bearman49709
Member
You city slickers may not be able to do that but its still ok here.
Blocks, ain't no stinking blocks here.
Stuff we used to do back then that you couldn't do now
- Thread starter sheepdawg
- Start date
You city slickers may not be able to do that but its still ok here.
Blocks, ain't no stinking blocks here.
Joe Hohmann
Member
Back in the early '50s, at age 10, I was into the Highway Pioneers plastic car kits that cost 89 cents. The directions told you to take a lighted match to each axel, after putting on the wheel, and melt the plastic for a second...then put it out with a knife blade to form a hub.
I'm sure if a kid had shown up wearing a helmet while riding his bike, he would have been beat up.
One great playground was what used to be called "The Town Dump". We would love "playing driver" in rusted-out cars.
We kids in the "Old Days" had to entertain ourselves. The only video entertainment was cowboy movies at 4pm on TV.
I'm sure if a kid had shown up wearing a helmet while riding his bike, he would have been beat up.
One great playground was what used to be called "The Town Dump". We would love "playing driver" in rusted-out cars.
We kids in the "Old Days" had to entertain ourselves. The only video entertainment was cowboy movies at 4pm on TV.
imashooter2
Member
They used to run mosquito fogger trucks around town every month. Huge mist cloud of DDT off the back. Every kid in town would ride his bike in that cloud and follow the truck.
Joe Hohmann
Member
When my parents found out I had stolen penny gum to get the trading cards, they made me go to the 5&10 and admit I did so, and pay for it out of my 25 cents a week allowance (that I had to earn, BTW).
Heaven forbid you got "sent to the office" at school. No TV for a week!
Heaven forbid you got "sent to the office" at school. No TV for a week!
kozmic
Member
At 20 and 21 my boys still aren't old enough to hear of my childhood antics. I would list some, but way too much would need to be redacted for national security.
Old Corp
Member
So many of these recollections could easily be my own.
Probably the dumbest (God was surely looking out for me...) was when a cousin and I, both fascinated by pyrotechnics, would fashion 'guns' out of pipe scrap.
It went something like this - a bent metal plumbing pipe (shower nozzles were a favorite due to the built-in angle). One end hammered closed, perhaps rolled over and hammered again. A small touch hole drilled. A firecracker dropped in, and tweezers used to pull/position the fuse out of the touch hole. Powder scavenged from disassembled .22's, shotgun shells, or other firecrackers and poured down atop the firecracker.
Wadding seated with a stick. Wadding could be whatever, paper, cloth, etc. Then, projectile choices of shot from the shells we'd taken apart, rocks, ball bearings, whatever. Then, another wad seated.
We took turns holding and 'aiming' while the other lit the fuse. The target was usually an old junked car or the side of an old barn.
Very exciting - and we both did all this while keeping both our hands.
Probably the dumbest (God was surely looking out for me...) was when a cousin and I, both fascinated by pyrotechnics, would fashion 'guns' out of pipe scrap.
It went something like this - a bent metal plumbing pipe (shower nozzles were a favorite due to the built-in angle). One end hammered closed, perhaps rolled over and hammered again. A small touch hole drilled. A firecracker dropped in, and tweezers used to pull/position the fuse out of the touch hole. Powder scavenged from disassembled .22's, shotgun shells, or other firecrackers and poured down atop the firecracker.
Wadding seated with a stick. Wadding could be whatever, paper, cloth, etc. Then, projectile choices of shot from the shells we'd taken apart, rocks, ball bearings, whatever. Then, another wad seated.
We took turns holding and 'aiming' while the other lit the fuse. The target was usually an old junked car or the side of an old barn.
Very exciting - and we both did all this while keeping both our hands.
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chaparrito
Member
The old local dump during high school was an open, fetid, stinking mess. Had a 50's Olds with a spotlight. We'd drive in to a high spot, shut off the car and wait a few minutes till the rats forgot about us, then turn on the lights and all heck would break loose with 4 or 5 guys shooting .22s like mad until the rats all hid. Repeated the process till we'd run out of ammo.
ChattanoogaPhil
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One of the most memorable thrills when I was knee high to a grasshopper was with my Dad.... I was standing on the front seat with my hands on the old Pontiac's steering wheel cruising down the highway. I was convinced I was driving. I probably wasn't older than two at the time. I remember it as vividly as it was yesterday but don't really remember much else from that age. The do-gooders have taken a lot of fun and memories out of life.
tomf52
Member
I put mine in my hall locker until after school range time.
A few have mentioned shooting arrows straight up into the air and see how close they came down next to us. This was a popular past time for me and my cronies. This was not challenging enough, we started doing it at night. Yea we were that smart.
