# When we were kids we had a lot of bad habits.



## Pappy (Mar 16, 2017)




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## Aunt Bea (Mar 16, 2017)

On those rare trips downtown we used to bug our mother to let us get a pack of these chocolate cigarettes!







and we shot people with these!


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## RadishRose (Mar 16, 2017)

Oh my, how I loved Welch's grapejuice! Too much sugar for me now, but wish I could glug the whole bottle.  And caps! I could almost smell the smoke now, loved banging those with cap guns, cap bombs or even rocks!


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## Chucktin (Mar 16, 2017)

All that and more☺


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## Don M. (Mar 16, 2017)

Yup, people of our generation were a rowdy bunch growing up.  We spent hours outdoors playing instead of sitting in front of the TV, with cell phone in hand, and eating an endless array of snacks...and getting fat.


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## Falcon (Mar 16, 2017)

*aND WE'RE STILL here !!    yIPPEEEEE!*


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## Grampa Don (Mar 16, 2017)

In church they served little cups of grape juice for communion.  I figured that was what wine tasted like.  My Mom collected salt shakers.  One pair were little Chianti bottles with real wine in them.  One day I sneaked a sip.  I thought I was poisoned.  I don't know if she ever noticed a tiny bit was gone from one.

Don


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## Pappy (Mar 16, 2017)

About the only thing my mother worried about was that I had clean underwear on in case of an accident. If I had an accident, there's a good chance my underwear wouldn't be clean anyway.


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 16, 2017)

We had a little  five and dime store near the school that had a rectangular candy counter, where the sales clerks stood in the center, one whole side was devoted to penny candy.

I remember the hard candy peach pits were 3 for a penny if you were really broke, LOL!

Also a lot of different wax items similar to these.


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 16, 2017)

_"Look Ma, No hands!!!"
_
_




_


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 16, 2017)

A lot of us kids used to gamble back then with our gold coins, my parents were strict, I just was allowed to eat them.


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## Grampa Don (Mar 16, 2017)

The juice tasted so good out of those little wax bottles.  And then you could chew the wax. We had a tiny candy store next to Pulley's Drug store, and they sold all kinds of penny candy.  Remember the little candy bits on a strip of paper?

Once a neighbor was having their roof redone, and we kids swiped little pieces of tar to chew on.  Nummy!  I can also remember rubbing mercury from a broken thermometer into a penny to make it look like a dime.

Don


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## Butterfly (Mar 16, 2017)

Grampa Don said:


> The juice tasted so good out of those little wax bottles.  And then you could chew the wax. We had a tiny candy store next to Pulley's Drug store, and they sold all kinds of penny candy.  Remember the little candy bits on a strip of paper?
> 
> Once a neighbor was having their roof redone, and we kids swiped little pieces of tar to chew on.  Nummy!  I can also remember rubbing mercury from a broken thermometer into a penny to make it look like a dime.
> 
> Don



GOSH -- I DO remember those little candies on paper.  Haven't thought about those in well over half a century!  If you chewed tar, didn't your teeth turn black?


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## Pappy (Mar 17, 2017)

Our cell phones when we were kids.


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## Grampa Don (Mar 17, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> GOSH -- I DO remember those little candies on paper.  Haven't thought about those in well over half a century!  If you chewed tar, didn't your teeth turn black?



No, the tar was hard and tasted really nasty, so we didn't chew it long.  It was just something dumb to try.  From what I read in the news, kids are still trying dumb things.  Some things don't change.

Don


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## tnthomas (Mar 17, 2017)

Grampa Don said:


> In church they served little cups of grape juice for communion.  I figured that was what wine tasted like.  My Mom collected salt shakers.  One pair were little Chianti bottles with real wine in them.  One day I sneaked a sip.  I thought I was poisoned.  I don't know if she ever noticed a tiny bit was gone from one.
> 
> Don


 
Sounds like a Methodist church, Presbyterian or maybe Baptist.    Lutheran's and Episcopals pretty much still serve real wine.


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## tnthomas (Mar 17, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


>



Those were the best!


