Things You Don't See Anymore Part 3

[Richland123]

Winterglo,
Of course you didn't really rate high on your Stingray if it didn't have a banana seat with a two foot tall sissy bar and butterfly handle bars - extra points if it was purple, a three speed and made by Schwinn. You lost points if it had tassels, cards in the spokes or a kick stand that you used.

You mean similar to this one; except this is a Huffy Bicycle.

This is what I got after I had a Schwinn 24" standard bicycle. I got a Huffy Rail Bicycle in purple with a 5 speed.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Yep, been down the homemade M80 route and blew up plenty of stuff (trash cans, mail boxes, windows... You name it) back when I was naive but far from innocent.

That was about the same time my dad brought home a couple of Big Bang Carbide Cannons for my younger brother and I. If you never had one of these growing up you really missed out on all the pyrotechnic fun. Basically the all steel foot long cannon has a water reservoir that you dispense a shot of carbide in, then as the carbide gets wet it generates acetylene gas which you ignite by hitting the striker. You get a darn loud bang (about the same as a 12 ga shotgun) and a foot long flame out the barrel.

It didn't take us long to figure out that you could stick a Lego or jumping jacks ball or heaven help you - a super ball, into the barrel and give it about 5 charges of carbide then cover your ears and hit the striker. It would send those projectiles flying for nearly a hundred yards. The super ball was by far the most deadly object we ever launched. If it hit a hard surface it would bounce back right in your face at what seemed like supersonic speed. I got beaned in the head more than once by those monsters and they really leave a bruise and a goose egg.

Surprised I'm still alive.

Here's one in action...

Never had one of these, but we used to make them by duct taping cans together and shooting tennis balls out the open in. We loaded them with carbide crystals and water, then lit a match over the opening. Talk about dangerous!

 

[Richland123]

 

[GBassNorth]

Never had one of these, but we used to make them by duct taping cans together and shooting tennis balls out the open in. We loaded them with carbide crystals and water, then lit a match over the opening. Talk about dangerous!

Yep, we did the tennis ball launcher with dog food cans. However, instead of using carbide we used lighter fluid. Launching flaming tennis balls the length of a football field at night was the bomb! Of course that wasn't enough, we got the smart idea of tryng to catch the flaming balls with baseball mits. Like I said, there must have been a guardian angel watching over me. I'm still alive and unscathed.

 

[Richland123]

Yep, been down the homemade M80 route and blew up plenty of stuff (trash cans, mail boxes, windows... You name it) back when I was naive but far from innocent.

That was about the same time my dad brought home a couple of Big Bang Carbide Cannons for my younger brother and I. If you never had one of these growing up you really missed out on all the pyrotechnic fun. Basically the all steel foot long cannon has a water reservoir that you dispense a shot of carbide in, then as the carbide gets wet it generates acetylene gas which you ignite by hitting the striker. You get a darn loud bang (about the same as a 12 ga shotgun) and a foot long flame out the barrel.

It didn't take us long to figure out that you could stick a Lego or jumping jacks ball or heaven help you - a super ball, into the barrel and give it about 5 charges of carbide then cover your ears and hit the striker. It would send those projectiles flying for nearly a hundred yards. The super ball was by far the most deadly object we ever launched. If it hit a hard surface it would bounce back right in your face at what seemed like supersonic speed. I got beaned in the head more than once by those monsters and they really leave a bruise and a goose egg.

Surprised I'm still alive.

Here's one in action...

Some more of those types of cannons.

 

[GBassNorth]

Some more of those types of cannons.

Yep, those are the ones. I had the 25 inch and my little brother had the "safer" 17 inch. Both were deadly and loud. Now days (if you can even still buy carbide for it) you'd be visited by the local SWAT team after a "concerned" (busy body) neighbor called into 911 about shots being fired at the neighbors house.

Think about it, just looking at the last couple of pages in this thread...

back in the day your mom drives up to the house in her 9 passenger Vista Cruiser station wagon smoking a cigarette (wing window open of course) with the groceries in the back (at about $10 cost per full paper grocery bag) and your toddler brother riding shotgun safely entertained by the pretend steering wheel and shifter in his jump seat with no safety belt. And there you are with your friends racing your stingray bicycles up and down the middle of the street without helmets or bike lanes, while your older pre-teen brother and his friends throw metal exploding cap darts at you and try to pick you off your bikes with black cats or lady fingers or maybe a bullet firing cap or disc gun. Of course the teenage boys were out back firing tennis ball cannons or potato guns and hand making M80 firecrackers to put in a mail box or under a trash can. About the same time your 18 year old sister gets picked up by her 21 year old boyfriend in his 1976 custom painted Chevy "Shaggin Wagon".

It really is a boring world we live in these days.

 

[Richland123]

 

[Richland123]

 

[GBassNorth]

I don't remember monster maker kits but I did have Creeple People kits way back when.
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IIRC it used the same "Plastic Goop" that creepy crawlers used, which I think also used a blistering hot heating block to set the goop once in the mold. Surprised we didn't burn the house down or end up with 3rd degree burns all over our bodies.

 

[Winterglo]

You mean similar to this one; except this is a Huffy Bicycle.

This is what I got after I had a Schwinn 24" standard bicycle. I got a Huffy Rail Bicycle in purple with a 5 speed.

I got a Purple one like that in 1972 on my Birthday. It was stolen the same day from our garage.

 

[Richland123]

 

[Richland123]

 

[GBassNorth]

Yikes! I bet the TSA would be thrilled to run across one of these vintage games in somebody's luggage. My how times have changed.

 

[Richland123]

 

[Mike A]

We used to make "firecrackers" with these rolls.
And used to hit the whole roll with a hammer on the sidewalk!
Black powder sold to kids!

Then you had to try to scrape all the burned paper up that was embedded into the concrete before you got in trouble for it!

 

[Richland123]

 

[Richland123]

Van Pickups

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[StereoPlayer]

I remember when hot rodders would turn the drivetrain around and race them backwards.

 

[GBassNorth]

I remember when hot rodders would turn the drivetrain around and race them backwards.

I'd bet with all that weight in the rear they'd do some nice wheel stands off the line.

 

[StereoPlayer]

I'd bet with all that weight in the rear they'd do some nice wheel stands off the line.

Yup....

The truck I saw in my day was a Dodge....with a reverse drive.

Speaking of wagons....my first NEW car, 1975 AMC pacer wagon.
Don't laugh....it held an incredible amount of music gear.
$5,000.00 new.