Childhood Memories

[car54]

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

[bigredsmoker]

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.

[Mr Walleye]

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

[acords]

Polish cannon

Hairspray works well too when your out of lighter fluid ;D.  The good old days......

[bigredsmoker]

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.

[Carter]

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.

[Consiglieri]

Had to check it out:



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

[Carter]

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.

[Ontrack]

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. ::)

[Consiglieri]

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? 

[Ontrack]

At least 75 yards, before fine tuning...(more or less hair spray).

[West Coast Kansan]

[West Coast Kansan]

[West Coast Kansan]

Almost forgot a memory (not mine though). :o

[Habanero Smoker]

WCK;

Thanks for that last reminder. :)