YIKES!!!

Wonder what the outcome of this was? 50/50 that the last kid ended up in the hospital.

Speaking as someone who was a kid in the '70s - that seems accurate; we were pretty much free-range and left to our own devices, with the only admonishment being "be home by dinner".

Other than the kids who blew themselves up trying to make a pipebomb (no fatalities, but the kid holding onto the thing as they were hammering it shut lost both forearms), I don't remember any permanent injuries - lots of non-permanent ones, though.

I remember seeing the forearmless kid a few years later - he and his buddies were playing around with firecrackers - he'd hold them in one of his hooks, and one of his buddies would light the fuse, so they could all watch as it went off while he was holding it.

Super 70s sports is a great twitter feed for us old sports fans

wait... what the hell is that bike? I never saw anything like that in the 70s.

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SDGuy
Speaking as someone who was a kid in the '70s - that seems accurate; we were pretty much free-range and left to our own devices, with the only admonishment being "be home by dinner".

No kidding. How many times we nearly burned down forests, played around with gun powder or gasoline, jumped from tops of houses, scaled cliffs as a matter of routine....and survived it all without a scrape. Sometimes I don’t blame parents for being the helicopter type.

Both of those photos pretty much describe my life in Van Nuys, CA in 1972.

Free range is pretty apt. Jumping my friends and brothers on bikes was probably one of the least risky of my behaviors. It was a great time to be 11 years old.

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

Me and my friends went spelunking in the mid 70's while in high school.

We went deep inside huge wild caves with carbide lamps, and camped overnight in them.

I went sky diving in high school, and rock climbing, and white water canoeing, and...

I got one of my concussions on a banana bike in the late 60's. Popping wheelies and the front wheel came off. OW.

Yep. I did all that stupid stuff as a kid in the 70's. I don't ever remember being taken to the hospital for any of that though.

Well, that one time when I was accused for eating a whole bottle of orange, chewable, baby aspirin. I told my folks over and over I didn't eat them, but apparently I was only five and couldn't be trusted with my word. I still remember in the emergency room the huge metal bowl I vomited in after I was given medicine to puke. Not a fond memory.

Turns out a few months later my older sister confessed to eating the aspirin. She had no ill effects.

---

Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

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Rick-o
Turns out a few months later my older sister confessed to eating the aspirin. She had no ill effects.

That you know of ;)

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

We used to do this all the time when I was a kid.

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It is what it is.

All of the above true, but I don't see arm & leg casts as often on little kids as back in my day. And some of those kids did indeed die from these antics. Think back a bit and I bet you can recall one or two.

These are the survivors speaking, of course.

Death defiers

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

We did the bike jump fairly regularly. But I have to give that kid (and the ones he's jumping over) props. The most we ever jumped was two kids.

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SDGuy
I remember seeing the forearmless kid a few years later - he and his buddies were playing around with firecrackers - he'd hold them in one of his hooks, and one of his buddies would light the fuse, so they could all watch as it went off while he was holding it.

Every cloud has its silver lining...

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It is what it is.

My recollection of those long aluminum slides was that you usually had to scoot down them because they were not slippery enough to actually slide. But then you had to watch out for the kid walking UP the slide.

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jdc

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Rick-o
Turns out a few months later my older sister confessed to eating the aspirin. She had no ill effects.

That you know of ;)

Almost certainly nowhere near as many ill effects as I'd imagine he wished she'd gotten after she stood by with a faux innocent look on her face while he was forced, protesting his genuine innocence the whole time, to take the rap for and consequences of HER boneheaded move.

Sometimes I'll idly daydream about how it might have been nice to have siblings growing up, then I read stories like that and think "Nope, I'm good, no regrets".

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Don C
These are the survivors speaking, of course.

Evolution at work. There's a reason why the Darwin Awards have the name they do.

---

WARNING- If I posted a link in the above message, assume it is at minimum "NSFW- Language". Occasionally you'll be wrong.

Lie to me if you must, but don't lie to me and insult my intelligence in the same sentence.

Resist the Thought Police: George Orwell's book 1984 was meant as a warning, not an instruction manual.

"Political correctness is just intellectual colonialism and psychological fascism for the creation of thought crime" - Steve Hughes

What's my "Super Power"? I can make active threads go stone-dead with a single post. I try to use this power only for good and not for evil but, you know... stuff happens.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2021 12:41AM by Thrift Store Scott.

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Don C
My recollection of those long aluminum slides was that you usually had to scoot down them because they were not slippery enough to actually slide. But then you had to watch out for the kid walking UP the slide.

I remember the well used ones to be pretty well polished by kids butts and nice and slippery. They could also cause burns when used after they've been baking in the afternoon sun for hours.

