existed in a comic book. Too much mischief working with just enough 7th grade understanding of physics.
He removed the engine mount on a C rocket so that he could fit a larger engine in the rocket tube. I think he may have been able to cram an E in there (Larger engine sizes further down the alphabet). If memory serves correctly, it was one of those payload model rockets, the kind equipped with a plastic "window" section in which you could place contents (I think called the Xray). He "may have" filled the payload with some sort of liquid, like charcoal lighter fluid. Or gasoline. And the nosecone and payload were sealed shut with glue. Fortunately the D or E burn lasts quite a bit longer than a C, so the rocket was way up there when the chute ejection charge fired. Except the nosecone wouldn't blow off because the rocket had been glued shut... Rocket blows apart, liquid disperses and volatilizes. Vapor meets charge flash... Big, big, big flash and boom.
If I didn't hear that he was living in the Pacific NorthWest, I might suspect he lived in the Livermore hills. ;D
Car window service at hamburger places. The 1st fast food restaurants.
Real candy stores.
Soda fountains.
Drive in theaters
A time when a teacher could touch you and punish you. My 7th grade science teacher hooked up a hand cranked army surplus generator to my ear lobes and started cranking!
Brad
We still have car window service (on roller skates) here.
We still find candy making shops in areas we visit.
Soda fountains have disappeared as well as drive in theaters.
School still has corpal punishment here.
Life is still kind of good.
QuoteCar window service at hamburger places. The 1st fast food restaurants.
Real candy stores.
Soda fountains.
Drive in theaters
Oh yeah, me too. Burgers 5/$1.00 and gas at $0.23 a gallon plus windows washed, oil checked and tires checked. Blue Chip Stamps.
Tom
Nice Song Tiny Tim. Kind of weird too. That's my life.
Carter
P.S. AFX Race Track.
Quote from: Wildcat on March 28, 2008, 04:34:57 AM
We still have car window service (on roller skates) here.
Wildcat, we not only have an A&W drive-in with window service on roller skates here, but a local street rod club holds their meetings there on Wed. nights. 50's-60's music... really cool daddy-O! ;D ;D
Now were talking Artmiester. 8)
Art & Cat,
It's a little far to drive my '36 Ford Phaeton Street Rod for the meeting but it sounds like fun!! 8)
Tom Terrific, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Jeremy McBoing Boing, Winky Dink, ColorForms, Fizzies. Need I go on? All of the above makes me old as well.
KyNola
Oh the memories! haha!
Battling Tops!, we had them on this side of the pond also, had them as an xmas present one year, i just couldn't leave them alone.
Trying to think of the names of the tops now? i remember "Tricky Nicky" what were the others? (http://easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/free-confused-smileys-718.gif)
We had "Action Man" and "Tommy Gun" instead of "G.I. Joe" although my cousin gave me a G.I. Joe from the states which made all my friends jealous! ;D
My aunt got the first colour TV i had ever seen, and we sat there for ages in amazement just looking at the testcard! ;D
My brother had a "Johnny Speed" and i had a "Johnny Express" which was brought over from Canada by my cousin, who was very spoiled! ;D
Very enjoyable times indeed (http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Happy/happy-047.gif)
I had a Johnny Service. The one I saw on the web had a hardtop vette but mine came with a convertible.
I still have my oliver farm tractor, a tonka jeep and some of the hot wheels and tracks. My mom and dad brought them out when they moved out here. Of course I still have my GI Joe with all the accessories. My dad made a wood case for it. The unfortunate part is the cardboard box got tossed when the wood case was made.
:) Anyone remember "Mamod Steam Engines". Actual working models of stationary steam engines, lots of hot parts, spirit heating unit, lots of moving parts to catch unwary fingers, loved every minute though. ;)
I had one of those steam engines along with my erector set and making REAL lead soldiers. I would melt lead and pour it in a mold. I bet the DNR and EPA would have you arrested today. I also remember PLAYING with puddles of mercury. I heard on the news that if you break a fluorescent bulb( it contains mercury), you should air out and flee your house for at least 15 minutes and if it broke on a rug or carpet you should throw it away.
