George Carlin said that the problem today's kids have is that they have to wear a helmet to do anything. When we were kids in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, we engaged in activities that would shock today's society that is so obsessed with protecting us from ourselves.
For instance, we used to walk into the neighborhood grocery store and buy explosives.
The explosives were in the form of roll caps. The brand I saw everywhere as a child was Bang Caps. And thanks to http://www.nicholscapguns.com/ for the photo, by the way.
The summer afternoon air was frequently filled with reports and smoke as we dueled with our trusty cap pistols. But after a while, we would crave louder explosions. That meant finding a hammer.
The roll caps would typically come 250 shots to a box. There would be five rolls of fifty each. Now sure, it was fun shooting them one at a time (and tearing off spent shots. Remember the neighborhood being littered with strips of red paper?). But boys being boys, we craved bigger, LOUDER!
So we would take an entire roll of caps, set it on a brick, and have at it with a hammer. The result would be an ear-ringing blast that would rock the neighborhood. It was as least as loud as a firecracker (which had a lot more power in those days than the wimpy glorified ladyfingers that they sell today).
There were all sorts of toys that used the caps besides pistols. I remember a rounded-nosed-missile that was made of gray metal. You slid a cap into its nose and tossed it. The heavily weighted nose would hit the ground first to produce a nice little explosion. And of course, you would cram three caps in the nose to make it louder.
I guess you can still get cap pistols, but nowadays they have to have an orange barrel to keep cops from mistaking them for the real thing and blowing a kid away. What a sad turn our society has taken.
But if you remember JFK, you can recall a time when the neighborhood rang with miniature explosions (and occasional bigger ones). It was fun, it was innocent, and it was a long time ago.
Comments (6)
Being a "baby boomer" generational participant myself, I remember all with fond memories!
Posted by Bumper Guy | February 25, 2007 1:15 PM
Posted on February 25, 2007 13:15
I loved caps! My dad sold them in his store. He also sold smoke bombs and snakes. Remember those?
Posted by Rhea | February 25, 2007 7:22 PM
Posted on February 25, 2007 19:22
We rarely used a gun to shoot the caps, we just used a rock or a hammer. I remember hitting my fingers a few time with the rock though!
Posted by Rhonda | April 17, 2007 6:12 PM
Posted on April 17, 2007 18:12
Bang Caps and Pistols! Guns! What's not to like? I love the days when it wass ok to pick up a cap gun or any toy gun foir that matter and play war or cowboys! Today, that is all frowned on??? We so live in a my dangerous society, but back then, it was too! Look at 1968? But as kids, it was still an innocent time to play with cap guns, squirt guns, etc. And thank heavens for roll caps! Yes, littering the sidewalks with spent roll caps was common! All the cap guns we played with arre now collector items on ebay! Nothing better then a freshly squeezed off cap gun with bang caps! Look at the smoke! Look at the black char on the hammer! Too Cool! And I am glad to hear others used the brick and or hammer to gain a bigger bang! You juvenile delinquints! Lol! Just kidding of course!! And thank goodness for Manny, Moe and Jack Matchbooks to light off full boxes of these caps! Isn't life grand!! 7 years olds with explosives! Now I think I know wehat happened to all those Monster models and Car models! Wew destroyed them with bang caps and fireworks! How destructive! Mommy should have whipped our little behinds with a paddle! Sorry ig that hit home with anyone! Pardon the pun! Wasn't that paddle with ball the worst toy to be released to Baby boomer parents?
Posted by Rivers End | January 6, 2009 9:24 AM
Posted on January 6, 2009 09:24
Boy, I must have had too much of that bang cap smoke up my nose after looking at my first post about this fine item! My keyboarding is for the birds! Keep em coming Ron, great memories!
Posted by Rivers End | June 4, 2009 9:38 PM
Posted on June 4, 2009 21:38
Caps were fun and harmless. Yeah, we did the big rock thing, too. I also tried taping a roll in masking tape and soaking it in kerosene, with a string sticking out. It was harmless and ineffective. I thought it might explode. Maybe if I had used gasoline instead, eh? But my friend’s mother did not appreciate my experiment and threatened to tell my father.
But I laughed on the inside cause I knew my father would not care but would pretend to humor her but I went along with behaving. Adults were terrified of the silliest things. They always feared having to answer kids questions. In their minds, knowledge equaled danger and no child could ever handle the truth. I wonder if they feel that way about adults and knowledge. In my book, knowledge and truth are always good and only lies fear truth and truth is never threatened by lies.
Now when someone has irrational fears today, in professional circles, they call those phobias. People with irrational exaggerated fears are said to have an illness or be disturbed and I agree! But I note that most parents now fear nearly everything and so does the government. Kids need helmets, insurance, armed guards and who knows what else. I say this is evidence of extreme mental disturbance so prevalent now in the 21st century. We even fear thoughts and ideas now. Fear is very popular now. I have no use for fear. Fear restrains but love casts fear out into darkness.
I wish people could better appreciate just how different it was in the 60s compared to now. Yet, they would say it is better now. We stop traffic so that 15 year old kids on a school bus can safely cross the street. I can’t believe it! 15 years old and they need traffic stopped. We have truly become tragic and pathetic.
I know my father did not want me to use his hand tools or build anything. I am not sure if he was afraid of cuts or just afraid I might be able to do quite well at it. That’s another story, all together. But I sneaked some wood and his hand saw, etc, and put together a perfect box with screen for pet mice. The next year I would take shop in school and I loved that and learned much more.
We fear kids learning or doing. I recall Jessica, a 7 year old girl who was flying a plane. I thought it was great. But the father and pilot loaded the plane down too much and they all crashed and died. What did we do? Lets ban 7 year olds from ever doing anything. But Jessica was never the problem in the first place. It was 2 very stupid and irresponsible adults that screwed that all up. Lets get off the backs of kids, give them credit, make them accountable, and let them rip. They can’t do any worse than we have, who squandered a great life in the 60s and are handing over a complete mess to the next generation. Way to go, boomers! We sure raised the bar high, huh?
Posted by Scott Irv | June 4, 2009 11:13 PM
Posted on June 4, 2009 23:13