This is pretty accurate for me, although it felt like I was airborne for a lifetime.

Got a concussion riding in the creek, survived lawn darts, skateboards the size of submarine sandwiches, climbing trees, mountains, rivers, no seatbelts, no helmets, rock fights...

Amazing I survived my childhood.

CW2V

I had numerous trips to the ER, and many stitches (13 in my forehead from a trampoline stunt). The Jarts bring back a fond memory of throwing one up high in the front yard only for it to come down and stick my little brother in the back. As I rushed over to yank the bloody Jart out of my crying sibling my parents drove up so I uttered these words of comfort "SHH! Don't tell mum and dad!"

---

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

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davester
I had numerous trips to the ER, and many stitches (13 in my forehead from a trampoline stunt). The Jarts bring back a fond memory of throwing one up high in the front yard only for it to come down and stick my little brother in the back. As I rushed over to yank the bloody Jart out of my crying sibling my parents drove up so I uttered these words of comfort "SHH! Don't tell mum and dad!"

What a good and kind older brother you were.
So concerned for your sibling's well being.

Guess it was OK to be an only child, safer anyway, but there were still cousins to contend with.

I got beaned in the head by a cousin while we were at my grandmother's farm. We were down in the mouth of a cave, yeah, that was safe to start with, and two of my cousins were up on a terrace inside while I and some other cousins were below messing around the creek that ran through the cave. Johnny threw a big rock off and hit me square on the top of the head. Didn't fully knock me out, but addled me. My parent's had to walk me out the mile or two to the car, my grandmother's farm was in the mountains and not fully accessible by car, then drive me the 30 miles or so to the ER where I got my 8 stitches.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

‘Tis but a scratch; Just a flesh wound.

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GGD

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Don C
My recollection of those long aluminum slides was that you usually had to scoot down them because they were not slippery enough to actually slide. But then you had to watch out for the kid walking UP the slide.

I remember the well used ones to be pretty well polished by kids butts and nice and slippery. They could also cause burns when used after they've been baking in the afternoon sun for hours.

We used sheets of waxed paper (sat on them going down) to get the slide satisfactorily slippery.

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Don C
My recollection of those long aluminum slides was that you usually had to scoot down them because they were not slippery enough to actually slide. But then you had to watch out for the kid walking UP the slide.

They weren't aluminum - they were steel.

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It is what it is.

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CW2V


This is pretty accurate for me, although it felt like I was airborne for a lifetime.

Plywood was the only acceptable material for the ramp.

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It is what it is.

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N-OS X-tasy!

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CW2V


This is pretty accurate for me, although it felt like I was airborne for a lifetime.

Plywood was the only acceptable material for the ramp.

Just like Mercurochrome was the only acceptable topical antibiotic, or for extreme/deep cuts Merthiolate (Same stuff/active ingredient except Mercurochrome was water-based and didn't burn at all whereas Merthiolate was alcohol-based and burned like a S.O.B.). All through the 70s in any neighborhood kids had orange spots all over them where cuts or scrapes had been treated with Mercurochrome.

I was staying with my cousins and got a pretty good scrape on my arm which my aunt treated not with Mercurochrome but with some clear spray (probably Bactine but I'm not sure). I remember thinking at the time "What is this voodoo BS?!? How are you supposed to know you got good coverage if it doesn't stain where it has been applied?!? Oh my god, I'm gonna wind up losing this arm because my aunt doesn't have sense enough to keep Mercurochrome in the house!"

---

WARNING- If I posted a link in the above message, assume it is at minimum "NSFW- Language". Occasionally you'll be wrong.

Lie to me if you must, but don't lie to me and insult my intelligence in the same sentence.

Resist the Thought Police: George Orwell's book 1984 was meant as a warning, not an instruction manual.

"Political correctness is just intellectual colonialism and psychological fascism for the creation of thought crime" - Steve Hughes

What's my "Super Power"? I can make active threads go stone-dead with a single post. I try to use this power only for good and not for evil but, you know... stuff happens.

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Thrift Store Scott

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N-OS X-tasy!

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CW2V


This is pretty accurate for me, although it felt like I was airborne for a lifetime.

Plywood was the only acceptable material for the ramp.

Just like Mercurochrome was the only acceptable topical antibiotic, or for extreme/deep cuts Merthiolate (Same stuff/active ingredient except Mercurochrome was water-based and didn't burn at all whereas Merthiolate was alcohol-based and burned like a S.O.B.). All through the 70s in any neighborhood kids had orange spots all over them where cuts or scrapes had been treated with Mercurochrome.

