discussion What has Disappeared?

[Dave Ward]

35mm Film & Cameras! - At one time I had nearly £1000 invested in Minolta cameras & lenses! - Luckily I sold them on at the right time, as I could see that digital cameras were going to kill that market
As stona says toys to maim youselves - Chemistry Sets!!!!!!!
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Toys that gave children the opportunity to maim themselves or their friends have sadly disappeared.

I remember 'experimenting' with Jetex motors - what could possibly go wrong.

I also have a photograph of my brother with a stream of water about six inches from his ear as he dodged one of those water rockets that took off at about 600 mph and reached some serious altitudes. The stream of water was all the photographer (me) captured, the rocket was long gone.

Tree climbing. I take the grandkids go to a place where they can climb a climbing wall, protected with a rope and harness and they have a great time, which is fine, but also very organised and a bit sterile. We just climbed trees. I have another picture of my brother about 40' high in the thinning branches of a tree, the branches a baboon might go to in order to avoid being eaten by a leopard. My grandad took that picture and was completely unconcerned.

Someone already mentioned air gun fights. We used to wear an anorak for protection, but that didn't work for a pellet to the knee - ask me how I know! I still have the scar more than fifty years later.

Anyone else make bolt bombs? A friend at school managed to blow his hand up with one, a nasty injury and he lost part of his index finger. Nobody got sued or went to prison and he was a celebrity for about a week.

Sometimes I wonder how we survived.

My wife’s dad was always interested in chemistry, so used to make his own fireworks. Apparently his mum put a stop to it when he blew up part of thier garden wall. He spent his working life working for the MOD in ballistics…….

 

[Tim Marlow]

35mm Film & Cameras! - At one time I had nearly £1000 invested in Minolta cameras & lenses! - Luckily I sold them on at the right time, as I could see that digital cameras were going to kill that market
As stona says toys to maim youselves - Chemistry Sets!!!!!!!
Dave

I know that pain Dave. I had a great Canon EOS 5 wet film camera, pretty much top of the line. Extremely well made, it was a superb professional quality tool, far too good for me to be honest, but when I traded it up and went digital I had to virtually give it away. One thing I’d say in praise of digital photography is that it’s far easier to learn the trade and get better pictures because you can see the results of any setting changes straight away. Still miss that great Canon though.

 

[stillp]

I hate gardening

I love it. I can watch my wife gardening for hours.

Hedgehogs. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw one, but it must be at least thirty years ago. They were commonplace when I was a kid, even on our sixties concrete council estate.

We have a few in the garden - very welcome as they reduce the slug population. I made a couple of hedgehog houses, and one year they bred, but not for the last few years. They like some crushed peanuts, and of course a shallow tray of water.

Pete

 

[Allen Dewire]

Good ones Steve! During an apple fight, I threw one and whacked my brother on the forehead. He ran off, crying, and came back with his bb gun. He shot me in the kneecap too. No scar, but a big red dent in my knee for a week!!!...

Tree climbing was another favorite. We had a huge pine tree next to the house and I loved climbing it. My Mom used to think I lived in it sometimes. I would try to get as far up as I could, to see what was going on in the world, but living in the country, there wasn't much to see at all...

How about shooting arrows up in the air to see how high they'd go. You never thought about where they would come down. One day my brother shot one up and I ran to get a better view, tripped on a bush and fell flat. The arrow pinned my pants leg, by my ankle, to the ground. No injury and that was the end of shooting them up in the air. My brother was scared I would rat him out, but I never told Mom about it...

Prost
Allen

 

[Guest]

Hedgehogs. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw one, but it must be at least thirty years ago.

Come over to my house, you can see them every night from spring to late autumn — frequently two or three at a time, even, and once, five. (Putting cat food outside for them every night helps, of course.) I saw the first one about a week and a half ago, which is rather early in the year for them.

they reduce the slug population.

