How did so many of us make it to adulthood?
This may sound sarcastic or facetious, but how did so many of us over 40 make it to adulthood. If you look at the countless toy recalls, I really have to wonder. Were we "smarter" than the kids today? Did our parents take the responsibility of watching us more seriously? How is it that we played with "killer" toys but survived?
Think about it. Lincoln Logs were tiny, easily small enough to swallow. Obviously we avoided that stupid step. The old Tonka Trucks and Suzy Homemaker sets were made of metal and loaded with sharp edges, we avoided cuts scrapes and putting out our eyes.
But I remember a toy so dangerous that producing it today would probably land the company in court slapped with a negligence lawsuit. It was called a Strange Change Machine and marketed by Mattel. My mom actually got it for us one Christmas. And all three of us kids survived it without injury.
Let me give you a rundown of the wonderful features of this one.
Powered by electricity, none of us electrocuted ourselves.
The electricity caused a hot plate in the machine to get hot, none of us burned ourselves.
You had sharp metal tongs to place plastic squares on the hotplate, the three of us still have 6 good functioning eyes between us.
The plastic squares got hot and expanded into all sorts of little creepy crawlies just the right size to choke a child, we are all still living.
You could mash the hot little crawlies back down to little squares by placing them in a vise and cranking it down, all fingers and toes accounted for too.
Could it be that we were given age appropriate toys? Could it be the fact that most homes were not "childproofed" and we were taught to respect things that could hurt us? Could it be that we just knew better? What ever the reason we survived toys that were potentially dangerous and remained healthy and whole. With all of the toy recalls I have to wonder just how many of the children from this generation would make it through childhood unscathed if they had to grow up with our generation.
Think about it. Lincoln Logs were tiny, easily small enough to swallow. Obviously we avoided that stupid step. The old Tonka Trucks and Suzy Homemaker sets were made of metal and loaded with sharp edges, we avoided cuts scrapes and putting out our eyes.
But I remember a toy so dangerous that producing it today would probably land the company in court slapped with a negligence lawsuit. It was called a Strange Change Machine and marketed by Mattel. My mom actually got it for us one Christmas. And all three of us kids survived it without injury.
Let me give you a rundown of the wonderful features of this one.
Powered by electricity, none of us electrocuted ourselves.
The electricity caused a hot plate in the machine to get hot, none of us burned ourselves.
You had sharp metal tongs to place plastic squares on the hotplate, the three of us still have 6 good functioning eyes between us.
The plastic squares got hot and expanded into all sorts of little creepy crawlies just the right size to choke a child, we are all still living.
You could mash the hot little crawlies back down to little squares by placing them in a vise and cranking it down, all fingers and toes accounted for too.
Could it be that we were given age appropriate toys? Could it be the fact that most homes were not "childproofed" and we were taught to respect things that could hurt us? Could it be that we just knew better? What ever the reason we survived toys that were potentially dangerous and remained healthy and whole. With all of the toy recalls I have to wonder just how many of the children from this generation would make it through childhood unscathed if they had to grow up with our generation.
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Comments (61)
Arthur Webster7
Just plain honesty
As so often happens, I have had a recollection of what was probably the most dangerous game any of us played as kids.
Marbles!
How many people remember playing marbles in the gutters of the streets? I don't know if this was a uniquely British game, but when I think back, we were indeed in the care of guardian angels as we ran up, down and in busy streets to watch the performance of our marbles!
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
They were fun! But like you I don't think they ever made anyone lose weight either, except in the wallet!
Penny Young8
Consultant
My grandmother had one of those. I don't know what they were called either. We used to love taking turns in it as kids - it was the best fun. It used to really shake you around and we'd lean back and try and talk to hear our voices vibrate. It would be good for a massage, but I don't think it actually helped my grandmother lose any weight.
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
My sister and I were talking and the subject of "Blubber Belts" came up. I don't know what they were really called but that was our name for them. It was home sort of workout machine with this belt you looped around you waist then the machine would make the belt go back and forth. We used to laugh because it always looked like the darn thing did nothing but shake the "blubber" LOL!
