Things you can't believe used to be allowed/exist

[CaptainCrunch]

Those and the radio shack 500 in 1 electronic labs.

You could build some really amazing things

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by wontondestruction

I'm not sure if someone else has already mentioned wood burning kits, but I got one of these things for Christmas when I was about 10. What were my parents thinking?

I had one of these - they were awesome! Tried to tatoo my cat!

Never got the electrical set though (thank God), don't think I would have survived that.

[FlamesAddiction]

I am too young to remember these when they were around, but I like to remind Millennials that there was a time worse than the "post-9/11" world:



The company I work for had everyone take "Millennial" training, which of course, was a presentation put on by a Millennial. One of the key points they tried to make was that growing up in an insecure post-9/11 has made them somehow more hardened and bold.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

Not anyone, only those with a pocket full of quarters.

Or British or Irish 5p pieces. Cigs in the machine by Bobs in the Village Square Mall were $1.25 or in my case 25p.

Also, I remember my buddy phoning the Macs behind St Rose Jr High and telling the Manager that he was too sick to come to the store to buy a Playboy magazine. He said he was sending his son (me) to buy it but that it had to be in a bag so I wouldn't see it.

I turned up at the store and the guy had it ready for me.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by wontondestruction

I'm not sure if someone else has already mentioned wood burning kits, but I got one of these things for Christmas when I was about 10. What were my parents thinking?

I used one of those at Kamp Kiwanis. I made a medal that said 'Trudeau Sucks'.

My how times have changed.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Those and the radio shack 500 in 1 electronic labs.

You could build some really amazing things

This is the exact one I had, made a radio. Instructions said touch the wire to the screw of an electrical outlet for better signal so I thought why the screw and not pull the plug out a bit and touch that. Since then electricity and I have never liked each other.

[ResAlien]

Damn you guys had some fancy games you played. Wall ball? Sounds like a good time.

We played a game called "cherry picker" and it involved running up behind your buddy and punching him in the balls. This was the entirety of the game. I don't believe one could play that anymore. In hindsight that was probably not a good game.

[btimbit]

Oh my, wood burning kits! So fun. Although also the reason I don't have a finger print on my left thumb

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Damn you guys had some fancy games you played. Wall ball? Sounds like a good time.

We played a game called "cherry picker" and it involved running up behind your buddy and punching him in the balls. This was the entirety of the game. I don't believe one could play that anymore. In hindsight that was probably not a good game.

I had a teacher that liked to do that, I'd say in hindsight he was a pedo but we were fairly clear on that at the time.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by wontondestruction

I'm not sure if someone else has already mentioned wood burning kits, but I got one of these things for Christmas when I was about 10. What were my parents thinking?

I had one of those as a kid and it was awesome. That was until I did some wood buring on my parents coffee table

[EldrickOnIce]

I recall doing without a lot as a child. Obviously I misremember. I had both the wood burning kit and the electronic lab.
Good times

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Locke

That at 10 you could be trusted with some second rate rudimentary wood-working tools without being liable for burning the house down?

Its a compliment to you and a statement about the wussification of our society that kids cant handle cool stuff anymore.

Check his username...

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Damn you guys had some fancy games you played. Wall ball? Sounds like a good time.

We played a game called "cherry picker" and it involved running up behind your buddy and punching him in the balls. This was the entirety of the game. I don't believe one could play that anymore. In hindsight that was probably not a good game.

Definitely not a good game considering most balls are in the front.

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Definitely not a good game considering most balls are in the front.

Well duh, you'd do the comically exaggerated WWF style uppercut. Then run and laugh.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Definitely not a good game considering most balls are in the front.

Most hands can reach the front from the back. Unless you're a midget then that game wasn't fair for the midgets.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

[V]

Originally Posted by wontondestruction

I'm not sure if someone else has already mentioned wood burning kits, but I got one of these things for Christmas when I was about 10. What were my parents thinking?

If there is one good llickin' I can remember, it was after I used that burner to melt some cheese slices. That was the first and only time I used the set. I guess I wrecked it. This is why I don't buy my kids nice things.

[JiriHrdina]

McHappy Day at school - where you watched a film at lunch (some live action cruddy Disney movie starring Dean Jones) while eating McDonalds hamburgers. I can't imagine that still goes on.
Or Texas Doughnut day.
We also had a "Church's Fried Chicken" day - where they gave us a little Styrofoam airplane. My grade 3 class collectively decided it would be HILARIOUS if when our 70 year old teacher came into the room - we jump from behind our desks and throw our planes at her. How could that not be funny? Well we did it, and she just quietly went over to her desk and started crying. Ugh.

Remarkably with all the crazy #### we were allowed to do, the one thing that was banned from our school was marbles.

The "heavy weight" championship of marble season was this guy who had a "King Kong Steelie" - which of course was nothing more than a big ball bearing but it was bad-ass. If you wanted to try and beat him for it you would hit 4 or 5 times whereas he would only have to hit you once.
So he had this thing for a long time.
Until one day someone finally beat him.
And he wouldn't give it up.
Which caused a massive fight.
Which caused letters to go home to parents outlawing marbles. I think there was even a school assembly about it.

I wonder if my mom kept my Crown Royal bag of marbles somewhere?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

McHappy Day at school - where you watched a film at lunch (some live action cruddy Disney movie starring Dean Jones) while eating McDonalds hamburgers. I can't imagine that still goes on.
Or Texas Doughnut day.
We also had a "Church's Fried Chicken" day - where they gave us a little Styrofoam airplane. My grade 3 class collectively decided it would be HILARIOUS if when our 70 year old teacher came into the room - we jump from behind our desks and throw our planes at her. How could that not be funny? Well we did it, and she just quietly went over to her desk and started crying. Ugh.

Remarkably with all the crazy #### we were allowed to do, the one thing that was banned from our school was marbles.

The "heavy weight" championship of marble season was this guy who had a "King Kong Steelie" - which of course was nothing more than a big ball bearing but it was bad-ass. If you wanted to try and beat him for it you would him 4 or 5 times whereas he would only have to hit you once.
So he had this thing for a long time.
Until one day someone finally beat him.
And he wouldn't give it up.
Which caused a massive fight.
Which caused letters to go home to parents outlawing parents. I think there was even a school assembly about it.

I wonder if my mom kept my Crown Royal bag of marbles somewhere?

Awesome story.

We had something similar with Pogs. And then later Pokemon cards.

Me and my brothers used to ride our bikes to the Husky in Scenic Acres to get booster packs of Pogs and $0.25 candy bags that had like 30 candies in it. It'd probably cost $4 today. And this was mid-90's.

When I was in first grade I got a rare metal slammer with awesome grooves on it. It won me a buttload of pogs. One day a 6th grader challenged me. We were underneath some part of the playground just playing alone. I beat him and he took my slammer. I think I'm safe to assume that guy is still a doosh.

In middle school Pokemon cards got outlawed because kids were actually gambling on the games, trading cards for money and other things, and some were stealing cards. Some kid got ripped off of a holographic Charizard one day and made a big fuss. Parents got involved and rules came in.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I had a teacher that liked to do that, I'd say in hindsight he was a pedo but we were fairly clear on that at the time.

heeheeheehee!