|
We made bows and arrows and catapults and fought with rival groups for command of the hill behind my place ..which had a fort in effect built from rocks....and how no one was never injured I do not know.
Making bolt or key bombs was popular and certainly there were quiet a few kids in town who had fingers blown off...but never any eye damage so I dont know why so much fuss.
We made canons using water pipe and used crackers for propellant and marbles for projectiles and no one was ever injured ...seriously.
We would run into beer bottles with our billy carts to smash them and admittedly there were a few cuts but really nothing serious.
AND all this was before TV which I did not watch until 13 years old..prior to that my eyes were perfect and now they have deteriorated and I can only think it must be a result of watching TV as they were perfect before TV.
So we would see a movie on Saturday afternoon..and would come home and if a pirate movie make pirate stuff, or if a war movie make a rifle replica, cow boys make hand guns...I can remember seeing August of the Tea house Moon and coming home and making some thongs using fence timber and rope...this was years before thongs appeared.
AND fight...as it seemed that was all we had to do...after school and weekends...just wrestling and judo no punches so that was safe although a kid almost broke my neck once ..well it felt broke for over a week but again nothing serious.
The main thing I notice as to change is back then besides not being preoccupied with safety (which is not a bad thing) was we made most everything as money was scarce and wire and wood plentiful.
Good old days??? no way just different.
I was lucky because I could make money. Gardening, collecting horse hair and cow hair for the sadler, and newspapers for the butcher paper, and I made money from prize money for paintings that I sent all around the country shows..I would take out first, second and third prizes (names not displayed until after places were given...so they did not know they had given first, second and third to me but then it was too late...all for an all up return of $1.05 (1st,2nd and 3rd was 5 shillings, 3 shillings and 2 and six pence) plus I would win money for model planes ...and I bred love birds and so I was able to buy a microscope and a guitar and make my model planes...
alex
|