Things I Used As A Kid that Are No More

[HenryHill]

going to the store in cousin's/uncle's/AUNT's cars that had a big block and 4 speed, and stopping at the gas station on the way home to get 260 Sunoco 'cause it didn't run on anything else very well

boomerangs
unicycles
cinnamon toothpicks
Flintstones cigarette commercials
cut off jean shorts
kites
drag race venues where the neighbors didn't complain
setting the lifters on '68 Hemi
towbars
silver coins
oil fried popcorn
N gauge trainsets
drinking and driving
snowmobile drinking
vitalis
tang
hotdogs, slit, stuffed with block cheese slices, wrapped in bacon, cooked in the oven for dinner
soda shops, with a 'jerk' and spinning stools
wood fish boats and cane poles
getting stopped with open beer as a minor and told to go home
legal acid
princeton hair cut
chemistry sets
orbiting the earth
rotary phones
B&W TV
beatnics
hitting people when they mouthed off and no cops come

 

[Great_Neck_Brewer]

hitch hiking
$35 ozs
cutting the neighbors lawns for cash
ford falcons

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

10 penny cigarettes at the corner store. And even at that price the store was making a killer profit per pack.

 

[Bopper]

Eh hem, Pardon me junior, I believe they were 5.25 Inches.

That's what she said.

 

[Hang Glider]

$35 ozs

Ha! I remember $15...

good times....

 

[lschiavo]

I have three young boys now and the toys they have to choose from suck in my opinion. I used to love:

Stompers - the little motorized trucks that ran on 1 AA Battery. When the motor quit you could just tear it out and push them around.
Pea Shooters - lots of fun for a nickel.
Green Army Men - why can I not find green army men anymore?
A truck/car you can play in the sandbox with and just push it around ... one that isn't motorized and doesn't have lights and a make a ton of annoying sounds.

My son does have a roll cap gun and has a great time with it. It is of course plastic and lasts maybe a week before we have to buy him a new one.

Anyone remember Mexican Jumping Beans?

 

[Naked_Eskimo]

green army men - why can i not find green army men anymore?

yes!

 

[jgourd]

4 hours+ of good Saturday morning cartoons.

Yeah I miss that, even in my old age. And also:

Commodore 64
Texas Instruments TI-99/4A
Calculator
Radio Shack TRS-80
Putting cards in my bike tire with a clothes pin to make it sound like a motorcycle

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Dad was an Electronics Repairman. Anyone else remember HeathKits?

Or remeber when Radio Shack was more about buying the bits to build a Radio rather than juts buying the Radio.

 

[HenryHill]

Dad was an Electronics Repairman. Anyone else remember HeathKits?

Or remeber when Radio Shack was more about buying the bits to build a Radio rather than juts buying the Radio.

heh, oldest brother was building a heath kit short wave at 14; I was reading the color codes from salvaged tvs and radios so we could sort them at 5 ('65).

 

[celticcolorado]

Up until then, this was my favorite toy:

Evil Knievel Stunt Cycle!!!

WOW! I had the exact same toy. One of my favorites. :rockin:

 

[celticcolorado]

I miss the metal Tonka Toys. Now all they have is the cheap plastic.

 

[lschiavo]

WOW! I had the exact same toy. One of my favorites. :rockin:

I still have mine minus the Evil doll...er, action figure

 

[IrregularPulse]

I miss the metal Tonka Toys. Now all they have is the cheap plastic.

I picked up my boy a 2 pack of large metal tonka trucks this past christmas. They're still out there.

 

[jgln]

Dad was an Electronics Repairman. Anyone else remember HeathKits?

Or remeber when Radio Shack was more about buying the bits to build a Radio rather than juts buying the Radio.

Don't know if they still sell them but Radio Shack had the 101 electronics projects kits where you wired in different circuits and made sounds etc. I had one and they are really cool and can get a kid interested and at least learn something. One of the coolest was the electric ear; it was actually a snooping device.

 

[jgln]

I have three young boys now and the toys they have to choose from suck in my opinion. I used to love:

Stompers - the little motorized trucks that ran on 1 AA Battery. When the motor quit you could just tear it out and push them around.
Pea Shooters - lots of fun for a nickel.
Green Army Men - why can I not find green army men anymore?
A truck/car you can play in the sandbox with and just push it around ... one that isn't motorized and doesn't have lights and a make a ton of annoying sounds.

My son does have a roll cap gun and has a great time with it. It is of course plastic and lasts maybe a week before we have to buy him a new one.

Anyone remember Mexican Jumping Beans?

We also had cowboys and indians when I was a kid.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Okay OP, I'm 20 years younger than you, and I've used 1,2,4,7,9,11, 13, 14, 15...

