Things you could order over 50 years ago that you can't order now !

[bunyip]

A phrase I have uttered frequently with chinese two strokes and a stihl chainsaw with a wasp nest in the exhaust, usually followed by a handful of blisters.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Friend of mine made a spud gun from PVC and a twist igniter, using carb cleaner in the chamber. It was so powerful that it knocked nails out of the boards on the back of his garage.

Just about anything uses propane as a propellant nowadays. Even pit spray will make a satisfying bang.

 

[bunyip]

Just about anything uses propane as a propellant nowadays. Even pit spray will make a satisfying bang.

I discovered that when I sprayed olive oil on a BBQ grate, I was expecting a flare up but not that big, I read the can later and found propane was the propellant, lost my eyebrows and looked strange for a while and the source of much mirth in the court system.

 

[BravoXray]

In 1964 I ordered a Knight Kit KG-636 oscilloscope kit from AlliedRadio. If I remember correctly it was about $100-$150, paid for with money from my paper route.
Took me a couple of weeks to assemble, and it worked the first time I turned it on. In fact I still have it and it still works. I used it a few months ago so trouble shoot an an audio problem in avionics panel I'm building for a friend's home built plane.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Carb cleaner, WD40, and even women's hairspray worked pretty good. (Propellant?) Fire them at night and watch the flames come out of the barrel. A wonder we didn’t get killed.

oxy-acetylene. Put a spark plug thread on the end of a ten foot length of fence post. Fill the pipe with the oxy-acetylene, insert the spud, and trigger the spark plug.

Then you add a few more counts of oxy-acetylene, and do it again. then keep adding a bit more oxy-acetylene until the pipe blows up, and rips apart teh hood of your 1958 GMC pickup. And it suddenly turns very expensive. Those hoods are kind of spendy.

 

[tallyho8]

How many kids spent their entire weekly allowance on one of these?

 

[tallyho8]

How long since we ordered one of these?

 

[ultrarunner]

How long since we ordered one of these?

View attachment 755828

More than 50 years…

 

[JethroB]

In 1964 I ordered a Knight Kit KG-636 oscilloscope kit from AlliedRadio. If I remember correctly it was about $100-$150, paid for with money from my paper route.
Took me a couple of weeks to assemble, and it worked the first time I turned it on. In fact I still have it and it still works. I used it a few months ago so trouble shoot an an audio problem in avionics panel I'm building for a friend's home built plane.

View attachment 755825

In 1975 and I was 15, my older brother the electronics whiz gave me a Heathkit stereo receiver kit. A whopping 15 watts per channel. After a couple of weeks sorting and soldering dozens of resistors, capacitors, and transistors it didn’t work. I shipped it to the same brother to fix it. He has never let me forget it. I still have it somewhere.

 

[bullbreaker]

How about the small plastic Tony the Tiger boxing gloves that the ESSO gas stations would hand out . I might be wrong but later they became Exxon ' .