You know you're old when...

[wcr3d]

Whippersnappers

[AnOldBiker]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

I remember hearing my Dad cussing in the basement as he was trying to assemble this. My nephews have never heard of this thing.

Hell ..... I bought this for my son

[Captain Blood]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

I remember hearing my Dad cussing in the basement as he was trying to assemble this. My nephews have never heard of this thing.

Ahhhhhh, the old big wheel versus green machine controversy

[tcphoto]

When you can’t stand black wheels on anything besides an M, Porsche, Ferrari, Bugatti or alike. Those Honda’s, Toyota’s and non-M’s are straight out of Fast and Furious ridiculous looking. And get off my lawn!

[pennsiveguy]

Originally Posted by DDD31

Playing with Jarts that had the steel spikes at the end, not the wimpy weights and standing right next to the hoop while the Jart thrower made their throw.

Attachment 2297617

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Yes!!! We ground a fine point on 'em and would throw them overhand. We'd use big trees and old wooden buildings as dart boards from 25 yards out. If you threw one at a tree and missed, you better hope to hell the dog isn't downrange, or Fido was in grave danger.

[pennsiveguy]

Originally Posted by dinonz

Tricky Dicky for me.

There was a fantastic bumper sticker in the Watergate days that said "Dick Nixon...before Nixon dicks you."

[dinonz]

Originally Posted by pennsiveguy

There was a fantastic bumper sticker in the Watergate days that said "Dick Nixon...before Nixon dicks you."

I saw a few round here "Hillary for Prison 2016"

[Frupal]

Love Chrome Wheels! Child of the 70s.

[etai43]

when you get excited for new pots and pans, took advantage of the hexclad sale.

[pennsiveguy]

I remember being on vacation in California, having driven there from Minnesota in our '69 Chrysler Town & Country wagon, replete with woodgrain sides and a 440 CI 4-barrel. There was some sort of gas crisis going on, and when my old man - widely known as a cheap fucker - had to dish out 40 cents a gallon for gas he wanted to cut the trip short and head home. My mom talked him out of it somehow.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by AnOldBiker

Hell ..... I bought this for my son

My brother had a Green Machine and I had a Big Wheel. SMH!

And don't forget this gem:

[pennsiveguy]

Remember rollerskating at big skating rinks, with a DJ playing '70s gems over a big PA?

Women's wigs became really popular in the late '60s and my mom jumped aboard the bandwagon. One night at a big, crowded rink my mom's wig fell off onto the floor and got tangled in a kid's skate. Had to take off the skate and cut the wig out of the axle. Mom wasn't amused at all, but my Dad laughed his ass off.

It was creepy AF seeing those wigs on Styrofoam heads when on her bedroom dressing table she wasn't wearing them.

Get off my lawn!!!

[hubbahubba]

You know you're old when your brain thinks you easily can, but your body knows you most certainly can't.

[hubbahubba]

Originally Posted by Captain Blood

Ahhhhhh, the old big wheel versus green machine controversy

Now THAT would be a worthwhile poll. Put me down for a green machine.

[MKSixer]

Estes Rockets.

I have a mixed history with rockets.

I almost got one of these babies launched into my eye when I was over the launcher as the connections were made.

Later, we devised a way to launch them into a neighborhood immediately behind our property. We rigged them to ignite 1 second after the engine burn completed so they'd go up in fireballs. This lasted for a weekend until the cops came to my parents home to inquire about any fireworks being shot from this area.

They weren't amused by the visit in the slightest.

[Captain Blood]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Estes Rockets.

I have a mixed history with rockets.

I almost got one of these babies launched into my eye when I was over the launcher as the connections were made.

Later, we devised a way to launch them into a neighborhood immediately behind our property. We rigged them to ignite 1 second after the engine burn completed so they'd go up in fireballs. This lasted for a weekend until the cops came to my parents home to inquire about any fireworks being shot from this area.

They weren't amused by the visit in the slightest.

I believe my dog will not go for walks anymore because of the Estes rockets.

We were doing some kind of a seventh grade science experiment, and of course at the park next to our house, beautiful, so why not bring the dog.