Only if they can’t find anything better to eat, really. They don’t actually like them much

 

[spanner570]

A conker on a string!

 

[stona]

How about shooting arrows up in the air to see how high they'd go.

I shot my brother with a bow and arrow once - or once that I remember- the arrow just barely lodged under the skin of his tummy, so by holding it in place to stop it falling out he got to our mum before dramatically collapsing in front of her. I got into a lot of trouble for that one.

 

[Allen Dewire]

I bet you couldn't sit down for week, Steve!!! Like you said, It's amazing that we are still alive after doing all the dumb stuff we did as kids....

 

[boatman]

I hate gardening

I love it. I can watch my wife gardening for hours.

SAME HERE Pete

chrisb

 

[Ian M]

35mm Film & Cameras! - At one time I had nearly £1000 invested in Minolta cameras & lenses! - Luckily I sold them on at the right time, as I could see that digital cameras were going to kill that market
As stona says toys to maim youselves - Chemistry Sets!!!!!!!
Dave

I know that only to well. I was not as lucky as you. Two allu cases one with Olympus Om2-1n bodies and objectives the other with flashes, grips and cables. Last time I tried to sell it all i was offered a £100 for the lot.....hmm.
I have also a Mamiya 120mm fully manual NO-ONE knows how to use one these days. lol.

 

[stona]

A conker on a string!

I have fond memories of rapped knuckles and string burns.

Surely I wasn't the only one who used to keep the best looking conkers in the airing cupboard (remember them?) for a year before using them, ensuring that they were really hard, even when most of the 'skin' was gone.

I remember a chap with a 104er. He might as well have been using a rock.

Elf 'n' Safety have probably put an end to conkers now. Even tiddlywinks poses a health hazard these days :smiling3:

 

[boatman]

WELL Conkers eh as ive said i had a 20er but i cheated an soaked it in vinegar lol
chrisb

 

[Geoffers]

Half the fun with conkers was finding and collecting them especially growing up in the Black Country where Horse Chestnut trees were not exactly common.
I was chased by a chap who’s car I nearly hit with a large lump of wood I’d been throwing into the tree to dislodge some stubborn ones :tears-of-joy:

Geoff.

 

[peterairfix]

Indicators on cars or at least the arms that operate them

 

[Dave Ward]

I have also a Mamiya 120mm

Before I went Minolta, I had a Mamiya 645 - lovely piece of kit, but too heavy & unwieldy & slow to use 120 film had too few exposures per roll! I did a straight swap for a Minolta SR-T101.........
I still have a Rolleiflex 2.8 TLR, but that was my fathers & it's just a sentimental ' ornament '
Dave

 

[stona]

WELL Conkers eh as ive said i had a 20er but i cheated an soaked it in vinegar lol
chrisb

Did that too, but you're right, that was considered cheating. It was also a bit obvious as the resulting conker looked a bit like a very pale prune once the skin was knocked off

 

[Guest]

Computers that had style and character! These days they all look the same, give me the old ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and BBC Model B!

Pretending to smoke with those candy/chocolate cigarettes that even had a red end on them.

Car cigarette lighter that you'd burn your finger on, just to see if it still worked.

Ten bob notes.

a handful of 10p's would get you a full days enjoyment an in arcade

'bowl' haircut done by your mum in a hurry

Playing in the local woodyard and getting splinters everywhere.

Building a go-kart with pram wheels you dredged up from the canal and wood you nicked from said woodyard.

 

[stona]

I remember being given a ten bob note by a rarely seen uncle, and feeling as rich as the Sultan of Brunei!

 

[Gern]

I remember being given a ten bob note by a rarely seen uncle, and feeling as rich as the Sultan of Brunei!

Apparently the 10 bob note was withdrawn from circulation back in 1969. I was about 16 then and although I'd seen plenty from working in a petrol station - anybody remember the days when the assistant came out and served you? - I never got to actually own one. I reckon if I had I would have considered that Sultan to be a pauper!