How about bumper jacks?
How about bumper jacks?
Ha, I was just telling a relevant story recently!
Back when I was in 4th grade (1991 IIRC), my town did a grade-wide project where you leared about the history of China. At the end of the year, they brought students to Chinatown in Boston for a field trip. Boston in 1991 is NOT the mostly safe Boston of today; it was a dangerous place in many parts of town, and there were some spots that were really bad, even in daylight. Chinatown was right on the border of that, with some spots being pretty bad. I heard stories from older kids saying that anything goes in Chinatown, and they would sell knives, "ninja weapons" and more to ANYONE, INCLUDING KIDS. BS, I thought.
I remember getting dropped off with everyone else in Chinatown, and while there were probably chaperones, I don't remember any! Imagine a bunch of sheltered suburban kids just running around trying to find weapons and giant bags of fortune cookies, and ACTUALLY BUYING THEM, and that was the scene. It was almost like a joke for the shop owners to sell these things to kids! The buses on the way home were full of kids showing off all sorts of hardware: knives, throwing stars, nunchucks, contraband firecrackers (illegal in MA), and one kid even bought a set of sais, because Ninja Turtles. It was berking bonkers; we were armed to the teeth!
I decided to be a jokester and came home with one of these things:
Try doing that in 2019!
WW I veterans. Soon, no more WW II vets either.
My dad's memorial service is tomorrow.
In reply to Pete Gossett :
I worked in the appliance department at Kmart in college and this was when cheaper VCR’s were taking off. As they got more technology the better ones had remotes and one cheaper version had a “wired” remote but nobody understood the terminology and always came back pissed off as it was a remote with a 25’ cord attached.
My father told the story of being pulled over on a motorcycle in the 40's and being asked by the cop, "What are you planning to do that is so dangerous that you need a helmet?"
We had to take hunter education at my high school to graduate. Fire a shotgun at skeet on campus, pass classes on field dressing, the whole shebang. This went for both genders.
At 16, I could drive to a neighboring town abd buy liquour -as long as the cops hadn't shut the package store down (they always re-opened, and sold to anyone).
In ninth grade, we took a field trip to the Jack Daniels distillery, and tasted the sour mash as part of a scared straight thing.
My third grade math teacher had a great rule: you can shoot a paper wad at the trash can. Make it, and no consequences, miss, and it was 3 licks.
The last time I was paddled was 1989, scant days before graduation.
My second grade teacher used to shake children. This one was definitely not cool.
Life in rural TN.
pinchvalve said:There's a lot of things I assumed we would never see again, but signs are pointing to many of them returning in the current political environment. Hopefully, laying on the back shelf of the car as a kid won't be among them. While fun and comfortable, it was certainly not safe!
I am also flabbergasted that cocaine and similar items used in "medicines" from long ago. Teething pain?
Holy crap!
Why?
Basically all modern opiods are based on heroin/poppy plant. Willow Bark is where you get Sudafed, Penicilleum mold, etc.
Many current pharmaceuticals are originally plant based. Then companies learned to synthesize them more cheaply to monetize them.
David S. Wallens said:How about bumper jacks?
GOOD.
Tony Sestito said:[Story about school kids going into Chinatown and arming themselves with "ninja weapons"]
My high school had a legit smoking area for students - any age could puff away - nobody carded.
In reply to slantvaliant :
I've only done stupid things while wearing a helmet. Helmets block the cosmic rays that make your brain function, put on a helmet and dumb things start happening.
On the topic of remotes, I have a Zenith Quazar console television, the remote works on ultrasound. The remote has four little metal rods inside and the buttons "plonk" the rods and the volume goes up or down and the channels go up or down. the TV guts aren't electronic either, there's an actuator that moves the channel dial with a very satisfying "ker-chunk!" every time.
If you jingle your keys just right, you can change the channel.
My first helmet was leather, doubt those will come back.
David S. Wallens said:Lawn darts.
I thought I had lost the set I got from my grandparents. Low and behold I found it when cleaning out my storage shed last year. The plastic wings are a bit brittle, but they still play. My kids love it.
Do they still make the Slip 'n Slide?
Never could get all the rocks out from under those.
I graduated from High School with a 1.8 GPA (A test average, then points off for attendence).
They won't let you do that anymore, have to have a 2.0.
