I miss insanely dangerous Christmas toys.

[Jstone]

My brother was 10 years older than me. He gave me the most age-inappropriate stuff, the stuff he wanted and used at age 16, he would give to me, at age 6, for Christmas. I remember opening the box from him, hidden far behind he tree, where my prying eyes and clinging fingers would be hard pressed to find it. It was small, even smaller than my kid size shoe box...rattled enough, and the weight inside shifted as I shook the box. After tearing it open, I found a shiny metal cylinder, with a handle on the side. It didn't look like any toy that was on my list....then my brother reached behind the couch, and pulled out a .22 bolt action rifle; he had wrapped the bolt as my gift, certain I would recognize the shape & size of a gun under the tree. He handed me the rifle, and helped my install the bolt....pure bliss-clack, zzzzzip, clack...the sound of that bolt cocking, sliding, and locking into place. That became the one great thrill, the thill of the unexpected, the excitement of seeing it come together, the pleasure of having someone care enough to take the time to teach me to respect, and use firearms. Now, nearly 50 years later, my memory is still vivid...the weight of that rifle, cheek on the stock, sighting just like brother George told me, the sharp crack, the smell of rimfire gunpowder, all coalesce into the giving spirit of my brother; the gift of the rifle, and the gift of his time and council to his 6 year old brother.

[Nierman]

^ that was beautiful right there, JStone

[Jstone]

^ that was beautiful right there, JStone

Thanks, Kevin...he led me astray, in the best ways.

[EricKeller]

it was a good thing the internet wasn't around when I was a kid. I don't remember how I discovered that you could go down to our local hardware store and buy small quantities of carbide, but I did. I just didn't know about the joys of acetylene and confined volumes at that time.

Speaking of that, my mom gave me one of these

[David Tollefson]

Always wanted a BB gun, but my parents knew better.

You'll shoot your eye out!

[steve garro]

Yeah, one year I got a .410 H&R single shot, and another a Merlin tube-feed .22 mag with micro-groove rifling - just a deadly rifle, that one.

Lots of knives and fishing poles

My dad was pretty chill as to what he would let us build, he could build anything, but now I'm pretty amazed he let us built trebuchets, bombs, catapults…….best was the giant crossbow that used a car leaf spring.
Dad was pretty proud of that & helped me make it safe(er) and it was amazing……..it would shoot a broomstick with 6" of lead pipe on the end farther then you could see it go……..dad suggested we "De-comission" it (he was a navy guy after all) as it was worrying the neighbors - dad said "I know where my kid is" - I did have a tradition of going to the ER at least once a year, which luckily was just across the street from out house.

I did my part by making my nephews & nieces a couple 8' long air-powered (safety 1st!) potato guns - they will again shoot one farther then you can see it - plans as requested!

- Garro.

[Chad]

We made blow guns with nails sharpened on a grinder, pvc pipe and card stock rolled and taped for the flight thingy.

[steve garro]

We made blow guns with nails sharpened on a grinder, pvc pipe and card stock rolled and taped for the flight thingy.

FLASHBACK!

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7174/6...bcda8cf6_z.jpg

- Garro.

[Nierman]

Great one Garro! I'd hate to see the back pages of Boy's Life magazine today.

[winmonster]

Good times. I really do feel sorry for my kids. The world is not a better place these days.

Jarts: We would put the targets in the back yard and try to hit them from the front yard (over the house). Bottle rocket wars. Blow gun and pellet gun. Fire.

[davids]

Toys have to be safe these days. Parents just want to throw their kids in a room and let them play. If they get hurt by a toy they just sue the manufacturer due to their own negligence of not supervising the kids.

I think you've got this exactly backwards. Our parents wanted to throw us in a room - or more likely, out the back door - and let us play. More parents today are over-supervising their kids, not giving them the opportunity to go off on their own independently. Safety is a separate issue.

Me? I was a big Testors user. And when I ran out of room on my bedroom shelves, the crappiest plastic model car would get transported to Big Creek Parkway with a box of matches. Scale-model carnage would ensue.

That mercury story was hilarious. I remember doing that same thing in our kitchen, pushing little silver blobs around. I bet my dad brought it home from the lab.

And I remember seriously cutting my finger on some folded-sheetmetal toy parking garage thing that my parents give me when I was probably 6 or 7. Bled all over it before the Chanukah candles even went out...

[Noteddy]

The cool thing all my buds were into was making 'rockets' out of match heads and aluminum foil. ...
We'd probably be in jail for doing that stuff these days. Poor kids just can't have fun any more.

One of the brothers did a full tutorial on match rockets. Send it to the nieces and nephews and let them learn about Newton.

[Jonathan]

I've always assumed my kids did the same stuff I did but I don't think they do. Granted, one of them may have hacked into Sony Pictures earlier this month but none of them seem preoccupied with fire, bombs, guns, hunting etc.

[steve garro]

I've always assumed my kids did the same stuff I did but I don't think they do. Granted, one of them may have hacked into Sony Pictures earlier this month but none of them seem preoccupied with fire, bombs, guns, hunting etc.

Q: What's yellow & red and looks good on a hipster?

A: Fire

;)

- Garro.

[Chauncey Matthews]

The good old days aren't all behind us.

This Christmas I'll be with my two sons and 5 nephews on a 100 acre farm in TX.
Oh, and did I mention the fully automatic air soft guns they'll be finding under the tree?

[Chad]

The good old days aren't all behind us.

This Christmas I'll be with my two sons and 5 nephews on a 100 acre farm in TX.
Oh, and did I mention the fully automatic air soft guns they'll be finding under the tree?

Remember safety glasses! Those things sting but are crazy fun. Reminds me of the Christmas at my grandparents farm when my older brother and I got caught shooting our BB guns at each other. Can you believe my Dad took them away from us? He had a one pump Daisy, I could pump mine up to 10 times. The extra velocity helped me out.

[Noteddy]

Not all injuries came from pyrotechnics. As I recall there was something called the clacker that was basically a bolo with a 2" resin ball on each end. The idea was to get each end swinging in the opposite direction and the balls clacked together till something stupid happened. Wow, did those things smart.

[ElvisMerckx]

Anyone remember a contraption called Mr. Quarterback? It was a device with an industrial spring-loaded steel arm that could hurl a football 30 yards -- the arm threw with enough force to break a femur if you got too close to it.

[rydesteel]

Did any one else think Clackers were Bolo's and try and wrap them around someones legs? They left some pretty good bruises. ;>)

[Saab2000]

Anyone remember a contraption called Mr. Quarterback? It was a device with an industrial spring-loaded steel arm that could hurl a football 30 yards -- the arm threw with enough force to break a femur if you got too close to it.

I do remember those! Growing up I was a huge football fan and anything that would allow me to partake in any way was on my wish list. Never had one though... I did have a football...

My father was extremely overprotective to the point of being paranoid, and we didn't do guns or bows and arrows or anything of that sort. The first time I ever discharged a weapon was this past spring at TooTall's excellent cycling camp! My father is no longer with us to hear me regale stories of the exploding targets!

Oh,.... and speaking of danger at Christmas... In Europe the tradition is to have actually lit candles on the tree. Dried out pine trees, indoors, with actual burning candles. I was never comfortable with that but we never had a problem either. Americans use deep friers to prepare turkeys and every year there are holiday turkey frier fires!

One year growing up in Appleton we cut up the Christmas tree and fed it in small-to-medium pieces into the fireplace and it was incredibly intense and I distinctly remember my father saying afterwards that it wasn't a very bright idea and I think he was right. But it sure was fun to a 10-year old to watch that thing roar in the tiny fireplace!