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Some truly great "reads" here. Seems many of us did the same things. Always had a jackknife in my pocket at elementary school, Some valuable today baseball cards got shoved in bike spokes, lighting fireworks late at night to scare an old neighbor and here them yell, and throwing bread crumbs on the lawn to attract birds and then hang the Daisy pump out the bedroom window. Some good memories!!
Comrad
Member
Sparklers that would glow at about the temperature of the sun were handed out to the little kids too young to have the good stuff, cherry bombs or M80s.
Happy to report, nobody ever got hurt.
Oh yeah, we would use a discarded cigarette to light the fuses and had to take the occasional drag to keep it lit. And a sip of the old mans beer was never a problem.
Happy to report, nobody ever got hurt.
Oh yeah, we would use a discarded cigarette to light the fuses and had to take the occasional drag to keep it lit. And a sip of the old mans beer was never a problem.
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cbore
Member
School and guns
I remember us getting a notice from our small town Principle during my Senior year. It said in effect " We know it is hunting season so when you park your truck in the school parking try to remember to take your gun from the gun rack and hid it behind the seat"
No baring of weapons just a friendly safety reminder from our Principle. Boy things have changed
I remember us getting a notice from our small town Principle during my Senior year. It said in effect " We know it is hunting season so when you park your truck in the school parking try to remember to take your gun from the gun rack and hid it behind the seat"
No baring of weapons just a friendly safety reminder from our Principle. Boy things have changed
Fun reading these. 50 years from now this thread might be repeated on some forum, except instead of talking about BB gun fights, bringing guns to school with no problem, and playing with M-80s, they'll be talking about early era video games. Somehow I like our memories better.
TexasRaider
Member
Oh man, brings back some memories....
Riding with my dad in his '70 GTO with no seatbeats while he smoked a cigar, gunning it as we went under the old concrete railroad trestles on a brick street in downtown Amarillo...you could hear that 4 bbl Quad scream under that old bridge as that goat picked up speed, then he'd catch about half a foot of air coming up the other side...and he was a Texas Highway Patrolman!
The burning leaves in the street thing, that makes me a bit misty eyed for those long gone autumn days of innocence as well. There is no smell in the world like that at all....
And how "politically incorrect" we all were, although no one was actually being mean or racist - back then words were just words and no one got tramautized by them, everyone was tough enough and adult enough to know they really didn't mean anything ugly, even kids knew that the intent of your heart was different than using just a stupid word. That's why no one really got outraged over things like the dodge ball game in the gym called "Smear the Q---r" (pick one guy and let him have it without mercy!) or ringing folks doorbells at night and running away and calling it "something" knocking. If people really wanted to take the power away from 'offensive' words, then ignore them when they're uttered and after a while, they'll have no meaning at all.
But back to the "It'll never happen again" stuff...remember ethyl gasoline? I remember my Pop pumping that harsh, purple strong smelling leaded gas back then, I think some of it was must've been nearly 100 octane! Or going to a field in the city limits at night and spotlighting jack rabbits, or shooting prairie dogs in the same field in broad daylight while folks drove by. Or building Snap-Tite model cars only to use lighter fluid and fireworks to blow them up in the driveway at night, or changing oil and pouring the old oil out in the alley out back, or catching horny toads before the pesticides nearly killed them all off. Here's a small one, how about getting under the dash and pulling out the black box 'seatbelt/door dinger' so it couldn't go off, or running a metal rod through your catalytic conveter to open it up so your car could breathe better, or stupidly flipping your air cleaner lid upside down cause it sounded cooler? Or going to the hobby house and seeing and shelves and shelves of car, ship, military and sci-fi models for cheap, along with tons of Estes model rocket kits. Or when Radio Shack early on used to actually sell electronics parts and their '150 in One Electronic Project Kits' thing. Do they even make any of that stuff anymore?
I remember at 6 yrs of age or so my mom would drop us off at an old Fox two screen movie theater on summer Saturdays to watch Godzilla double features, then pick us up hours later - or letting us Trick-or-Treat alone at the same ages, 6 and 7 or so. No one would dream of doing that with kids today, way too dangerous, now.
At Christmas, the tallest bank tower in town would light the exact number of vertical and horizontal lights needed at night to form a huge cross; would any company have the guts to do that now?
But best of all, I remember sitting in Oakdale Elementary every morning and looking at the big wooden speaker box on the wall above the chalkboard when a few xylophone chimes would sound to get our attention, then the principle would come on to do announcements, then lead everyone in prayer.
That loss...that may be the biggest loss of all....
Riding with my dad in his '70 GTO with no seatbeats while he smoked a cigar, gunning it as we went under the old concrete railroad trestles on a brick street in downtown Amarillo...you could hear that 4 bbl Quad scream under that old bridge as that goat picked up speed, then he'd catch about half a foot of air coming up the other side...and he was a Texas Highway Patrolman!