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## Grampa Don (Mar 17, 2017)

tnthomas said:


> Sounds like a Methodist church, Presbyterian or maybe Baptist.    Lutheran's and Episcopals pretty much still serve real wine.



Bingo!  Methodist and Baptist, I did a little of both.

Don


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## Butterfly (Mar 17, 2017)

Grampa Don said:


> No, the tar was hard and tasted really nasty, so we didn't chew it long.  It was just something dumb to try.  From what I read in the news, kids are still trying dumb things.  Some things don't change.
> 
> Don



Sometimes dumb things are a lot of of fun!  And sometimes "dumb things" is in the eye of the beholder.  My mother thought a lot of things were dumb that we thought were great fun.  She was right, of course -- like when my cousin tied a garden hose to the stove pipe coming out of the roof and swung off the roof like Tarzan, hanging on to the garden hose.  It was spectacularly unsuccessful.  It's a wonder some of us reached adulthood.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Mar 17, 2017)

I remember all those penny candies also. We had a Woolworth's,we called it the five and ten. They had a counter full of small toys that a kid could buy for a few cents. One that I remember that I'm sure was dangerous came on a card that said make your own balloons. It had a small plastic straw like a swizzle stick and a tube of some kind of goo in it. You put a glob of the goo on the end of the stick and while it was still pliable you blew into the other end and the air made a small balloon. It didn't last long but I remember getting pretty dizzy from inhaling the goo. I'm sure you could get high on it. Another was the little paper,not sure if there was metal in it, you put on your tongue and with practice you could make bird sounds. I'm sure that could have easily ended up in a lung. But as others have said we are all still here and I'm sure we had a lot more fun than the kids with their video games.


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## RadishRose (Mar 17, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> Sometimes dumb things are a lot of of fun!  And sometimes "dumb things" is in the eye of the beholder.  My mother thought a lot of things were dumb that we thought were great fun.  She was right, of course -- like when my cousin tied a garden hose to the stove pipe coming out of the roof and swung off the roof like Tarzan, hanging on to the garden hose.  It was spectacularly unsuccessful.  It's a wonder some of us reached adulthood.



LOL, sounds like it would be hilarious but I hope your cousin wasn't hurt.


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## Grampa Don (Mar 17, 2017)

The paper that made bird sounds brings back a memory.  We were at the county fair, and a pitchman was making all kinds of beautiful sounds with one of these.  I talked my Dad into buying me one.  I couldn't get more than a pitiful squeak out of it.  It turned out there was some skill involved.  You can still buy them on Ebay.  Here is a link.  It does have a metal part.

We had a Ben Franklin dime store.  There was a toy section and a grumpy old woman who chased you away if you played with them.  They also had a small counter with magic tricks.  I spent some allowance money there on cups and balls, money changer, finger chopper and other tricks.

Don


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## Pappy (Mar 17, 2017)

I still have a bunch of old toy store magic trick somewhere in the shed. Joy buzzer, finger cutter off thingy, hot gum, fly in the ice cube, etc.
Anyone remember the glass, yes real glass toys, that were filled with little candies. Pistols, cars, trains and lots more. Now, they are collector items.


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## NancyNGA (Mar 17, 2017)

Since we're talking toys now, anyone else have a set of these? Scottie dogs on top of two magnets.  One direction they attract; the other, they repel.  I loved these sooooo much, when I lost them I begged and begged for another pair.... and got them!!!!!  Miracle. layful:


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## Grampa Don (Mar 17, 2017)

NancyNGA said:


> Since we're talking toys now, anyone else have a set of these? Scottie dogs on top of two magnets.  One direction they attract; the other, they repel.  I loved these sooooo much, when I lost them I begged and begged for another pair.... and got them!!!!!  Miracle. layful:



My Mom had those.  I don't know what ever became of them.

Don


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## Grampa Don (Mar 17, 2017)

Pappy said:


> I still have a bunch of old toy store magic trick somewhere in the shed. Joy buzzer, finger cutter off thingy, hot gum, fly in the ice cube, etc.
> Anyone remember the glass, yes real glass toys, that were filled with little candies. Pistols, cars, trains and lots more. Now, they are collector items.