I was staying with my cousins and got a pretty good scrape on my arm which my aunt treated not with Mercurochrome but with some clear spray (probably Bactine but I'm not sure). I remember thinking at the time "What is this voodoo BS?!? How are you supposed to know you got good coverage if it doesn't stain where it has been applied?!? Oh my god, I'm gonna wind up losing this arm because my aunt doesn't have sense enough to keep Mercurochrome in the house!"

Merthiolate was purple, IIRC
Bactine was a godsend, because it didn’t burn like hell.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I came close to blowing myself up on more than one occasion. Kids were DEFINITELY tougher back then (remember STEEL PIPES used to construct Monkey Bars?). Even when, as an eight year old, when I got hit by a slow moving car, there was NO trip to the ER or even an MD. I gave my mother LOTS of scary moments (God bless her!).

Did anyone else blow up dog poop with firecrackers? Just me? Okay.

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Hurts like a bastid...

Man, I used to love throwing lawn darts high in the air.

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rgG

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Thrift Store Scott

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N-OS X-tasy!

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CW2V


This is pretty accurate for me, although it felt like I was airborne for a lifetime.

Plywood was the only acceptable material for the ramp.

Just like Mercurochrome was the only acceptable topical antibiotic, or for extreme/deep cuts Merthiolate (Same stuff/active ingredient except Mercurochrome was water-based and didn't burn at all whereas Merthiolate was alcohol-based and burned like a S.O.B.). All through the 70s in any neighborhood kids had orange spots all over them where cuts or scrapes had been treated with Mercurochrome.

I was staying with my cousins and got a pretty good scrape on my arm which my aunt treated not with Mercurochrome but with some clear spray (probably Bactine but I'm not sure). I remember thinking at the time "What is this voodoo BS?!? How are you supposed to know you got good coverage if it doesn't stain where it has been applied?!? Oh my god, I'm gonna wind up losing this arm because my aunt doesn't have sense enough to keep Mercurochrome in the house!"

Merthiolate was purple, IIRC

Mercurochrome was vividly orange-orange, Merthiolate was between pink and orange and a less intense color. We used an aerosol topical antibiotic on the cattle that was vividly purple and I remember one neighbor's parents using what looked like the same stuff on him occasionally, but I never knew the name of the purple stuff.

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rgG
Bactine was a godsend, because it didn’t burn like hell.

Ehhh... I don't trust anything that you can't clearly see where you put it.

---

WARNING- If I posted a link in the above message, assume it is at minimum "NSFW- Language". Occasionally you'll be wrong.

Lie to me if you must, but don't lie to me and insult my intelligence in the same sentence.

Resist the Thought Police: George Orwell's book 1984 was meant as a warning, not an instruction manual.

"Political correctness is just intellectual colonialism and psychological fascism for the creation of thought crime" - Steve Hughes

What's my "Super Power"? I can make active threads go stone-dead with a single post. I try to use this power only for good and not for evil but, you know... stuff happens.

Quote
testcase
Even when...I got hit by a slow moving car, there was NO trip to the ER or even an MD.

Same here -- because I never told my parents that it happened!

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It is what it is.

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N-OS X-tasy!

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testcase
Even when...I got hit by a slow moving car, there was NO trip to the ER or even an MD.

Same here -- because I never told my parents that it happened!

My husband as always said, if there wasn't gross bleeding, his parents didn't take it seriously.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

What, no love for Iodine?

....80s life.....

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

70s and 80s for me.
I split my head open doing wheelies on my bike, went too far back---mom took me to the ER when it would not stop bleeding....

When "Stranger Things" came out, it brought back memories of being out all night during the summer while my parents slept.

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San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater

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Thrift Store Scott

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N-OS X-tasy!

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CW2V


This is pretty accurate for me, although it felt like I was airborne for a lifetime.

Plywood was the only acceptable material for the ramp.

Just like Mercurochrome was the only acceptable topical antibiotic, or for extreme/deep cuts Merthiolate (Same stuff/active ingredient except Mercurochrome was water-based and didn't burn at all whereas Merthiolate was alcohol-based and burned like a S.O.B.). All through the 70s in any neighborhood kids had orange spots all over them where cuts or scrapes had been treated with Mercurochrome.

I was staying with my cousins and got a pretty good scrape on my arm which my aunt treated not with Mercurochrome but with some clear spray (probably Bactine but I'm not sure). I remember thinking at the time "What is this voodoo BS?!? How are you supposed to know you got good coverage if it doesn't stain where it has been applied?!? Oh my god, I'm gonna wind up losing this arm because my aunt doesn't have sense enough to keep Mercurochrome in the house!"

My mom liked to use that "liquid bandage" stuff...pouring it onto large scrapes wound which felt like having liquid fire poured onto them.