The burning leaves in the street thing, that makes me a bit misty eyed for those long gone autumn days of innocence as well. There is no smell in the world like that at all....
And how "politically incorrect" we all were, although no one was actually being mean or racist - back then words were just words and no one got tramautized by them, everyone was tough enough and adult enough to know they really didn't mean anything ugly, even kids knew that the intent of your heart was different than using just a stupid word. That's why no one really got outraged over things like the dodge ball game in the gym called "Smear the Q---r" (pick one guy and let him have it without mercy!) or ringing folks doorbells at night and running away and calling it "something" knocking. If people really wanted to take the power away from 'offensive' words, then ignore them when they're uttered and after a while, they'll have no meaning at all.
But back to the "It'll never happen again" stuff...remember ethyl gasoline? I remember my Pop pumping that harsh, purple strong smelling leaded gas back then, I think some of it was must've been nearly 100 octane! Or going to a field in the city limits at night and spotlighting jack rabbits, or shooting prairie dogs in the same field in broad daylight while folks drove by. Or building Snap-Tite model cars only to use lighter fluid and fireworks to blow them up in the driveway at night, or changing oil and pouring the old oil out in the alley out back, or catching horny toads before the pesticides nearly killed them all off. Here's a small one, how about getting under the dash and pulling out the black box 'seatbelt/door dinger' so it couldn't go off, or running a metal rod through your catalytic conveter to open it up so your car could breathe better, or stupidly flipping your air cleaner lid upside down cause it sounded cooler? Or going to the hobby house and seeing and shelves and shelves of car, ship, military and sci-fi models for cheap, along with tons of Estes model rocket kits. Or when Radio Shack early on used to actually sell electronics parts and their '150 in One Electronic Project Kits' thing. Do they even make any of that stuff anymore?
I remember at 6 yrs of age or so my mom would drop us off at an old Fox two screen movie theater on summer Saturdays to watch Godzilla double features, then pick us up hours later - or letting us Trick-or-Treat alone at the same ages, 6 and 7 or so. No one would dream of doing that with kids today, way too dangerous, now.
At Christmas, the tallest bank tower in town would light the exact number of vertical and horizontal lights needed at night to form a huge cross; would any company have the guts to do that now?
But best of all, I remember sitting in Oakdale Elementary every morning and looking at the big wooden speaker box on the wall above the chalkboard when a few xylophone chimes would sound to get our attention, then the principle would come on to do announcements, then lead everyone in prayer.
That loss...that may be the biggest loss of all....
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rburg
Member
Gawd, I did most of the things mentioned already. On the slingshot thing... Just after I got married, my wife worked 2nd shift as a nurse. At the other end of the apartment building lived Ed Miller. He was a jock, but had some of the same classes I did. We hiked to class together. then came the summer. The girl who lived down at the ground level had an awful dog that barked all the time. Honestly, we were just drinking a beer when the idea hit to launch an M80 out across the valley. We went out on my balcony. Ed was the launcher, me the lighter. We checked the setup and it looked good to us. But as I lit the M80, the rubber on the slingshot snapped. He did what he needed to do. Some fast footwork and the M80 was off the balcony, giving in to gravity. I think the girl was Kay (remember that was the recent one and it was 45 yeas ago) Well, her mut was outside yapping as always. Probably at us because it could hear us (its hearing was impacted, I'm sure). So the M80 it right off her little slab on the ground floor, then it went off. I was a little worried we might have hurt the dog. Ed said "so what, it was a pain". We stopped after that.
Over in the park, we launched tennis balls toward the sky. In the summer we all carried them everywhere we went, in the glove that had become an extension of our hands. So we took the clamp off the wire rope that ran through the pipes/fence posts. Firecrackers were just pop ups or infield flys. they didn't have the power to really launch them. But cherry bombs would do the job, nicely. It was how we learned to judge and catch fly balls. Better still, the pipe would muffle the sound so the locals didn't hear them and come investigating. I'm guessing the cops were never kids. They'd stop us in the week before the 4th looking for fireworks. They never even looked in the fingers of our gloves. It gave us a better appreciation of keystone cops.
A poster above suggested the fireworks in Ohio came from Kentucky. The best place over here was Bissels (might be spelled wrong). It was up in Dayton, Ky on 5th street. That was one street below 6th, or the Avenue. Nice old lady. She'd sell to kids or anyone. You could take the Dayon/Bellevue bus to the area, then walk up 5th till you saw the big B on the screen door. All the doors were the same, except some had an initial in aluminum on them. Gawd her garage was a paradise. More cool fireworks than we ever thought possible. Our other source was Tommy Groh's dad. He was a bartender down by the ballpark (Crosley Field). Those guys could get anything. I often wanted to be a bartender when I grew up.
