When we were kids, our options at the local neighborhood grocery or the dime store were manifold. Most of the time, we walked out with candy. But sometimes, we would invest our hard-earned (or begged) coins on magical little flying machines made of balsa wood.
They came in little clear plastic packages with cardboard at the top. The hole in the cardboard allowed them to be hung on a rack, frequently at the top of the candy display, as I recall. The plain ones cost a dime, the fancier rubber-band driven models were 29 cents, as best I can remember.
Since I usually was given two nickels a day, buying a glider meant making a tough decision. I had to forego my morning candy fix and come back later in the afternoon in order to have ten cents to purchase my flying machine.
But as much as I loved the elegant little airplanes, I made the tough call many times, and walked home proudly carrying my plastic-wrapped wooden prize.
My craft of choice was usually the simple ten cent glider, for obvious reasons of affordability. However, sometimes I would manage to cajole mom into springing for a rubber-band powered model at the dime store.
The propeller-driven plane was seriously cool indeed. The fuselage was a simple square stick that held a hook on the rear and a slide-on red plastic propeller holder on the front. It had its own hook, and the special long thin rubber band stretched the entire length of the stick.
The plane also had wheels. I guess a more skilled pilot could make it take off or land that way, but not me.
Powering the plane involved patiently turning the propeller backwards. The rubber band would become evenly twisted, then would take on a new shape as the twists would be transformed into large knots. When the entire rubber band was a series of large knots, it was time for the flight to begin.
Letting the plane go on its own on concrete would generally result in it running rapidly along the ground and eventually smashing into something. So I would launch the plane by throwing it skyward, just like it was an unpowered glider.
Eventually, the rubber band would break. That was not the end of the fun, though!
You could open the window on the car and hold the rubber-band-less plane into a thirty MPH breeze and the propeller would spin rapidly, as your imagination filled in the rest of the WWII battle scene taking place outside the Plymouth's window. At some point, the wings might rip off in the stiff breeze. By then, however, I had gleaned many hours out of a 29 cent investment (that would be thirty cents including tax).
The simple glider featured instructions that allowed you to move the wings forward and back in the slot cut into the fuselage. This would cause the plane to do loops or streak straightly. You could also bend the horizontal stabilizer in order to cause it to turn to the right or to the left.
Eventually, the piece of metal at the front would dislodge, and we would learn how important it was for an airplane to be properly weighted in order to function. I remember it was a real eye-opening experience for me to learn that a plane could actually be too light to fly!
Another lesson that the cheap gliders taught us was that wonderful things came in small, inexpensive packages.
You can still find balsa wood gliders at the toy sections of many stores. The dime stores and the corner groceries are long gone, though. So is the ten-cent price. But you know what? It's nice living in a rapidly-moving modern world with the added luxury of having memory banks full of wonderful moments from our childhoods.
Comments (8)
Wonderful memory! Balsa planes could be enjoyed alone, shared with a neighborhood pal or with several, everyone having a plane and having flying contests. An entire Saturday could be filled with amusement for only a dime! I remember my godfather once buying me a balsa wind-up plane with a 3-foot wingspan. Envy of the block!
Posted by NCeddie | February 28, 2010 9:10 AM
Posted on February 28, 2010 09:10
Oh yeah! Classic toy here! After gathering up all the return Diet Rite bottles from mom, we would take to the store for our return profit and then go buy the wonderful balsa wood airplane! Of course the ones with the propeller and wheels were the coolest. These planes spauned my interest in the Cox gas planes which were flown with guidelines. But always managed to crash into a million pieces!
Posted by Rivers End | February 28, 2010 10:51 AM
Posted on February 28, 2010 10:51
I recall the balsa planes well. But I found them a bit frustrating. One type I recall had a plastic piece that you would slide the balsa wings into. They would stay put a few times and then become loose. Throwing them out the 2nd floor bedroom window was cool. But I think they could have been made better for just a little more. They had a real short life span. When I was about 3, my mom would pick up a bunch of oak “helicopter” wings and I would drop them from our high porch and watch them spin down.
At around ages 5-7, there were these plastic parachutes with a plastic parachute jumper. You would fold up the chute, and throw it into the air, or throw it out your bedroom window. I had those about 4 or 5 times. The sticky paper dots that held the string on would give or the plastic chute would tear.
And then there is that cool Major Matt Mason glider. That was the best. Fairly sturdy and worked good.
But what I see as I look back is how simple things were fun and pleased. It was a simple life, uncomplicated, carefree, fun. There were lots of marketing rip offs, but life seemed to make it all better.
We always used to go to the beach or lake for free, and park for free, till 67. That was always fun. Cars were few. In the neighborhood where I lived in the 60s, there was only a one car driveway and one car, that the dad’s had. Some wives would drive their husbands to work one or 2 days a week, so they could do the shopping. As I think of it now, it was still early in the growth of the car industry and many places had very little traffic.
Life slow, gentle, easy, relaxed. I recall coloring books with fond memories. We could sit still and enjoy such things. To laid back for today’s crowd, maybe. I really think the world and the atmosphere at the time had a lot to do with our find memories.
I read an article about some tests with video gamers. They were put into these very cramped uncomfortable booths to play these games. Despite that, they played for hours without any care about the uncomfortable conditions because they were having fun.
What ever we did, we had fun with what we had because that environment was not cramped or uncomfortable. We did not have the world pressing in on us and around us. Saw some 60s Red Skelton yesterday. Damn, that was fun. It really was enjoyable.
Posted by Scott Irv | February 28, 2010 1:38 PM
Posted on February 28, 2010 13:38
i used to go to our neighborhood store and purchased 10 cents books of paper dolls. OMG i was in another world when i played with those. my sis and me had shoeboxes full of paper dolls. my faavorites were paper dolls from around the world
Posted by vera | February 28, 2010 1:40 PM
Posted on February 28, 2010 13:40
@ vera
My aunts, 6 and 10 years older than me, had lots of paper dolls. I remember fiddling with those a couple times with the paper clothes and tabs folder over to keep them on. It was pretty clever and far cheaper than dolls with real clothes like Barbie. I don't recall them surviving into the 70s. So much that I remember from the 60s did not make it beyond that decade.
Posted by Scott Irv | February 28, 2010 1:49 PM
Posted on February 28, 2010 13:49
Fun with the balsa gliders lives on today in Astoria, OR. The city has a monument that is 125 feet in height and if you climb to the top, you can launch you plane into the wild blue yonder! Oh, yea, the gift shop at the base of the monument sells the planes.
Posted by Steve Skinner | March 1, 2010 7:45 PM
Posted on March 1, 2010 19:45
Steve, thanks for tip. The monument is the Astoria Column, built in 1926, and is on the U. S. National Register of Historic Places. Photo on Wikipedia.
Posted by NCeddie | March 1, 2010 8:17 PM
Posted on March 1, 2010 20:17
The neighborhood store had a jar filled with Balsa Glider kits 10 cents apiece. I occasionally bought one, but a dime in the 50's could buy a lot of other stuff (especially consumables like penny candy.) Paper airplanes OTOH were almost as good (if one made the aerodynamic types and not the "Jet" style that everyone knows how to fold.)
@Scott Irv: Just a nit for your edification and not a criticism. "Helicopter" seeds come from Maple trees, acorns come from Oaks.
@Steve Skinner: I'm surprised that being an ex-forester, that tidbit didn't pique a similar comment from you.
Posted by Burt | March 2, 2010 4:40 PM
Posted on March 2, 2010 16:40