Toyman01 said:02Pilot said:Oh yeah, here's another one. A buddy of mine who grew up in NYC related that up into the early 60s (IIRC - it's been a while since I heard the story, but the timing seems about right) many NYC schools had marksmanship teams. The ranges were in the basements, and kids carried their .22 rifles back and forth to school.
We carried guns to school up into the mid 80s. During hunting season, just about every truck in the parking lot had a gun rack in the back window.
Yup
I was driving a tractor by age 10, and the farm trucks on dirt roads by 13.
We had a Farmall Cub with a belly mower, that I first learned to drive on. I had to stand up, and pull up on the steering wheel to put the clutch in.
Dad had an account at the Citgo about a mile from the house. 12-13 year old Lee would hop in the 1486 IH with duals, and drive down the busy 2 lane blacktop in front of the house, navigate the 4-way stop, pull up to the pump, and fill the tank when the tractor was low on diesel. The guy that owned the Citgo's name was Hap, he and all the employees new dad. I'd just go in and say, "put it on dad's account, please Mr. Hap." We'd exchange pleasantries, and I'd be on my way again.
I mowed a lot of hay on an 806 IH, and raked even more of it on a little Ford 600 at around the same age.
Grandpa had a Swinger articulated loader I started operating around the same time.
I carried a Swiss Army pocket knife to school from at least jr. high to graduation.
Guns in cars were fine (school admin looked the other way, especially during hunting season) until the Jonesboro shooting in '98 shortly before I graduated.
I remember flying with a pocket knife. That same Swiss Army knife went a lot of places. I've got a Gerber EZ Out that I recall a TSA agent really scrutinizing, opening, measuring the blade length, giving me a really disapproving look, and then handing it back to me as I went through security.
Dad flew some for work, we always saw him off, and greeted his return at the gate. Even made silly posters to greet him if he'd been gone a while. One of my family's favorite stories, is related. I have no recolection of this, I've just heard the story a hundred times. When my sister and I were young, and dad would leave, we would camp out in our parent's bedroom and sleep in bed with mom. I was around 8-ish I guess, and dad decided I was too old to be doing that anymore. I managed to stay in my bed, and I guess even my sister stayed in hers while dad was gone. Apparently I was proud of this accomplishment, and wanted to let dad know. We all met dad at the gate as he was getting off the plane, and as soon as he was in earshot, I proclaimed with much excitement, to dad, his coworkers, and everyone else at the gate, that, "no one slept with mom while you were gone dad!"
Believe it or not the annual Gun Show in my small Idaho town is at the Junior High. I almost bought a gun from a guy set up in front of my old locker.
Not many places would get away with that anymore
WOODSTOCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
02Pilot said:Oh yeah, here's another one. A buddy of mine who grew up in NYC related that up into the early 60s (IIRC - it's been a while since I heard the story, but the timing seems about right) many NYC schools had marksmanship teams. The ranges were in the basements, and kids carried their .22 rifles back and forth to school.
My dad was the shop teacher in our high school, and also ran the Junior Rifle Club from the 1950s to the mid 1970s. Once a week we'd go down to the gym and shoot .22 rifles, it was a lot of fun. To this day you can look at the south wall of that gym and see pockmarks from where kids missed the targets.
The rifles and ammunition were kept in an unlocked storage closet, but were never disturbed.
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
YMCA had males nude and women wearing swimsuits. And YMCA swimming teams posing for their end-of-the-season group photo? I ain't linking that E36 M3. But Google a bit and it's kinda like a Norman Rockwell illustration. I think we were a bit more calm and understanding back then.
Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a gun rack in a truck since GA in the late 80’s. Is this still a thing in certain parts of the country? Or did extended cabs make it a pain to reach and limit their use?
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
I raced hobby stocks with Jeans, a T shirt and a football helmet with the face bar removed
glueguy said:Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a gun rack in a truck since GA in the late 80’s. Is this still a thing in certain parts of the country? Or did extended cabs make it a pain to reach and limit their use?
I had a 1967 Jeep Gladiator with no door locks.
I put a gun rack in it along with a shrunken head (fake) hanging from the rear view mirror. Nobody ever touched it.
This is a photo of a child laborer from a coal mine in England before they passed some law against it in 1842.
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