Penny Young8
Consultant
Absolutely!!
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
That was a very good year!
Penny Young8
Consultant
Cheryl, no wonder we remember a lot of the same things. I just found out from your comment on another blog that we are exactly the same age. No wonder I keep thinking "hey yeah" whenever you post.
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
I still remember as a small (6 year old) child target practice with my BB gun. I would shoot at old cans. And I'm still here!
Lisa G.9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
I do often wonder how we all made it...lol.
I remember skateboarding down a steep hill in our neighborhood, turnig the curve at the bottom, always assuming if a car were coming, they would not be driving close to the side of the road, or that they would also be wathching out for me, as I was for them.
That same hill, hands and feet flying in the air doing a balancing act on my bike. No helmet, no knee pads or shoulder pads, and perhaps no good sense temporarily either..lol. Turning the cor
Jeff Greene8
Online Marketing Specialist/Consultant
I learned to read from medical text at the age of three, remember? LOL! :)
When you learn how stuff works, all the rest is just applying your knowlege....When you are able to, that is...
I learned how to write the hottest Valentine notes in grade school, shocked my English teacher but I got an 'A"! LOL! :)
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Oh My goodness! Why do I get the feeling you were the one with the Playboy under the mattress!
Jeff Greene8
Online Marketing Specialist/Consultant
I enjoy reading books because they are so good for exercising the eyes, but now that Podcasting is really getting better and better each day, I use them for deep Visualization Practice...
Tip for all you fans of Erotica... There are a few stations with some brilliant readers, and I promise that you won't go blind... You will only be using your ears, right? :)
Penny Young8
Consultant
That's the same with me. I absolutely love reading, especially because I will often stop and think about things before I read on, and also, I sometimes flick backwards to check things (the book pages, not me personally flicking backwards hehehe). I was once given an audio book on cassette, but I kept falling asleep during it, and then could never find where I had got up to. In the end, I just bought the darn book.
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
I just can't imagine radio like that. But I do believe in reading a real book thank you. No audio or e-books for me. I love to curl up in a chair with a good thriller! Something else that's falling by the wayside. and to think I thought Cliff Notes was going to kill reading!
Penny Young8
Consultant
That is strange because it was RADIO! It just shows how imagination works when it is allowed. I'll bet if anyone then was asked about the show, they would say it was a man and a puppet, not one man putting on two voices.
I loved radio shows too. I used to listen to all the English BBC shows which were also broadcasted here. I loved "The Goon Show" and all the panel games with Kenneth Williams. Plus every Friday they would do a radio play. I used to listen every school holidays. I'd st
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
That is strange indeed since most puppets tend to lend themselves to slapstick humor.
Arthur Webster7
Just plain honesty
Hi, again, ppl_cheryl63,
Watching radio brought back another strange thing about my childhood. A favourite radio show in England was Educating Archie with Peter Brough and Archie Andrews.
Why is that strange? Archie Andrews was a wooden puppet and Peter Brough was a ventriloquist!
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
I admit I don't go that far back LOL. I can't even remember the time without TV Even if we did only get 4 channels ABC, CBS, CBS and on good days PBS! My mother however used to tell us about "watching" radio!
Arthur Webster7
Just plain honesty
Hi, ppl_cheryl63,
Nostalgia?
I remember when pinball really was! A ball bearing would be sent careening around a board with strategic scoring traps created out of pins. Most of the early games I played came "batteries not included" because they didn't need any!
Nothing got plugged in or switched on and very few games could be played by just one person - unlike much of the stuff I see around today. Indeed, it amuses me to see a group of kids go out together to visit the local games hall
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Wendy I remember when the thing to do was play pinball. I was actually part of the transition generation who played pinball and the video games. We had the arcade and all of the games were rather silly. I still remember lines for two games "Asteroids" and "Space Invaders" Kids now think this is the epitome of being "uncool". My daughter actually used to laugh at the crappy graphics!