But something about that hissing sound that those rockets make when launched, he will not go for walks anymore.

With my older twins, we had a malfunction on "the wizard", apparently a fin fell off, and it made a 90° turn from vertical into the local HOA pool. While it was occupied. Luckily no one got hurt.

[corn18]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Estes Rockets.

I have a mixed history with rockets.

I almost got one of these babies launched into my eye when I was over the launcher as the connections were made.

Later, we devised a way to launch them into a neighborhood immediately behind our property. We rigged them to ignite 1 second after the engine burn completed so they'd go up in fireballs. This lasted for a weekend until the cops came to my parents home to inquire about any fireworks being shot from this area.

They weren't amused by the visit in the slightest.

We did manned space flight with these. Although the men were mice and they didn’t always live.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by Captain Blood

I believe my dog will not go for walks anymore because of the Estes rockets.

We were doing some kind of a seventh grade science experiment, and of course at the park next to our house, beautiful, so why not bring the dog.

But something about that hissing sound that those rockets make when launched, he will not go for walks anymore.

With my older twins, we had a malfunction on "the wizard", apparently a fin fell off, and it made a 90° turn from vertical into the local HOA pool. While it was occupied. Luckily no one got hurt.

You were extremely lucky that no one was injured. I'm surprised they still sell them. Potential for danger in the extreme whether intended on not!

Cheers-mk

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by corn18

We did manned space flight with these. Although the men were mice and they didn’t always live.

We only did insects and launched camera pods...never any mice. Other than that, we mainly ungraded them to ordinance status until "the man" put us out of commission.

[hubbahubba]

Somewhere in my garage I have a box that has some unused engines from 40 years ago... I wonder how that would go?

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by hubbahubba

Somewhere in my garage I have a box that has some unused engines from 40 years ago... I wonder how that would go?

Make sure you have a blast shield available...

[pennsiveguy]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Estes Rockets.

I have a mixed history with rockets.

I almost got one of these babies launched into my eye when I was over the launcher as the connections were made.

Later, we devised a way to launch them into a neighborhood immediately behind our property. We rigged them to ignite 1 second after the engine burn completed so they'd go up in fireballs. This lasted for a weekend until the cops came to my parents home to inquire about any fireworks being shot from this area.

They weren't amused by the visit in the slightest.

Yes!!!

My buddy Chuck and I would beg one of our moms to haul us to the hobby store and we'd grab 2 or 3 of the big D-series engines. We were consummate tinkerers and preferred to build our own rockets rather than use one of the many kits Estes offered.

We had a spectacular failure with one of them when we were about 11 or 12. We'd built the fuselage out of a cardboard paper towel roll, slathered with lacquer for stiffening. Made some cardboard fins for it. All that was missing was a nose cone, so we set out to find one. Our search ended with the discovery of an old hickory wheelbarrow handle, the final 2" or so of which were perfectly sized and contoured to suit our needs. We hacksawed it off and tacked it into the end of the rocket. The fact that this component, at the top of the rocket, outweighed the entire rest of the craft by a factor of probably 6 or 8 was lost in our enthusiasm, though it would soon be evident how it affected the rocket's trajectory. There's a good chance that the home-made hard cider we illicitly fermented in the attic of Chuck's house had clouded our calculations.

We got it finished and waited for my mom to come pick me up, so both our moms could see the launch. We stuck a length of cannon fuse up the bung of the engine (no fancy-schmancy electric ignitions for us, no-siree) and awaited takeoff. When the spark hit the engine the rocket immediately tipped over and flew horizontal and hit Chuck right in the gut at a pretty high speed, and then spun around on the ground for a couple of seconds. Our moms panicked hysterically, and Chuck and I were pissing ourselves laughing. Chuck was fine, and we both became better engineers thanks to the tennis ball-sized welt he got on his belly.

We ended up converting the rocket into a rocket sled by drilling a hole through the nose cone and threading a coat hanger through the whole and bending it into a skid on either side. We sent it down the frozen river that winter, to our great amusement.

And such was a typical weekend in the life of 2 smart, curious, and mischievous lads back in the '70s. I don't think kids nowadays have such experiences, and they're the poorer for it.