Things you did as a kid that your kids will never do

[SLM]

use a home made sling shot:

I remember at about age 11 when a friend got tired of using his and gave it to me as a gift. You cannot believe how accurate it was! Take a small stone and you never missed your mark. When it broke apart after a couple of years I tried to make one on my own but it was nowhere as good as it was.

Think of all the kids who will grow up never having heard the words "You'll put your eye out with that!!!"

 

[DaSleeper]

Think of all the kids who will grow up never having heard the words "You'll put your eye out with that!!!"

Most kids now wouldn't know how to make a willow branch whistle unless they googled it....
This might even apply to city folks in this forum........ :lol:

 

[Sal]

Most kids now wouldn't know how to make a willow branch whistle unless they googled it....
This might even apply to city folks in this forum........ :lol:

count me in...

but I did use grass as a whistle

 

[SLM]

Most kids now wouldn't know how to make a willow branch whistle unless they googled it....
This might even apply to city folks in this forum........ :lol:

I understand the individual words......

count me in...

but I did use grass as a whistle

We did that too. Big blades of grass that we had in the old days, not that new age pansy grass the kids play on today.

Lol

 

[Sal]

I understand the individual words......



We did that too. Big blades of grass that we had in the old days, not that new age pansy grass the kids play on today.

Lol

yeah big thick crap that could actually cut you... think they called it twitch grass...

pansy grass.......pffffffffft...love that

 

[SLM]

yeah big thick crap that could actually cut you... think they called it twitch grass...

It's been many many years since I've reflected on the width of a blade of grass. Ah nostalgia, lol.

pansy grass.......pffffffffft...love that

Just getting into the spirit of the thread, lol.

 

[Locutus]

Enjoying a delicious Swanson TV dinner in those nasty aluminum trays that when your knife scraped the bottom of the tray, was enough to make me want to gag from the sensation. Worse than nails on a chalkboard.

As for the so-called 'food', well, as I said, I rode my bike behind mosquito foggers on Camp Borden so it helped strengthen my immune system against other toxins.


Defrosting the freezer.

Playing 500-up.

 

[SLM]

When we were kids, Swanson TV dinners meant we could actually eat dinner in front of the TV. It was reserved for special ocassions and it was really difficult not to eat the dessert part first.

 

[Sal]

When we were kids, Swanson TV dinners meant we could actually eat dinner in front of the TV. It was reserved for special ocassions and it was really difficult not to eat the dessert part first.

not to mention a fuking rip off that it was only two bites...and if you did eat it first and it had that apple syrupy stuff on it, it burnt the bejesus out of your mouth

those things were pure salt and chemical...I thought they were a wonderful treat...my mum added salt to hers...lmao... in those days adults often salted food without even tasting it...you could always tell where my mum had sat, we would tease her about it...there would be a salt ring left there...no wonder she had high blood pressure.

 

[Locutus]

Nearly burning your fingers on those old 10,000 gigawatt bastard glass Christmas tree lights.

But the Currier and Ives glow makes them frosted ones look cool to this day.

 

[Sal]

Nearly burning your fingers on those old 10,000 gigawatt bastard glass Christmas tree lights.

But the Currier and Ives glow makes them frosted ones look cool to this day.

those lights were the best

a lovely fire hazard on the old dried out Christmas tree

 

[Locutus]

Yeah, there probably wasn't any of that CSA-approved nonsense then. :lol:

 

[Sal]

Yeah, there probably wasn't any of that CSA-approved nonsense then. :lol:

hell no it's a wonder there weren't more fires... of course those were likely considered the height of safety after the candles they had used.

 

[gopher]

cigarette candy:

I read somewhere a while ago that these are still available but never see them in candy shops. But I remember school teachers and doctors angrily condemning these things back in the late 1960s because they influenced kids to take up smoking.

 

[SLM]

cigarette candy:

I read somewhere a while ago that these are still available but never see them in candy shops.

They changed the name to "candy sticks" a long time ago. And it is rare to find them but I seem to remember seeing them once in my kids Hallowe'en candy, which would have been in the 90's.

 

[gopher]

much to my surprise these are still available though not favored by today's generation like we did in the past:

PF Flyers!

 

[L Gilbert]

City friends would be all like...that little chicken? ah yea, I'll catch it and pet it and make it my friend.

Country kids be like we ain't going anywhere near there without an empty bucket and broom stick.



Nope, but n-one's going to let kids onto their property in case they get hurt and sue. Back in my day, if you got hurt, you got hurt. You're parents would smack ya for being stupid and getting hurt. You're siblings would tease you mercilessly for being stupid too. Chances are the owner of the property sat back and laughed at you too. You hung your head in embarrassment.

Yep.

use a home made sling shot:

I remember at about age 11 when a friend got tired of using his and gave it to me as a gift. You cannot believe how accurate it was! Take a small stone and you never missed your mark. When it broke apart after a couple of years I tried to make one on my own but it was nowhere as good as it was.

1st one I made was made of bands of inner tube. Then I found out about surgical tubing. Stuff's great for slingshots. The woods I used were red oak, lignum vitae, and beech, and I fire-cured them. I used carefully chosen stones until we moved here where a friend has a recycling yard. Now I get my ammo from his place; it's ball bearings, preferably marble-sized. Tubing size varies but mainly 1/4" and 3/8".

And how many know what a pickaroon is, or a cant hook, sorry kind of off track

Moi. Also a peavey, logdogs, etc. I use them all frequently.

Cant hook = peevee - tool for rolling logs


pickaroon is lighter more for moving lumber.

A canthook is like a peavey but it's without the pointed part on the end of the shaft.

Stealing bits of primer cord and blasting caps off the old man for a variety of experiments. Ya know, stuff that'd land you in jail these days but was harmless but noisy pranks back then.

 

[JLM]

Yep.

1st one I made was made of bands of inner tube. Then I found out about surgical tubing. Stuff's great for slingshots. The woods I used were red oak, lignum vitae, and beech, and I fire-cured them. I used carefully chosen stones until we moved here where a friend has a recycling yard. Now I get my ammo from his place; it's ball bearings, preferably marble-sized. Tubing size varies but mainly 1/4" and 3/8".

Moi. Also a peavey, logdogs, etc. I use them all frequently.

A canthook is like a peavey but it's without the pointed part on the end of the shaft.

Stealing bits of primer cord and blasting caps off the old man for a variety of experiments. Ya know, stuff that'd land you in jail these days but was harmless but noisy pranks back then.

One story I heard years after the fact was about the generation previous to mine at a school about 3 miles from the one I went to. This would have been during the hungry 30s after recess as the kids were climbing up the steps to the classroom there would be a hell of a boom as a stump would go soaring into the air and of course everyone would act innocent, but there was one family in the area famous for those kinds of pranks. - Kids are such wusses now!

 

[gopher]

-:icon_smile: Kids are such wusses now!

Back in my day every section of Brooklyn had several boxing clubs as well as Police Athletic League posts where kids did boxing. Joined myself but had to quit as I got my butt kicked - but at least I gave it a try!


Today, we only have pro boxing clubs such as this one in Starrett City (the East New York section of Brooklyn):

This club has produced several successful pros.

But where are all the neighborhood clubs, church groups, and PAL posts??? Oh for those days .....

 

[talloola]

i rode the bus everywhere as a kid, didn't own a car, first car i owned was after i was married.

the only bus my kids ever rode, was the 'hockey special' from surrey to the colliseum to watch the
canucks.