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The 8 Most Wildly Irresponsible Vintage Toys
Cracked.com ^ | October 19, 2011 | Tracy V.

Posted on 10/19/2011 11:11:00 AM PDT by EveningStar

These days, if a stuffed animal's plastic eye so much as wiggles, that toy is recalled faster than you can say "class action lawsuit." Back in the day, though, child safety consisted of just getting out of the way and letting natural selection do its thing. If a kid was too dumb to play with a toy the right way, well, he'd just have to learn to get along with one less eye.

(Excerpt) Read more at cracked.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Humor; Society
KEYWORDS: childsafety; dangeroustoys; nannystate; toys
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To: Aqua225

Caltrops! More Caltrops!


61 posted on 10/19/2011 12:10:21 PM PDT by 50sDad (A Liberal prevents me from telling you anything here.)
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To: palmerizedCaddis
Two MS Degrees in engineering fields sort of debunks the IQ drop with every use.

Looking at this list, I see a lot of things that teach kids how to build stuff. Kids nowadays get handheld electronic games that teach them how to be zombies.

While more dangerous, the old toys taught kids about cause and effect. The electronic games teach kids there aren't really any consequences to bad moves. You just start the game over.

Kids that used the old toys grew up to have careers making things to improve the lifestyles of people in the country. Kids that used the new games grew up to protest about the mean, old bankers.

62 posted on 10/19/2011 12:10:49 PM PDT by Wissa (Gone Galt)
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To: EveningStar

Notice how many were made by A C Gilbert


63 posted on 10/19/2011 12:10:57 PM PDT by KosmicKitty (WARNING: Hormonally crazed woman ahead!!)
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To: SERKIT
The Blago Doll is one of the most dangerous.

ROTFLOL!!! Is that thing for real??

64 posted on 10/19/2011 12:12:27 PM PDT by nutmeg (Yes We CAIN !! Herman Cain 2012)
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To: KosmicKitty

Do you know, the Damn EU Nanny State just made it ILLEGAL for kids under 14 years of age to BLOW UP BALLOONS or use those whistle things that unroll and flap around because they are “too dangerous” for a “child” to play with.


65 posted on 10/19/2011 12:13:05 PM PDT by 50sDad (A Liberal prevents me from telling you anything here.)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

I remember having little exploding balls the size of BBs that were probably smaller versions of what you played with. Great fun!


66 posted on 10/19/2011 12:15:18 PM PDT by Fresh Wind ('People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook.' Richard M. Nixon)
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To: 21twelve
Although gasoline was also good for that. Driving GI Joe through the “line of fire” with a jeep loaded with firecrackers.

I did not have the dexterity for knots back then, but some kids did. They would tie a little "Lady Finger" firecracker to a big Colorado grasshopper, light fuse, and instant cruise missile. Another form of pest control, perhaps.

67 posted on 10/19/2011 12:15:37 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

My parents, Strictly Republican in MOST things, would not buy me fireworks. You know what happened? I hung around the Swim Club and picked up the Black Cats that DIDN’t go off, tore the casings until they had a “fuze” and played with THEM. Thank goodness their protecting me taught me to endanger myself in new and interesting ways!


68 posted on 10/19/2011 12:16:27 PM PDT by 50sDad (A Liberal prevents me from telling you anything here.)
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To: EveningStar

I didn’t know cracked writers were such total wusses.

I was telling someone the other day about the atomic energy kits of days gone past and they pretty much called me a liar.


69 posted on 10/19/2011 12:17:05 PM PDT by listenhillary (Look your representatives in the eye and ask if they intend to pay off the debt. They will look away)
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To: andy58-in-nh; NautiNurse
"Creepy Crawlers"! I remember those... I think I had that set. I definitely had Mattel's "Fun Flowers", the girly version of Creepy Crawlers, I guess... LOL.

I still remember the smell of the bubbling, hot plastic.

70 posted on 10/19/2011 12:18:44 PM PDT by nutmeg (Yes We CAIN !! Herman Cain 2012)
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To: 21twelve
“Match toss” into a coffee can with a touch of gasoline in it. (Got that idea from Dad watching him light the grill!)

We use to take model boats and fill them/douse them with gas and then set them afloat on the nearby creek. The game was to see who could flick the match that would set it on fire.

71 posted on 10/19/2011 12:19:03 PM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

Were you covered in sushi?


72 posted on 10/19/2011 12:19:20 PM PDT by listenhillary (Look your representatives in the eye and ask if they intend to pay off the debt. They will look away)
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To: pfflier
...the rowdy fans...

...Yer right. Now after the Reno crash, air shows here are getting a bad rap...

73 posted on 10/19/2011 12:19:44 PM PDT by gargoyle (...it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them...)
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To: NautiNurse

Check out the hysterical Blago “Cabbage Patch” doll in #27. I can’t stop laughing... LOL!


74 posted on 10/19/2011 12:19:53 PM PDT by nutmeg (Yes We CAIN !! Herman Cain 2012)
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To: Wissa

Great post. Wisdom lacking in the modern era.


75 posted on 10/19/2011 12:20:55 PM PDT by nascarnation (DEFEAT BARAQ 2012 DEPORT BARAQ 2013)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666

...Your being reported to EPA watch!!! /sarc


76 posted on 10/19/2011 12:21:26 PM PDT by gargoyle (...it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them...)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
“My favorite were “cracker balls,” about the size or a small marble that would explode if thrown on a hard surface.”

####

Did you know the fire-engine red ones had triple the explosive power of the other colors?

Well that was the kid mythology in our neighborhood anyway, and we pretty much had ourselves convinced it was true.

We were big stuff, until a young adult down the street showed up with some REAL M-80s (”1/8 of a stick of dynamite was the kid legend on that one”), and REAL cherry bombs.

77 posted on 10/19/2011 12:22:08 PM PDT by EyeGuy (2012: When the Levee Breaks)
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To: NavyCanDo

Don’t see anything wrong with those toys. In the mid 60’s a friend and I strived hard to make black powder, and if I remember correctly the formula was 75% KN03, 15% powdered carbon, and 10% sulfur. It didn’t work as well as we had hoped, so I figured maybe we needed to add water and cook it on the stove to get it mixed up properly. Then of course we needed to get the water out, but that was no problem either - just cook it in the oven. It still didn’t work too well after that, and we never got a good result from multiple attempts. But experiments like that helped foster my curiosity, and I am sure that was the path intended for me to become a university professor with a reasonable amount of research to my credit.
Stayathomemom’s husgand.


78 posted on 10/19/2011 12:22:08 PM PDT by stayathomemom (Beware of kittens modifying your posts.)
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To: EveningStar
It's a wonder that you can still buy Big Bang cannons...


79 posted on 10/19/2011 12:22:42 PM PDT by Fresh Wind ('People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook.' Richard M. Nixon)
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To: dfwgator

“Christmas Story”... one of my all-time favorite movies! We watch it once a year at Christmas (usually during that Christmas Eve/Day TBS marathon). I never get sick of it...


80 posted on 10/19/2011 12:22:53 PM PDT by nutmeg (Yes We CAIN !! Herman Cain 2012)
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