Brad
How about Major Matt Mason the astronaut and his space station. Mighty Matilda the aircraft carrier with working elevators and a catapult to launch the planes. Those were my older brothers' toys. I had all the GI Joe stuff. Battling tops were great. Sub Hunt game anyone?
OK, now for my stupid, shoulda been dead, thing. Polish cannon. Tape a bunch of cans (Tin, not aluminum)together end to end and punch holes in the tops. Cut the top of the last one, pour in lighter fluid, spin around over your head to create a vapor inside cannon. Insert tennis ball in top, hold tube at arms length with both hands while a friend puts a match to the bottom ignition hole and BOOOOM.
Tennis ball so high it was almost out of sight. Like I said, it's a miracle we didn't kill ourselves. Needless to say our parents never found out and we were only brave enough to do it a few times.
Underground forts. We had more secret holes in my neighbors' yard than I can remember. We liked to pretend we were Hogan's Heroes.
BigRed
We made many of those canons. We used to shoot the tennis balls at each other and trust me.... They were moving and left marks! :o
Mike
QuotePolish cannon
Hairspray works well too when your out of lighter fluid ;D. The good old days......
I think I would have a heart atack on the spot if I ever caught my kids doing that kind of stuff. I guess if we ever got got our parents would have blown a gasket as well. Oh well, I am still here and now all I do now is smoke stuff (food that is, don't get any ideas) and drink adult beverages. I guess it was better that my parents never knew what we were really up too.
We're up at the cottage last summer and my wife's uncle come's running into the cottage saying "you've got to see this". He's in his 70s for the record. His buddy down the lake (also 70) has built a potato gun and he's using hairspray to fire potatos into the lake. Looking at these two guys it was like they weren't a day over 15. It was pretty hilarious and pretty fun as we all took turns firing these potatoes out into knowhere. And the way these things were moving, I'm pretty sure they could do some serious damage if they ever hit you. My father in law has this book called "the dangerous book for boys" which has been brought back into print. If you compare the one that has been re-released to the one from back in the 1940s/50s, it's unbelievable how much this thing has been watered down. Anyways, this is a bit of a ramble, but I love that potato/tennis ball gun.
Had to check it out:
(http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s293/consiglieri655/toys/The-Dangerous-Book-for-Boys.jpg)
Looks like content has been sanitized quite a bit. Apparently, the Brittish version still has its backbone. Unless the potato gun is in the artillery chapter, don't know where it is. From the excerpts I saw, the most dangerous part of the American version is advising the boys to run if a window is broken during a stickball game.
BTW, glad to see these mischief posts; I was having some misgivings about posting that rocket story. I imagine the friend did quite a bit of running/hiding even though technically no windows were broken. ;D
I suspect the real difference is that the new book is for boys whereas the old book was for boys that may have to become men overnight and take care of things. There's a lot more science in the old version. No potato guns though as I recall.
Yeah Carter, we perfected the potato gun in my youth, too, if you want to call a bunch of 40 year old men on a railroad bridge shooting college kids floating down the river on rafts "youth". Glad I grew out of that stage. ::)
We never had any luck making the tennis ball gun. We tried using tennis ball cans. The cylander was probably too wide and let the combusting gasses escape. We didn't have diagrams/only descriptions. But now I have internet access. And man, there are some pretty elaborate designs out there for potato guns.
Good thing I'm older now. What sort of range do you get on those things?
At least 75 yards, before fine tuning...(more or less hair spray).
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k18/WCK_02/23.jpg)
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Almost forgot a memory (not mine though). :o
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k18/WCK_02/Bass_fishing.jpg)
WCK;
Thanks for that last reminder. :)
My mind was in the gutter, even before reading this post today....saw that this thread was the last posted to in this board and read to myself "Childhood Mammories".....open the post and see that last pic.......................
WCK-I have that Coke machine you pictured in my basement. Mine is red, though, and I think about 2 years newer than that one. It is also full of adult beverages, no Cokes. :)