Last Updated on: 28th January 2018, 05:11 pm
Here’s Gill to talk some questionable toys. As for memories of unsafe things I did as a kid, I’m not even sure where to start. I grew up when we still had tire swings and climbables with gravel underneath them, so the list is fairly long.
From flammable train sets to rebounder trampolines I’m counting down several toys throughout the years that somehow made it to market.
- 1 The Stevenson Toy Company Model Dockyard – In the middle of the 19th century people thought that people, especially children were hale and hearty enough to handle a train set that literally ran on water and kerosene. What was even worse was this toy train spewed its contents wherever it went.
- 2 Gilbert Caster set – flash forward to the 1930’s and young boys are fascinated by toy soldiers, but why buy them ready-made when you can make them yourself? That’s right for the low low price of severe burns and scarring you can make your own with molten lead.
- 3 Slip And Slide – Yes friends here we are in the decade that brought us civil rights and acid trips. Someone may have wanted to tell the fine folks at Wham-O that it wasn’t just kids who would indulge in this literal head dive on to plastic. Many teens and adults were rendered somehow paralyzed before 1993 brought changes to the device.
- 4 Easy Bake Oven – Staying in the 1960’s for another moment. If you loved watching mom, aunt Jane, or grandma make those awesome cinnamon cookies or fabulous triple chocolate cupcakes then this amputation trap of joy was exactly what you needed. Making its debut in 1963 girls found themselves getting their fingers caught in the door among other places.
- 5 Rebounder Trampolines – Here we are in the decade of parachute pants and ColecoVisions. Yes the 1980’s. Who would just want to dance to Duran Duran when one could possibly break ones arm on a mini-trampoline? The packaging did warn of safety hazards, but people didn’t always listen. On a personal note, a family friend always supervised my sister and I when we would play on this in her living room, because unlike full sized trampolines rebounders didn’t have the same safety guards
Question
What toy or memory of something possibly unsafe by today’s standards did you do in your childhood?
Gillie telling you to have a touch of fun