things that seemed important as a kid (blow guns, grappling hooks, etc)

Yeah! Bicycle gangs were fun. We started with putting baseball cards in our spokes and then started substituting for louder things when those got worn out. That's hilarious, youse guys sounded bad ass! HAHA

 

growing up in florida, instead of throwing snowballs at cars we used to throw oranges, which ended badly at times. we also used to select a condo on the beach, and then throw every last bit of pool furniture into the pool. for some reason this was very fun.

the teenage mind is a marvel.

 

...slingshot or pop gun ammo.

 

Slingshots & steel shot.
Building forts.
Throwing rocks at other kids heads for the win.
Water balloons from on high onto unsuspecting targets.
Snowball fights that invariably led to someone bleeding.
Throwing darts into one another's legs to see who would yell first.

Can cannons with lighter fluid just as Chavey mentioned.

Smoke bombs at every opportunity.

Fighting, lots of fist fights - - we used to call it the Spring Riot & then the Autumn Riot in our suburban small town neighborhood.

Making Revell model ships, then taking them out to the way back of the densely treed big backyard & loading them with the modeling glue & firecrackers & watching them burn & blow up.

Contests as to who could steal the most things from the local A&P supermarket.
Calling on someone's phone whose parents weren't home the local small town police to respond a fake fight in the middle school gym, then egging the cop cars when the cops ran inside to break up the non-existent fight.

Sitting on our bicycles, innocently watching the soda delivery truck driver deliver hand truck loaded with soda to the local stores & then 4 of us descending on the street side of the truck, rolling the sides up & stealing a dozen bottles of soda (that's what the baskets on our bikes were for).

Whenever it snowed, snowball contests to see who could get the loudest metallic bang from hitting a car or truck, with extra points if a driver was so furious that he got out & chased us.

Outrunning the cops on the aqueduct on our Yamaha mini-bike.

Quicksand was to be feared, and I spent much time preparing for that day when I would encounter it - - never have.

 

Inflato-dolls don't count.

 

Flying kites in March and shooting other kids' kites with BB guns.

Building airplane models, particularly those from WW I and WW II. Seems we were always warned about the glue...

 

this scared me

 

BB gun fights, nunchucks, throwing stars, real Chinese fireworks, all things pyro!

Btw: I was at a buddies house for fake Mexican liberation day (cinco de mayo) yesterday and our old asses were shooting his neighbors mailbox with BB gun. No matter how old I get I still retain a healthy portion of stupidity from my youth.

 

Dirt bomb fights, acorn fights, snowball fights, ice ball fights, rock fights, Roman candle fights, bottle rocket fights, homemade blowgun fights, paint ball fights, noogies, purple nurples,cow bites, monkey bites, Indian rug burns, wedgies, etc..
I so miss my youth

 

All right, Sid...

 

Always had a b.b. gun when I was young, one Christmas I had asked for a .22, now I was only 7 or 8 at the time, my parents got me a Crossman Co2 pellet gun and was very happy with that, first thing in the morning my brother and I went upstairs and wanted to shoot it out of the window. It was cold a a few feet of snow on the ground, my sister was outside playing with her new sleds, my brother got the gun ready an decided to take the first shot, yep, my sister took one to the back. Never took a shot out of the gun, took me 6 months to talk my parents into letting me get the gun back...good old brother, we still talk about that to this day.

 

I still have my BB / Pellet rifle from my childhood. Haven’t shot it in over 20 years but I bet it still shoots straight.

 

Once upon a time, boys had paper routes (I did). There were no bike helmets, few if any helicopter parents, and no such thing as T-ball as an organized kid sport.

 

I had an afternoon paper route. My buddy had a morning paper route, and he knew at what time every girl in our neighborhood showered in the morning. We would all help him for free, kinda like a Tom Sawyer type of set up.

 

Lawn darts.

 

Baseballs that hurt when you got hit in the ribs; no soft cover training baseballs.

No tee ball, as Dos mentioned.

Many trips to the ER to get stitched up from various violent encounters with various inanimate objects.

One paper route in the morning, two in the afternoon, cutting lawns, shoveling snow for money.

Lying about my age to get a job at McDonald's slinging burgers @ age 14.

$600 paid for my first car: used '67 Mustang; learned to do my own tuneups & oil changes.

Drinking big bottles of Schlitz with the guys behind the bleachers at the football field.

Wknd nights driving around the small town cruising route with a 6-pack of Bud & the AM radio playing.

 

launch ramps

 

And Quarter pipes, mini vert, rails, etc., all home made.

 

There was also the "Tall Boy" 24 oz cans:

 

Bombing hills on a mid 70s blue aluminum skateboart, with early generation polyurethane wheels & sealed bearings... mail ordered from CA (ad in the back of skateboarder mag) .. took all summer to finally arrive. A definite upgrade to my older siblings ceramic wheeled boart.. hit a pebble or a crack and it was all over on that thing … you were launched.

Other items from the era that developed balance.. unicycle, pogo stick, and split rail fence walking.