The fly in the ice cube was classic.  I had one too.  Don't forget plastic vomit.

Don


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## Pappy (Mar 17, 2017)

How about the things you lit with a match and curled around like a snake. If I remember right, they didn't smell to good either.


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## Grampa Don (Mar 17, 2017)

Pappy said:


> How about the things you lit with a match and curled around like a snake. If I remember right, they didn't smell to good either.



Ah! Now you're talking fireworks.  Each fourth, my folks would buy my brother and me each a box assortment.  Half of the fun would be going through them and imagining what they would be like when lit.  The snakes we could light before dark and they would leave ugly black marks of the walk.  Being California, the rest of the fireworks would be pretty tame with a shower of sparks and maybe a squeal from a piccolo pete,  If you took a hammer to the piccolo pete near the end, it would pop at the finish.  If you were lucky, someone would have gotten some firecrackers from China Town or Tijuana.

Nowadays, the fireworks law is openly ignored here.  Skyrockets go off in every direction and huge booms are heard all evening and even days later.

Don


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## Pappy (Mar 17, 2017)

Well Don, I did load my moms cigarette with a little stick that blew up when she lit the smoke.
I DID NOT EVER DO THAT AGAIN....


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## Grampa Don (Mar 17, 2017)

Pappy said:


> Well Don, I did load my moms cigarette with a little stick that blew up when she lit the smoke.
> I DID NOT EVER DO THAT AGAIN....



OOOOOO!  I never would have had guts enough to do that.  Did you laugh when it went off?

Don


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## hauntedtexan (Mar 17, 2017)

My friends and I held our own little airshows and rocket launchings and I still have BOTH eyes!!!


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## Grampa Don (Mar 17, 2017)

hauntedtexan said:


> My friends and I held our own little airshows and rocket launchings and I still have BOTH eyes!!!
> View attachment 36137View attachment 36138




Cool!  I remember those.

Don


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## NancyNGA (Mar 18, 2017)

My father used to talk about playing Mublety Peg a lot.  I never understood what it was all about.







_"There are different variations of Mumbley Peg. One version involves two opponents who stand opposite from one another, feet shoulder-width apart. The first player takes his pocket knife and throws it at the ground, so that it sticks into the ground as close as possible to his own foot. The second player take his knife and does the same. The player who sticks his knife closest to his own foot wins. A player could automatically win if he purposely stuck his knife into his own foot. What can we say, this was a time before Xbox 360. Kids needed something do."_

How to Play Mumblety Peg

Possible consequences (likely fake video, but still impressive, and certainly possible):


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## Ken N Tx (Mar 19, 2017)

Pappy said:


> Well Don, I did load my moms cigarette with a little stick that blew up when she lit the smoke.
> I DID NOT EVER DO THAT AGAIN....





Grampa Don said:


> OOOOOO!  I never would have had guts enough to do that.  Did you laugh when it went off?
> 
> Don



I did my Dad's cigar..LOL..

Carried a pocket knife so I could carve my name in the black top of the street..

Hit the whole roll of caps with a brick to get a bigger bang!!

There was a gum that made kids teeth black..


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## Pappy (Mar 19, 2017)

Remember pea shooters? Now there was a great idea to sell to young kids. They had to know that they were just asking for trouble. 

And yoyos. My teacher had a desk drawer full of them. Usually gave them back after class.


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## Butterfly (Mar 19, 2017)

RadishRose said:


> LOL, sounds like it would be hilarious but I hope your cousin wasn't hurt.



Surprisingly enough, he wasn't seriously hurt, and yes, it was hilarious to us.  Not so much to the adults, though!  There was some serious yelling, as I recall.


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## Pappy (Dec 23, 2017)

Some of the things we had as kids.


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## Ken N Tx (Dec 23, 2017)

Made the girls laugh!!
.


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## Pappy (Jan 12, 2018)

More bad boy jokes.......


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