A couple of days before the 4th, he'd call all the kids around and he'd give us a half gross of Cherry Bombs. Gawd I miss those. There must have been a machine that pressed the sawdust and glue around the flash powder interior. As I remember it, M80s had about twice the charge of a Cherry bomb, but were just about as loud. Silver salutes weren't as strong or as loud. Still better than nothing.
Times change. Somewhere, either in the basement or garage I have a golf ball cannon. It will launch a golfball maybe a half mile with enough powder. Always use enough powder! About 20 years ago I was hiking with my dog. We were on a park road minding our own business. And there, before me was a golf ball. And it had the funny but familiar discoloration. I picked it up to be sure, and one half was clean and white, like the driven snow. The other half was smoked black, just as if it had been launched by a genuine golf ball cannon! Fool the rest of the folks, I knew instantly what it was and how it got there. And my kids were in their 20s by then and the cannon was right where it should have been, untouched... I think. Just means I'm not the only fool to own one.
Did you folks know that a pipe of the right diameter inside will launch a D cell battery half way across the Ohio River? Did you also know empty coal barges run pretty much up the center of the river, in the channel? And that when a battery hits the inside of a barge, it bounces around and makes a very satisfying sound? I'm not sayin' how I know that, but...
Over in the park, we launched tennis balls toward the sky. In the summer we all carried them everywhere we went, in the glove that had become an extension of our hands. So we took the clamp off the wire rope that ran through the pipes/fence posts. Firecrackers were just pop ups or infield flys. they didn't have the power to really launch them. But cherry bombs would do the job, nicely. It was how we learned to judge and catch fly balls. Better still, the pipe would muffle the sound so the locals didn't hear them and come investigating. I'm guessing the cops were never kids. They'd stop us in the week before the 4th looking for fireworks. They never even looked in the fingers of our gloves. It gave us a better appreciation of keystone cops.
A poster above suggested the fireworks in Ohio came from Kentucky. The best place over here was Bissels (might be spelled wrong). It was up in Dayton, Ky on 5th street. That was one street below 6th, or the Avenue. Nice old lady. She'd sell to kids or anyone. You could take the Dayon/Bellevue bus to the area, then walk up 5th till you saw the big B on the screen door. All the doors were the same, except some had an initial in aluminum on them. Gawd her garage was a paradise. More cool fireworks than we ever thought possible. Our other source was Tommy Groh's dad. He was a bartender down by the ballpark (Crosley Field). Those guys could get anything. I often wanted to be a bartender when I grew up.
A couple of days before the 4th, he'd call all the kids around and he'd give us a half gross of Cherry Bombs. Gawd I miss those. There must have been a machine that pressed the sawdust and glue around the flash powder interior. As I remember it, M80s had about twice the charge of a Cherry bomb, but were just about as loud. Silver salutes weren't as strong or as loud. Still better than nothing.
Times change. Somewhere, either in the basement or garage I have a golf ball cannon. It will launch a golfball maybe a half mile with enough powder. Always use enough powder! About 20 years ago I was hiking with my dog. We were on a park road minding our own business. And there, before me was a golf ball. And it had the funny but familiar discoloration. I picked it up to be sure, and one half was clean and white, like the driven snow. The other half was smoked black, just as if it had been launched by a genuine golf ball cannon! Fool the rest of the folks, I knew instantly what it was and how it got there. And my kids were in their 20s by then and the cannon was right where it should have been, untouched... I think. Just means I'm not the only fool to own one.
Did you folks know that a pipe of the right diameter inside will launch a D cell battery half way across the Ohio River? Did you also know empty coal barges run pretty much up the center of the river, in the channel? And that when a battery hits the inside of a barge, it bounces around and makes a very satisfying sound? I'm not sayin' how I know that, but...
Guilty of many of the listed acts above as well as:
Flattening pennies on the street car tracks; making silver rings out of Mexican Peso with a spoon and hammer
we made hot dog cookers in jr high that consisted of a board with a set of bare prongs on each end and plugged directly into a wall socket
but unique to our area (living near the city limits of a large city) was borrowing contractors cement mixing boxes,3' x 5', made of tin and wood and dragging them to a nearby swamp and having wars we sank each other in 4-6' of water.
Flattening pennies on the street car tracks; making silver rings out of Mexican Peso with a spoon and hammer
we made hot dog cookers in jr high that consisted of a board with a set of bare prongs on each end and plugged directly into a wall socket
but unique to our area (living near the city limits of a large city) was borrowing contractors cement mixing boxes,3' x 5', made of tin and wood and dragging them to a nearby swamp and having wars we sank each other in 4-6' of water.
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M3Stuart
Member
I miss bottle-rocket fights...
i thought I was the only person who did this.
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