Toys ..... 'danger' ones or others!!

Banjara

Loving this forum .... nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia!!

What are the toys that you remember with fondness ...... and are they still around??

For me, two come quickly to mind, both eventually deemed 'dangerous' to children:

'Clackers' (70s I guess) ......... banned 'cos they had almost taken loads of kids' eyes out.

'French skipping' ... prob same era ..... (NB Blondie song... 'French Skipping in The USA') ...... not banned, as such I think, but discouraged after many a twisted ankle!!

Any more memories of great pre-PC stuff??

iMax

You mis-remember. It's French Kissing In The USA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-c_s2GgJtk

Banjara

Oops ....... so it is. I just remember singing 'French skipping' at school .... how naive we were!!!

And cheers for the link!!

cml387

Well actually,the original Raleigh Chopper bike is now considered dangerous because the gearshift (one of the mega cool things about the bike in the first place) was located in such a position as to possibly cause permanent boy sopranoism in an accident.

looksee

I had a favourite building set, a sort of early version of lego (1950s). It was called Bako (I still have it) and it was bases with small holes that metal rods fitted into. You then slid moulded bricks down the metal rods to build a house or other building http://www.melright.com/bayko/

As you can see from this website you ended up with a very spikey model sitting on the floor, just waiting for someone to fall on it. I do not recall any injuries from it!

Can't think of any other dangerous toys but I did have a sheath knife when I was 13/14 which I wore on the belt of my Guide uniform. The blade was a sharp, pointed, 4 inches or so, and I used it a lot when I was camping etc. No one ever raised an eyebrow - my parents gave it me for my birthday, and while I did cut my hand on one occasion (I still have the scar!) which required 2 stitches, I had the knife all the time I was in the Guides.

Banjara

Oh, yes..... I so remember the 'Chopper' as the ultimate cool bike to have back then..... and I do recall a lad or two breaking too fast and being in a bit of discomfort... Mmm

mp22

Banjara wrote: »

Oh, yes..... I so remember the 'Chopper' as the ultimate cool bike to have back then..... and I do recall a lad or two breaking too fast and being in a bit of discomfort... Mmm

Had one of them in the sixty's,the small front wheel wasn't stable at high speed,(down steep hills).A week in hospital was the result:(

foxinsox

Clackers...

I remember having these.. but we didn't call them clackers..

Have no idea what the name we had for them..

Anyone know?

I think they were dangerous for the possibilty of strangulation as well as the loss of eyes..



^this was the only pic I could find.. but I remember them being bigger and string longer!



^ I don't know if Stretch Armstrong is still around, my brother had one and we would stretch him between us until the usual eye taking out occured - lethal fecker he was... (Armstrong, not my brother!)

mw3guc

Banjara wrote: »

'French skipping' ... prob same era ..... (NB Blondie song... 'French Skipping in The USA') ...... not banned, as such I think, but discouraged after many a twisted ankle!!

That just cracked me up, Banjara Made me think about the many lyrics I got wrong in my time or simply couldn't identify. Anyone for 'Graham put a rasher on the 45'?

Rubecula

I had a Bako building set too. I also had Corgi and Dinky cars which were my all time favourite I think.

I think my train set was pretty dangerous thinking back to the lousy electrics on it. It is a wonder I didn't kill myself shoving screwdrivers and things into it when it stopped working... which it did on a regular basis.

merlie

I had clackers. They used to hurt my knuckles. I still remember playing clackers and they were a shocking pink colour.

Millie, my Crolly doll. I named her after the main character from Thoroughly Modern Millie. She used to have really lovely black hair and would say 'Mam ma' when you would move her.

Triang train sets, my brother used to have. There used to be a metallic grey transformer box for the set, and I used to be afraid of it. Sounds silly I know but I really was.

Mint Sauce

Never did understand it.

Mint Sauce

Had many a painful landing involving that gear stick.