Remember when

My grandfather was very mechanically inclined. I remember his toy cap gun.
He drilled out the barrel and shot Robins out of his cherry trees with 22 shorts. And it still works.

 

We made "darts" out of sewing needles, stick matches, thread, and model glue, then shot each other with them while riding our bicycles towards each other, dueling style... ah the good old days

 

I can still smell that canvas/ink combo in my mind and feel the canvas rubbing on my neck.

We delivered the Milwaukee Journal. Coincidentally the paper the kids in the pic are carrying.

We had a paper station in our neighborhood and one of the kids dad’s operated it and subbed the papers before we got there. He was a Vietnam Veteran. He’d have a cooler filled with soda - 0.50 a can. If you got there on your bike after all the other carriers there might only be Diet Coke left and kids would complain and Mr. Burr would say: “It’s wet isn’t it?”

My route was thankfully close to the station.

Me and my buddy Ryan would help each other on our routes so we’d get done in half the time and then go rip it up on our bikes for the night. In summer. God that was the best few summers of my life now that I think of it.

 

I never had a BB gun but I had a slingshot. And I was shooting at birds on the backyard telephone wires one time, and some guy 2 houses away came to our house claiming a small rock “came this close” to hitting him.

I STILL remember thinking there was no way that happened and that he made it up.

Then there were kids who had those insane “wrist rockets” with the black folding brace, leather ammo pouches, and they’d go to the railroad tracks allegedly and pick up metal shot balls. I’ve NEVER seen those balls while walking on railroad tracks.

 

We made Velcro wallets. Carried that thing for years.

 

Who had one of these hanging on the refrigerator?

Extra points if it’s still hanging there.

(My wife’s was.)

 

Remember having to rewind VHS movies.....

oh man does that open a topic..... please be kind, rewind lol

we had a small non chain movie rental place in our town, Video Mania. They were "the" place to rent VHS, beta of course never really caught on.

One time me and my bmx buddies talked this older kid, who was like 19 or 20 to rent a porno movie for us.....hahaha The shop had a small area at the back with a set of salloon doors on it for the adult section. His nickname was Magoo, he was like this 6' tall kid with dark hair, tan skin. He was quiet but timely funny. We walked down the alley to the shop it was in a small plaza with a Family Dollar a pizza place, etc.

There's like 10 or 12 of us standing outside on bikes, peering in the window, watching this go down and Magoo hits the adult section and the door I remember stayed open as he billowed in there, we were laughing b/c obviously any kids in the store could see in there then.

He rents Taboo IV and we all go back to another kids house whose parents were never home and we're all sitting there in the dark watching this porn movie - so funny. 14/15 yr old kids watching hardcore porn.

 

remember being able to walk downtown without stepping on passed out junkies and human feces?

 

Heh the last blockbuster is still open...

 

Yeah that's the one up in Oregon if I recall?

I watched a YouTube video about it with the woman who runs it....

 

Yeah, it's in Bend

 

ah yeah! that's right. I've been to PDX, but never Bend, I would love to check out Bend.

 

Freestylin, BMX Plus, or BMX Action were and still are my jam. I still ride even at my age.

 

Same, my current daily What do you like to ride?

 

Most recent purchase and ride:



Built this one a few years ago



Before and after resto





I have more but no pics currently..total is about 12

 

Nice survivors, it's an addiction for sure. I need to control myself lol I built my childhood dream bike in 19, and took it to California with me for vacation.

 

Those metal balls are called "Tacanite" and they fall off iron ore cars. They are used in the making of iron.
I still have a coffee can of them thst I still use in my wrist rocket.
Usually a shot at coons or whistle pigs.
They do not fly straight at all.
But the noise they make cutting air scares off the intended target.

 

And Papa Murphy's Pizza is right next store... it's a win win!!

 

I must of been about 14 and I had a about 3 feet of 1/2" gas pipe, threaded on both ends. I drilled a small hole in a cap for a firecracker fuse. Dad had a bag of chilled shot and I would take a small amount and drop them in the corner of a lunch baggie. Tie the pouch of shot with thread and snip it free. I'd load in a couple fire crackers in behind the little shot pouch, thread the fuses thru the hole and wait for a robin to land in the cherry trees just out the back garage door. Lite the fuse and hold steady. If I was lucky both would go off at the same time.
Dad would come home from work and wonder what was chewing the shit out of his cherry trees.
I was doing more damage than an entire flock or robins...
He never did find out...lol

 

Still have mine.