Didn't burn the house down

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TPFKA@W
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Didn't burn the house down

Post by TPFKA@W »

But had a lot of finger burns for this hilariously dangerous toy. https://www.patti-goop.com/fun-flowers.html

Also available were the incredible edibles, the one that made bugs, army men and there may have been more.

Anyone else have one and remember the smell?

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Bicycle Bill
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by Bicycle Bill »

No, but back when I was Tricycle Bill I did have one of these .... they call it 'pyrography' nowadays, but back then they were sold as a wood-burning kit.
I learned that it also could be used to burn designs into things like leather shoes and belts.  Mom and Dad, however, were not as pleased with this discovery as I was.

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Joe Guy
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by Joe Guy »

I had a Vac U Form. Nowadays if Mattel put something like that on the market for kids, they would be accused of child endangerment, forced out of business, and every parent who bought one would serve mandatory prison time and their kids would get thousands of dollars in compensation for PTSD from Mattel.

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TPFKA@W
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by TPFKA@W »

Probably, and sadly so Joe.

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Lord Jim
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by Lord Jim »

I had a Creepy Crawler thing maker as a kid...

A friend had the edible version....(I was fond of the licorice....)

We're both still alive...

Here's an article with a nice trip down memory lane :
9 toys from the 1960s that would be deemed too dangerous for today's kids

https://www.metv.com/lists/9-toys-from- ... odays-kids
I also had a kid's chemistry set that would bring an onset of parental pearl clutching today:
Understandably, most parents don’t want their children handling known carcinogens or, say, battery acid. That said, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme where kits no longer contain Bunsen burners, or even glass test tubes, beakers, or flasks. Why is that? We can thank three post-modern horrors: Meth labs, homegrown terrorism, and liability lawsuits.

Litigation has made manufacturers reluctant to market anything remotely risky to children, even glass. Many metals in their elemental form—such as lithium, red phosphorus, sodium, and potassium—are highly regulated by the FBI, as they can be used to produce meth. And anything that could be used in a bomb, like ammonium nitrate (fertilizer), faces intense scrutiny by the Feds.
More:

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articl ... h-science/
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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

I remember asking my parents for a roll of magnesium for Christmas when I was about 12-13. They bought it. (At the local magnesium store?). Loved setting that stuff on fire!
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

I collected stamps as a kid (still do although the collection is dormant) and one item of interest to the philatelist is the watermark. We lived in Montreal PQ when I was about 8 to 11. The biggest stamp dealer of those days was HE Harris of Massachusetts.

I used to get stamps on approval from HEH - they'd send a pack of stamps and I'd decide what to buy with my $0.50 CDN a week pocket money and send the rest back. I loved looking through the stamps from all over the word including of course those that I couldn't afford. It's amazing that a business based so much on trust thrived as it did.

Anyway, Harris's advice for looking at the watermark was to get some benzene from the local pharmacy and a piece of black glass - which Harris would happily sell you - create a puddle of the benzene on the glass and using your Harris-supplied tweezers place the stamp face down in the puddle and the watermark would show through. The pharmacy had no problem supplying me with a pint of benzene in a green bottle. I can still remember the exact shade of green and the shape of that bottle.

Benzene is of course (a) carcinogenic and (b) highly flammable. I see from Wikipedia that "The American Petroleum Institute (API) stated in 1948 that "it is generally considered that the only absolutely safe concentration for benzene is zero"." The pharmacy was then or later became part of the Rexall chain which was the biggest in Canada. I handled the stuff with no gloves or breathing protection. The pharmacy did tell me it was flammable so be careful: and I do recall confirming that to my own satisfaction with a stolen borrowed book of matches but with dire consequences to my bit of glass.

SFSG, and I too did not burn the house down.

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RayThom
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Didn't burn the house down

Post by RayThom »

Lord Jim wrote:... I also had a kid's chemistry set that would bring an onset of parental pearl clutching today:... Litigation has made manufacturers reluctant to market anything remotely risky to children, even glass. Many metals in their elemental form—such as lithium, red phosphorus, sodium, and potassium—are highly regulated by the FBI, as they can be used to produce meth. And anything that could be used in a bomb, like ammonium nitrate (fertilizer), faces intense scrutiny by the Feds.
What a bunch of sissies. I had the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab which produced all kinds of neat-o chemical reactions.

I still glow in the dark.
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MGMcAnick
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by MGMcAnick »

Check out Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMiNQifZcM

One of my sisters had the wood burning set with which I enjoyed making the house smell like it was on fire. I was not artistic enough to do anything pretty with it.

I still have my original Gilbert Erector Set, the rocket launcher variety. I used its electric motor a couple years ago for something Gilbert never thought of.
A friend of Doc's, one of only two B-29 bombers still flying.

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TPFKA@W
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by TPFKA@W »

I also remember playing with mercury that had come from a broken thermometer, that was so neat. Little silver globs rolling heather and yon. I have to wonder how many IQ points children lost from that exercise. Perhaps I would have become a brain surgeon instead of just a nurse.

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Joe Guy
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by Joe Guy »

I also remember how fun it was when I was a kid to go visit my cousins in Topeka, Kansas in early summer. I could buy packs of firecrackers (some were packs of 1000), lots of Cherry bombs, these things called 'cracker balls' and other explosives and then come home and sell them at inflated prices.

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Long Run
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

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Joe Guy wrote:then come home and sell them at inflated prices.
No wonder you retired early. 8-)

Burning Petard
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by Burning Petard »

Benzene? Me, I looked for water marks on stamps with Carbon tetrachloride--another substance very bad for health, but at least not so flammable. On the other hand, I also worked a little later in a print shop where benzene was regularly used to clean the ink on the presses, and also used to fuel the ubiquitous zippo lighters.

snailgate

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Lord Jim
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by Lord Jim »

I used its electric motor a couple years ago for something Gilbert never thought of.
I'm thinking that may be something I really don't need to know any more details about... :? 8-)
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Bicycle Bill
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

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Lord Jim wrote:
I used its electric motor a couple years ago for something Gilbert never thought of.
I'm thinking that may be something I really don't need to know any more details about... :? 8-)
  • There once was a man from Racine
    Who invented a f**king machine.
    It was concave and convex
    for use by each sex —
    With adjustments for those in between.
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Joe Guy
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by Joe Guy »

Joe Guy wrote:then come home and sell them at inflated prices.
Long Run wrote:No wonder you retired early. 8-)
Life's been good to me so far.... :mrgreen:

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RayThom
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Didn't burn the house down

Post by RayThom »

Joe Guy wrote:... Life's been good to me so far...
How many accountants do you have?
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Joe Guy
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

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I don't know but they pay for it all.

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Lord Jim
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by Lord Jim »

Lucky you're still sane after all you've been through...
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MGMcAnick
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Re: Didn't burn the house down

Post by MGMcAnick »

Bicycle Bill wrote:There once was a man from Racine
Who invented a f**king machine.
It was concave and convex
for use by each sex —
With adjustments for those in between.
Gilbert would be so proud.

Actually what I did was rig the motor to wind toilet paper into much tighter smaller rolls prior to Mrs Mc's second trip to Russia. During her first trip, TP was in short supply. She didn't want that experience again, so Gilbert and I were happy to help. It seems that during the 12 ensuing years, the Russians had figured out how to make the stuff in abundance, and my efforts were unnecessary.
A friend of Doc's, one of only two B-29 bombers still flying.

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