They don't make them like this anymore. :(

[notyoueither]

We had chemistry sets. And we could mail order all sorts of chemicals used in bombs. All you needed was a parents signature on the order.
I will say, that it encouraged learning quite a bit.

Now you'd end up on a homeland security list or something. But it's probably for the best Just another example of the wussification of the US.

Who over 40 or so didn't make black powder?

[Ming]

Black powder was for amateurs... we made far better explosives

[notyoueither]

Well, yeah, I was pretty amateur. Made good smoke bombs though.

[Elok]

My brother used to try and make his own fireworks by performing surgery on store-bought crackers. Now that he's grown up, he dreams of getting an old-school chemistry kit for his son that includes all the cool (read: dangerous) stuff they won't include nowadays. I think my sister-in-law prevents him, what with her being the responsible one and all.

[KrazyHorse]

Who over 40 or so didn't make black powder?

I'm under 40 and made a lot of stuff (including black powder). Had a chemistry set that would make a lot of pretty dangerous stuff. Have a hard time believing that such things led to significant numbers of injuries to children...

[notyoueither]

Yes, but you were born a nerd. Non nerds used to do this stuff since that's what there was to do before the... I'm going to say the Walkman... before the Walkman changed civilization.

We have before and after Walkman civilizations. Yes, technology has changed so much.

[Bereta_Eder]

It's stupid to overprotect the kids.
I see mothers saying noooo little johnnie don't run, don't play, don't fart.

How is he going to learn if he doesn't play, fall down, bruise his knees etc etc

Overprotection is something he/she will have to pay off for a large part of his/her life.

Ok to protect, be vigilent, be there but no not overprotect.

[kentonio]

I had a real steam train toy when I was a kid. It was fun, although I could only use it outdoors/in the garage.

[giblets]

It's stupid to overprotect the kids.
I see mothers saying noooo little johnnie don't run, don't play, don't fart.

How is he going to learn if he doesn't play, fall down, bruise his knees etc etc

Overprotection is something he/she will have to pay off for a large part of his/her life.

Ok to protect, be vigilent, be there but no not overprotect.

If you let kids run wild, you will pay the price.

On July 29, 2013, a Latina mother in Illinois named Natasha Felix sent her three sons, ages 11, 9, and 5, out to play with a visiting cousin, a young girl, in a fenced park right next to her apartment building. The oldest boy was charged with keeping an eye on his siblings, while Felix watched them all from the window. While they were outside, a local preschool teacher showed up at the park with her class. She saw the 9-year-old climb a tree. Felix’s youngest son fought with his cousin over a scooter and, at one point, ran with it into the street. Based on this, the teacher called the child-abuse hotline, and Felix received a visit from the Department of Children and Family Services.

According to legal filings in the case, the investigator, Nancy Rodriguez, found that Felix’s kids “were clothed appropriately, appeared clean [and] well groomed,” and that Felix “appeared to be a good mother.” Felix’s oldest son seemed like a “mature young boy” who “certainly could be allowed to go outside by himself to the park next door.”

However, when Rodriguez asked Felix if the boys had any special needs, Felix replied that the 11-year-old and the 9-year-old had been diagnosed with ADHD. On the advice of their doctor, they were off their medications for the summer. Rodriguez later wrote that “based on the mother not knowing that the kids were running into the street with the scooter, based on the children having ADHD,” she recommended that Felix be cited for “Inadequate Supervision” under the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. As a result, Felix was placed on the state’s child-abuse registry, which led to her losing her job as a home healthcare aide and ended her dreams of becoming a licensed practical nurse.

http://www.thenation.com/article/has-child-protective-services-gone-too-far/

[Bereta_Eder]

It's not about running wild it's about not running around in chains and with a billion pillows attached to them and then be hypochondriac mama's boys/girls.

They gotta learn to give some punches and take some (figuratevily speaking).

[Main_Brain]

I had a real steam train toy when I was a kid. It was fun, although I could only use it outdoors/in the garage.

Nice! I used to have one of These babies:



alas sadly it's been lost in time .(

[Proteus_MST]

My grandfather had a grinding stone workstation of one of these Steam Engine kits (not the one in the video) ...
without the steam engine itself however ...
he had it refurbished a little bit so the grinding stone could be driven by a small electromotor and used it daily tasks (like sharpening scissors and the like)
Well, as a qualified machine-fitter he was rather inventive in adapting items/machinery to his own needs