I exchange my propane tank and actually bought a popcorn machine today.. I had creepy crawlers, played marbles for keepsies in elementary, Pogs (I bet you guys didn't have those, they were a short lived fad while I was in elementary.) Played computer games on those old mac's with the 10 inch screens....

But then again we had alot of recycled things when I was growing up- hand me down computers and such (we had one with a 5" floppy drive... in 1996)

I am 28 and also had all those things. Along with creepy crawlers and POGS. POGS were awesome. And I bet they did have them, they were just called milk caps back then. That's where they came from.

 

[gak27]

-- Building Revell model airplanes/ships/cars
-- Setting the aforementioned models on fire while the glue was still wet if they didn't turn out good
-- Pop Tarts in the foil-lined paper pouches that had a pull tab/string down the side
-- Playing "Kill the man w/ the ball"/"Smear the Qu##r" for hours at a time
-- The toy department at any department store
-- Trying to convince your parents that you wanted to sell the "GRIT" newspaper that was advertised in comic books
-- Being able to type "¢" w/o having to use a character map program; it was right on the keyboard

 

[hal2814]

Rabbit ears have made a comeback thanks to HDTV. I really miss arcades not only existing but having a bright, fun atmosphere instead of being a dark room full of identical video game cabinets.

 

[jgln]

-- Building Revell model airplanes/ships/cars
-- Setting the aforementioned models on fire while the glue was still wet if they didn't turn out good
-- Pop Tarts in the foil-lined paper pouches that had a pull tab/string down the side
-- Playing "Kill the man w/ the ball"/"Smear the Qu##r" for hours at a time
-- The toy department at any department store
-- Trying to convince your parents that you wanted to sell the "GRIT" newspaper that was advertised in comic books
-- Being able to type "¢" w/o having to use a character map program; it was right on the keyboard

That's funny, me and my friends thought we invented that game.

 

[hamiltont]

Double Broiler
Gas Wars & gas for 19 cents
Party Line
DDT (Dropped those mosquitoes in their tracks, and whatever else got in the way)
Frosty Root Beer
Carter AFB
Crystal Radio

 

[Walker]

Or remeber when Radio Shack was more about buying the bits to build a Radio rather than juts buying the Radio.

Oh, yeah...

in fact, when I was working on something recently, I walked into Radio Shack for the first time in a LONG time and looked around blankly not seeing any components.

I finally had to ask if they still sold that stuff, and then they then took me to a chaotic/disorganized nook at the back of the store with that stuff in it.

 

[Walker]

Green Army Men - why can I not find green army men anymore?

They are still out there (and easy to find). 1000 of them for $25.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018Y2AQY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

They are probably poisonous, but...

 

[lschiavo]

They are still out there (and easy to find). 1000 of them for $25.
http://www.amazon.com/1000-Green-Army-Soldiers-Military/dp/B0018Y2AQY

They are probably poisonous, but...

I never did try to search for them online. Just sayin' they used to be a fixture in every toy section I visited as a kid.

My old ones were poisonous too...especially the black smoke that comes off of 'em when they burn:cross:

 

[Ti28]

Points and Carbs on cars and trucks.
.99 for a gallon of gas.
$2.00 for a pack of Marlboro
Golden Key and Laneco (supermarket chain)
5 and Dimes (.99 store)
Bethlehem steel
VHS

 

[ChshreCat]

Cast iron hibachi's.

My dad likes to use them with his camper, but could only find the cheap ones that last about one season. I searched and searched and found one online for him.

 

[HenryHill]

oil bath air cleaners
6 volt vehicle systems
front vent windows
plastic convertible rear windows
AM only radios with a speaker in the middle of the back seat
riding in the rear window on long trips
7 grades of gas
starting the tractor with a crank
floor switch brights
no seatbelts
space age marketing terms and style cues
Harley Clubs that instill fear and kick your ass

 

[jgln]

oil bath air cleaners
6 volt vehicle systems
front vent windows
plastic convertible rear windows
AM only radios with a speaker in the middle of the back seat
riding in the rear window on long trips
7 grades of gas
starting the tractor with a crank
floor switch brights
no seatbelts
space age marketing terms and style cues
Harley Clubs that instill fear and kick your ass

I have a '66 Ford stake body truck with both of those things.

 

[jgourd]

Collecting baseball cards with the gum...and enjoying the gum that lasted about 2 seconds.

 

[the_bird]

Oh, yeah...

in fact, when I was working on something recently, I walked into Radio Shack for the first time in a LONG time and looked around blankly not seeing any components.

I finally had to ask if they still sold that stuff, and then they then took me to a chaotic/disorganized nook at the back of the store with that stuff in it.

I've been in Radio Shack ONCE in the past fifteen years, to buy parts to build a stirplate. I'm amazed that they stay in business.